National Financial Services Assessment Expert (Lao PDR)

About the role

The assignment is a donor‑funded consultancy to assess the Lao financial services market and design a partnership model for delivering cash grants to rural youth entrepreneurs. The expert will work from Vientiane with travel to provincial sites over roughly three months (November 2026 – February 2027).

Key responsibilities

• Map banks, MFIs, credit unions, village funds, mobile‑money agents and other providers that could receive grant funds.
• Evaluate each provider on soundness, governance, operational capacity, rural reach, digital channels, pricing and experience with donor disbursements.
• Identify Bank of the Lao PDR requirements for each disbursement route.
• Analyse access conditions for rural youth, including documentation, distance, handset coverage, cost and gender‑specific barriers.
• Contribute evidence for disbursement mechanics, onboarding, fees, fund safeguarding and reconciliation.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews, field visits and draft the national sections of the final deliverables.
• Present findings in both Lao and English.

Required profile

• Lao national or resident with the right to work and invoice in Lao PDR.
• Degree in finance, economics, banking or a related discipline.
• Minimum eight years of experience in the financial sector or financial inclusion, with at least five years in Lao PDR.
• Proven experience assessing Lao financial service providers and familiarity with the Bank of the Lao PDR framework.
• Track record on donor‑funded assignments, strong field‑research capability and professional proficiency in Lao and English.
• Availability for the November 2026 – February 2027 period.

Required skills

• Financial sector analysis and assessment.
• Stakeholder interview and field research.
• Report writing to donor standards in English and Lao.