Financial Inclusion Specialist

Organization

Socodevi is a Canadian network of cooperative and mutual enterprises that shares its technical expertise and practical know-how with partners in developing countries. Our mission is to improve the living conditions of the communities we support in a tangible and sustainable way.

Workplace: Hanoi, Vietnam.

Duration of assignment July 2026 – December 2029.

Contract Type : The position is for Vietnamese nationals only.

Project Description

Socodevi Vietnam is seeking a qualified and motivated candidate to join the BLOOM project as a Financial Inclusion Specialist.

The BLOOM project (Biodiversity and Livelihood Opportunities for Ethnic Minority Women) is a Global Affairs Canada-funded initiative jointly implemented by Socodevi and Développement international Desjardins (DID). While Socodevi leads the overall initiative, DID specifically oversees and implements the financial inclusion component of the project. The project’s ultimate goal is to improve the health of key ecosystems to support biodiversity and climate change adaptation, with a focus on ethnic minority women and their communities in Tuyen Quang and Dak Lak provinces.

The Financial Inclusion Specialist will provide technical leadership and implementation support for this DID-led component. Key focus areas include financial education, savings and credit mechanisms, women’s business readiness, access to finance, and strategic engagement with financial institutions. Through this role, ethnic minority women will be better equipped to manage financial resources, strengthen livelihoods, and access appropriate financial services linked to biodiversity-friendly and climate-resilient economic activities.

Key Expected Results:

Outcome 1100: Increased adoption by ethnic minority women and their communities of gender-sensitive nature-based solutions (NbS) that protect the ecological integrity of Key Biodiversity Areas for conservation and climate adaptation.
Outcome 1200: Increased sustainable use of Key Biodiversity Areas by ethnic minority women who are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts.

(Potential FI specialist contributions: Lead and support financial inclusion activities under Outcome 1200, including financial education, credit and savings mechanisms, business readiness support, access-to-finance pathways, and engagement with financial institutions to better serve ethnic minority women involved in biodiversity-friendly and climate-resilient livelihoods.)

Outcome 1300: Enhanced participation and influence of ethnic minority women in shaping governance, policies, and programs related to Key Biodiversity Areas that are critical for biodiversity targets and climate resilience.

What Success Looks Like for Us

Financial inclusion activities are practical, context-specific, and responsive to ethnic minority women’s needs and constraints.
Financial education materials and delivery methods are adapted to local literacy levels, languages, financial practices, and livelihood realities.
Credit and savings groups or other community-based financial mechanisms are designed with clear governance, transparency, sustainability, and risk management considerations.
Women entrepreneurs and livelihood groups are better prepared to plan, cost, manage cash flow, and engage with financial service providers.
Financial institutions are supported to better understand and serve ethnic minority women clients through client-centric approaches.
Financial inclusion interventions are clearly linked to sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation.

Position and Reporting Lines

The Financial Inclusion Specialist will lead and support the design, implementation, monitoring, and adaptation of BLOOM’s financial inclusion activities. This includes financial education, savings and credit group strengthening, business readiness support, access-to-finance pathways, and engagement with financial institutions. The role requires both technical knowledge and practical implementation capacity. The successful candidate should be able to translate financial inclusion concepts into simple, usable tools and field activities that are relevant for ethnic minority women, rural households, livelihood groups, cooperatives, and local financial service providers.

Reporting Lines

While the Financial Inclusion Specialist operates with a high degree of technical independence, the role reports to and is guided by the project’s senior leadership:

Direct Report / Supervision: On a day-to-day basis, works under the direct guidance of the Technical Team Leader to ensure all financial inclusion strategies align with project goals.
Technical Guidance: Coordinates closely with DID technical advisors to maintain strict consistency with institutional financial inclusion technical standards.

Internal stakeholders

The position requires a highly collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. The Specialist works closely with the internal project team to sequence and technically align field activities:

Technical Specialists: Work with senior consultants and other technical specialists.
Operational & Provincial coordination: Coordinates with the Operations team and Provincial Coordinators to facilitate smoothly run field assessments and training tracking.

External stakeholders

The Specialist acts as a key liaison and technical advisor to external stakeholders, co-designing interventions and building local capacities. Primary external coordination lines include:

Local Authorities & Civil Society: Working directly with the Women’s Union, local authorities, and community groups.
Market & Financial Actors: Engaging with cooperatives, financial institutions, and microfinance providers to foster client-centric services.
Field Implementers: Managing and reviewing the outputs of external consultants and service providers.

Specific Tasks and Responsibilities

Project Delivery (50%)

Lead the planning, technical design, implementation, and adaptation of the project’s financial inclusion activities, in coordination with Socodevi, DID, and project technical teams.
Provide technical advice on financial education, savings, credit, debt management, household financial planning, business cash flow, digital financial services, and access to finance.
Support assessments of ethnic minority women’s financial education needs, financial behaviors, existing savings and credit practices, access-to-finance barriers, and use of formal and informal financial services.
Develop, adapt, or review financial education tools, training materials, coaching guides, practical exercises, assessment tools, terms of reference, activity proposals, consultant outputs, and reports related to financial inclusion
Lead and support the design and delivery of financial education activities for ethnic minority women, cooperative members, livelihood groups, and other target participants.
Support the creation or strengthening of credit and savings groups, ensuring practical governance arrangements, transparent record-keeping, risk management, and sustainability.
Support women entrepreneurs to improve business readiness, including costing, cash-flow management, savings planning, repayment capacity, and preparation for engagement with financial institutions.
Work with financial institutions to promote client-centric approaches that better serve ethnic minority women while supporting biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation objectives.

