About Us

Karandaaz Pakistan (KRN) is a not-for-profit organization, based out of Islamabad, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan under Section 42 of the Companies Act 2017. The entity has been seeded by Enterprise and Asset Growth Programme of UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and our digital finance initiatives are being funded by the Gates Foundation.

KRN is guided by the vision of Investing for Shared Prosperity, and driven by the mission to enhance capabilities of the financial and digital ecosystem through investments, innovations, and strategic partnerships for inclusive, green, and sustainable growth.

Karandaaz Digital aligns its efforts with the objectives of the Financial Services for the Poor (FSP) program of the Gates Foundation by prioritizing initiatives that promote financial inclusion through Digital Financial Services (DFS). KRN Digital is catalyzing the financial services industry towards greater inclusion by employing cutting-edge innovations and digital solutions for social impact. Collaborating with players across the financial services ecosystem, Karandaaz aims to improve access to digital finance for low-income, rural, and otherwise excluded population segments, especially women. KRN Digital aims to work with stakeholders to facilitate the digitization of government and other payment streams, and to support innovative digital financial service startups with a special focus on 4 areas of engagement.

Position Summary

KRN is seeking a technology-focused professional with experience in implementing complex technology projects and a strong background in enterprise architecture, IT Governance, and IT Security. The individual selected would interface with vendors and key stakeholders to define infrastructure requirements, to manage prototype development, and to communicate the technology strategies to a wide audience. The individual will serve as an in-house technical expert on the DFS team and will be expected to provide technical expertise to shape and influence DPI project, activities, and deliverables. Furthermore, the individual will support in shaping the team’s understanding of technology landscape and play a key role in making digital transformation projects successful.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Review all technical components of the work plan to create an implementation road map for the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) unit within Karandaaz Digital.
• Establish a set of core technology design principles that will serve to guide technical interventions in digital transformation projects.
• Identify critical technology gaps in the DPI infrastructure and highlight the opportunities to address them.
• Assess potential technical components of a project and give recommendations based on current available solutions and global best practices considering a long-term landscape.
• Create Terms of Reference and Scope of Work for RFIs/RFPs/EOIs, in line with Karandaaz procurement policies, to engage technical consultants and technology consulting companies for development of digital solutions.
• Create technology agreements/contracts with consulting companies or technology service providers.
• Manage the implementation of technology projects through effective project management and timely collaboration between vendors and various internal/external stakeholders.
• Provide financial forecasting for implementation of technology infrastructure and digital transformation projects.
• Undertake effective project management and timely collaboration between vendors and various internal/external stakeholders; ensuring end-to-end implementation and deployment of technology solutions for Pakistan’s DPI landscape.
• Provide expert advisory on DPI Technology to senior management, internal and external stakeholders.
• Maintain updated technical knowledge of developments in areas relevant to the DPI platforms, including e-government platforms, payment solutions, technology standards and frameworks, industry best practices, latest innovations in delivery channels, etc. Be able to communicate this information to a range of technical and non-technical audiences.
• Any other tasks necessary to ensure the utmost performance of the DPI team.

Eligibility

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Computer Sciences or related fields. Master’s degree in similar disciplines will be preferred.
• 8-10 years of experience in the digital public infrastructure and/or digital financial services domain.
• Demonstrated experience in designing technical solution architectures, particularly in the DPI and digital financial services space.
• Experience managing complex technology projects and teams to on-time and on-budget delivery.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Deep understanding of digital payments services, IT Governance, IT Security, IT Service Management, Software Development Life Cycle, API management, enterprise architecture, technology project management, etc.
• Strong understanding of open-source development and developer community, and active engagement with tech innovators.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills.
• Ability to communicate large and complex ideas and recommendations to a diverse set of stakeholders including highly technical and non-technical audience.
• Ability to think out of the box and solve critical technology issues and communicate solution recommendations to a disparate group of stakeholders.
• Must have the ability to be self-driven, highly organized, and work effectively in a diverse team.

Culture and Values at Karandaaz

Karandaaz culture is guided by our values of Integrity, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, Appreciation and Learning Acumen (IDEAL). These values shape our choices on what we do and the approach that we take towards it, both with colleagues internally and partners externally. We also believe that we are all responsible for creating a great place to work and are constantly looking to hire individuals who bring the same level of passion and commitment to the purpose of the organization.

If you believe in the Karandaaz vision and values and feel excited about the work we are offering, please send us your application for this position.

Karandaaz Pakistan is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications by all population groups.