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WE ARE HIRING A COSTING CONSULTANT

ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS

Spark Microgrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Spark has pioneered a poverty alleviation model in East Africa that draws on evidence from ultra poor graduation and community-driven development approaches, known as the facilitated collective action process (FCAP). The FCAP combines a cash grant plus facilitated community meetings and trainings to catalyze improved livelihoods, stronger social cohesion, and gender and social inclusion. Spark is partnering with NGO and Government partners to scale adoption and impacts for rural communities - on their own terms. Read more about our Approach, Impact and Values on our website.

Spark aims to build a costing model for the FCAP, to represent the programmatic and operational costs per village / household / individual. After the successful construction of a model that comprehensively captures all inputs and expenses, we seek the development of a cost-benefit analysis framework to assess the FCAP’s cost-effectiveness and return on investment over a 10-year and 50-year horizon. The analysis should include a variety of economic returns and ideally will also include quantified social returns.

The costing consultant will build the cost model, construct the cost-benefit analysis framework, input existing data from Spark's evaluations and relevant research, and deliver a detailed ROI analysis outlining the projected benefits of the program.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND EXPECTATIONS

Costing Model Construction:

• Conduct discussions with Spark management team to compile an initial landscape analysis that outlines the use cases envisioned for the model, the intended audiences for its outputs, the potential theories or approaches that could be considered for this model, and a justification for the approach selected.
• Build a fit-for-purpose cost model that organizes all cost inputs to Spark’s FCAP, based on recent and historical organizational data; the model should have 2-3 country-specific iterations as well as a thoughtfully designed organization-level summary iteration.
• The model should be user-friendly, forward-looking and dynamic, enabling projections or simulations of different scenarios or operating models (e.g., it should allow us to see how costs vary based on grant size, program duration, speed of expansion, scale of community coverage, direct implementation vs. partner-led, etc.).

• Analysis Framework Development:
  • Develop and refine the analysis framework, ensuring it captures all relevant metrics and variables.
  • Provide a detailed methodology outlining the approach to data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
  • Ensure the framework is easily understood and able to be re-used with additional future data sets: create a simple step by step guide or manual to support this.
    
    
• Cost-Benefit Analysis (C-E and ROI):
  • Collect, organize, and input existing data from Spark's program documents, evaluations, special research projects, and other relevant sources.
  • Conduct thorough cost-benefit and ROI analyses for 2-3 geographies and at an aggregated organization level, using established economic assessment methods, considering both short-term and long-term economic impacts, as well as quantified social impacts where possible. Spark is interested in capturing the gains outlined by our theory of change, such as:
    • economic gains from the initial and follow-on projects from Spark seed funding,
    • gender gains seen through the program,
    • and gains realized from increased civic engagement and advocacy to government service providers.
  • Ensure the analysis framework is easily understood and able to be re-used with additional future data sets: create a simple step by step guide or manual to support this.
  • Prepare a detailed report or presentation (to be confirmed with Spark team) outlining the findings of the cost-benefit analysis.
  • Provide recommendations based on the analysis.

WHO YOU ARE

• You have experience and a successful track record in cost-benefit modeling, ROI analysis, and quantitative evaluation
• You are familiar with the social protection sector and ideally with community-driven development programs
• You are able to quickly digest high volumes of information, understand a range of requirements and priorities, and bring them all together into coherent and systematic processes
• You are a clear communicator, and you bring things up proactively that need to be discussed

SCHEDULE OF DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINES

Deliverable Anticipated due date

1. Cost model tool TBC

2. Finalized analysis framework document TBC

3. Comprehensive cost-benefit / ROI analysis TBC

4. Report / presentation materials summarizing key TBC

findings and recommendations

OTHER INFORMATION

Job Location: Flexible.

Estimated start date: July 2024

Application closing Date: On a rolling basis; we reserve the right to close this recruitment at any time.

Time dedication required: 12 hours per week

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Spark Microgrants provides equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. Employment decisions at Spark are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Spark does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by the law. Spark will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in undue hardship to daily operations.