Oxford Policy Management (OPM) is building a roster of French-speaking Social Protection Experts. The Poverty and Social Protection Practice is therefore seeking experienced French-speaking independent consultants on a fixed-term basis. Roster members will be engaged on a contractual/project basis. The role is desk-based from any location, with potential travel if requested by clients.  

We invite applications from experienced French-speaking independent consultants to work with our Poverty and Social Protection practice. Successful candidates will possess strong research and analytical skills, deep technical expertise in social protection, and a proven track record of delivering impactful projects for diverse clients in French-speaking countries. 

We are an international development consultancy working to improve lives through sustainable policy change in low- and middle-income countries. Our vision is for fair public policy that benefits both people and the planet.

Through our global network of offices, we work in partnership with national stakeholders and decision makers to research, design, implement, and evaluate impactful public policy. We draw on our local and international sector experts to provide the very best evidence-based support. We deliver projects with expert knowledge and experience and can be relied upon for excellence in all aspects of project delivery. We work collaboratively, with ambition, to help deliver impactful public policy that will bring about lasting change.

For more information about OPM’s work: https://www.opml.co.uk/poverty-social-protection-psp / https://www.opml.co.uk/sites/default/files/2024-02/poverty-social-protection-capability-statement-v3-0.pdf 

As a French-speaking Social Protection Expert within Oxford Policy Management’s (OPM) Poverty and Social Protection Practice, your key responsibilities will include:

1. Research, Analysis, and Policy Development

• Conduct in-depth research and analysis on poverty, vulnerability, and inequality, particularly in Francophone regions.

• Assess and diagnose social protection policies and systems, providing evidence-based recommendations for improvements.

• Contribute to the development of financially and politically feasible social protection strategies.

2. Technical Assistance and Project Delivery

• Lead and deliver high-quality research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects in low- and middle-income countries.

• Provide expert advice on the design, implementation, and strengthening of social protection policies and programmes.

• Support capacity-building initiatives through training, workshops, and knowledge-sharing activities.

• Ensure the scalability and sustainability of social protection programmes, including cash-plus and graduation approaches.

• Develop and refine digital systems, social registries, and financial management tools for social protection.

3. Stakeholder Engagement and Communication

• Engage with a diverse range of clients, including UN agencies (UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR), development banks (World Bank, ADB), European donors, and private foundations.

• Build and maintain professional networks with policymakers, development partners, and sector specialists.

• Facilitate knowledge exchange through reports, presentations, articles, and blogs.

• Communicate findings effectively in both English and French, ensuring clarity and impact.

4. Proposal Development and Business Growth

• Contribute to bid writing and the development of technical proposals for international clients.

• Identify partnership opportunities with key stakeholders, consultants, and institutions.

• Support OPM’s broader mission of sustainable policy change by contributing to thought leadership in social protection.

Desirable Additional Responsibilities

• Provide expertise on inclusive social protection, disability inclusion, and gender mainstreaming.

• Support programme financing, costing, and public financial management in social protection systems.

• Lead monitoring, evaluation, and learning initiatives to assess programme impact and inform future strategies.

General skills: 

• Academic - Post-graduate degree in a relevant discipline. 

• Sector - Proven experience in a relevant social policy area with at least 5 years of directly relevant experience in social protection; 

• Technical - Track record of leading and delivering high quality and impactful research, evaluation and technical assistance projects in low- and middle-income countries focusing on the development, strengthening and implementation of policy relevant to social protection; 

• Communications - Excellent writing and communication skills in English and French, with sound attention to the quality of written and visual materials, reports and documents, strong stakeholder engagement ability and excellent interpersonal skills particularly in handling challenging situations and people;  

• Client - Experience of working with/delivering project with/for a range of clients, which may include UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR (and other UN agencies), development banks (such as WB and ADB), FCDO, EU/European donors, and private foundations. 

Desirable additional experience 

• Regional experience - Relevant experience in the Sahel or Francophone Africa 

• Bid writing - Experience in writing successful technical proposals for clients in French. 

• Network - Extensive and active professional profile/networks with stakeholders working in this domain internationally, including consultants, potential partner organisations and client/donor institutions; 

• Profile - Evidence of relevant publications (e.g., research/evaluations, articles, blogs, books) 

Relevant experience in one or more of the following areas is desired: 

• Poverty, vulnerability, and inequality analysis 

• Social assistance, social insurance and contributory programmes, child protection and/or social services 

• Policy and system assessment (mapping and diagnosing social protection policies and systems) 

• Strategy development (assisting the development of financially and politically feasible strategies for social protection) 

• Inclusive social protection, disability inclusion and gender mainstreaming 

• Capacity strengthening (including on-the-job training, seminars, e-learning, tailored curricula, and online communities of practice) 

• Programme design and implementation of delivery systems, and with a focus on scalability (including for cash plus approaches, graduation programmes) 

• Financing social protection, costing and public financial management 

• Digital systems and social registries 

• Monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (including of impacts and process) 

Whether you join us in a corporate position, as a project delivery colleague, or as an independent contractor driving programme management - at OPM you will find a company that places equal value on excellence and integrity. As a leading international development consulting firm, we strive to enable and empower everyone who works with us to do their best work in an environment that welcomes ambition, creativity and passion for positive change.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

We strongly believe in a fairer distribution of power between all stakeholders, and we commit to reflecting this in our organisational structures and in the design and delivery of our projects. We proactively work to evolve ourselves and our stakeholders to shape inclusive and fair programming, implementation, and policies. Our recruitment and procurement processes reflect our ambition to make the international development sector more diverse and inclusive.

If you share our vision for fair public policy that benefits both people and planet, we would love to hear from you. Please submit your application through our careers’ site by the closing date .  We review and interview applicants on a rolling basis and encourage you to apply by way of CV via our careers site at the earliest.