Partner and Stakeholder Engagement (30%)

Coordinate closely with DID technical advisors and Socodevi project staff to ensure consistency between project implementation and FI technical standards.
Work with financial institutions, Women’s Union, cooperatives, local authorities, community groups, consultants, and service providers to codesign and implement FI activities.
Support provincial teams in organizing consultations, assessments, trainings, workshops, coaching sessions, and field follow-up activities.
Facilitate linkages between ethnic minority women, livelihood groups, cooperatives, community-based financial mechanisms, and appropriate financial service providers.
Represent the project in relevant financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, rural finance, cooperative finance, or development networks where appropriate.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Communication (10%)

Work with the MEL Specialist to develop and apply practical indicators and tools to monitor FI results, including financial knowledge, savings behaviour, use of financial services, business readiness, and access-to-finance outcomes.
Support collection and analysis of sex-, ethnicity-, location-, and vulnerability-disaggregated data related to financial inclusion.

Prepare monthly/quarterly/annual implementation plans and reports.
Support knowledge sharing, documentation of lessons learned, and reporting on financial inclusion outcomes.
Collaborate closely with the Communications Officer to identify and leverage communications and media opportunities that promote Socodevi and DID’s work and increase their visibility within the wider development community in Vietnam and internationally.

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion mainstreaming (10%)

Work with the GE Specialist to ensure that FI activities are responsive to gender-related constraints, including literacy, mobility, time poverty, household decision-making, collateral, confidence, and access to information.
Apply basic safeguarding, inclusion, and do-no-harm considerations in financial education, savings and credit groups, and engagement with financial institutions.
Ensure that FI tools and delivery methods are accessible and appropriate for ethnic minority women, including women with lower literacy levels or limited prior experience with formal financial services.

Professional Requirements

Minimum:

Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Banking, Business Administration, Development Studies, Rural Development, Social Sciences, or a related field.
Core Experience: Minimum of 3 years in financial inclusion, rural finance, microfinance, financial education, community-based savings/credit mechanisms, women’s economic empowerment, or development programming.
Program Delivery: Proven track record of designing or implementing activities in Financial education & access-to-finance; Savings, credit, or business readiness for rural communities, women, small entrepreneurs, cooperatives, or vulnerable groups.
Content Creation: Experience developing or adapting training manuals, practical tools, coaching guides, or facilitation materials.
Partnership Network: Experience working alongside financial institutions, microfinance providers, the Women’s Union, cooperatives, local authorities, or community-based organizations.
Socio-Economic Insight: Strong understanding of the specific barriers ethnic minority women face regarding financial services, business development, savings, credit, and financial decision-making.

Languages: Strong written and verbal communication skills in Vietnamese; good working proficiency in English.

Collaboration: Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within multicultural, multidisciplinary teams.
IT: Proficiency in standard IT tools (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Desirable:

Advanced Credentials: Professional certification or advanced training in financial inclusion, microfinance, finance for nature, or gender equality.
Donor-Funded Project Experience: Prior experience working with international donors such as GAC, EU, UKAID, or DFAT.
Inclusive Finance Expertise: Strong background in women’s economic empowerment, gender-responsive and client-centric financial services, or inclusive market systems.
Community Finance Knowledge: Practical experience with credit/savings groups, revolving funds, cooperative finance, or digital financial services.
Resilient Livelihoods & Conservation: Familiarity with sustainable agriculture value chains, cooperative development, biodiversity conservation, or climate change adaptation.

Working Conditions

Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, with occasional evening and weekend work as needed.
Flexible Work Arrangements: Socodevi supports flexible work options, including work from home, adjusted hours, and job sharing, where feasible.
Contract Type: 12-month full-time employment contract, with strong potential for extension.
Workplace: Based in Hanoi, with regular travel to Tuyen Quang and Dak Lak provinces.

SOCODEVI Core Values

At Socodevi, we are committed to advancing gender equality and building an inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment for both the communities we serve and the people on our team. We welcome applications from women, ethnic minorities, and individuals with disabilities, and actively support flexible work arrangements, including job sharing, remote work and adjusted hours. We recognize that diverse perspectives and lived experiences strengthen our work, and we are committed to ensuring accessibility and equity at every stage of employment.

All staff are required to sign the Code of Conduct and the Policy Against Fraud and Corruption on an annual basis. The Code of Ethics, Safeguard Policy, and AntiTerrorism Policy are to be signed once upon hiring.

How to Apply

Please click on this link to access the online application form. Your CV and cover letter should clearly describe your experience in financial inclusion, financial education, rural finance, access to finance, savings and credit mechanisms, and work with local partners or communities.

Applications by email will not be accepted. Only short-listed candidates will be notified.

SOCODEVI offers a competitive compensation package, with offers based on the relevant experience and qualifications of the selected candidate. The closing date for applications: Sunday Jun 14^th, 2026 at 5:00 PM Hanoi time