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25 Sep 2015

Full-Time Private Sector Engagement Technical Advisor

GERES – Posted by GERES ឃុំ ប៉ាក់ខ្លង, កោះកុង, Cambodia

Job Description

1/ BACKGROUND

The Group for the Environment, Renewable Energy and Solidarity (GERES) is an international NGO founded in 1976 after the first Oil Shock. Today, a team of 230 professionals work on more than 60 development projects in South East Asia, West Africa, Central Asia, and Europe-Mediterranean. In South-East Asia, GERES established operations in Cambodia in 1994 and in Myanmar in 2013. Since its inception in 1976, GERES has provided sustainable and energy-efficient solutions for a dual purpose: improving livelihoods and economic empowerment of vulnerable populations. GERES’ main focus areas are access to energy for the poor, economic development, environmental conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, reducing health impacts, gender empowerment and enhancement of policies.

2/CONTEXT

The Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Technical Advisor (TA) is a member of GERES Southeast Asia’s (GSEA’s) Technical Advisors Unit. This is a newly formed team that gathers cross-cutting expertise to inform the conceptualization, design, implementation, and monitoring of GSEA programs through targeted technical assistance as relevant to each TA’s subject matter expertise. GSEA’s growing portfolio of programs currently spans across areas of: technical and business capacity building of the largest business association in Cambodia operating in the improved cookstove value chain; private sector-led production and commercialization of improved cookstoves across Cambodia’s Kampong Cham province; development of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) for Cambodia’s sustainable charcoal value chain including the design of sustainable financing frameworks; and support for small-enterprise incubation and their eventual spin-off.

In supporting all aforementioned programmatic efforts, the PSE Technical Advisor works closely with each project’s respective Project Manager, program teams, and the Business Development and Marketing Specialist to ensure that project implementation follows a coherent private sector development strategy hinged upon pro-poor market-based approaches. The Technical Advisor also offers targeted technical assistance spanning across PSE thematic areas including the development of inclusive value chains and their financing; micro-, small-, and medium-enterprises (MSME) development; and organizational development and institutional strengthening of entities such as industry associations. The Technical Advisor also provides thought leadership to guide the growth of GSEA’s portfolio of programs and the organization’s positioning in relevant PSE areas by staying abreast of the industry’s evolvement, actively participating in new business development efforts including forging partnerships with relevant stakeholders, and contributing to positioning GSEA as an expert in PSE interventions by developing an individual portfolio of projects through sales of external consulting services.

The PSE Technical Advisor is responsible for the direct supervision of one staff, the Business Development and Marketing Specialist, and therein, staff mentoring and capacity building in all relevant PSE programmatic areas. These supervision responsibilities may expand in the future, particularly to include supervision of external consultants mobilized for program implementation.

At a GERES global-level, the PSE Technical Advisor will also work closely with GERES’s ECODEV Project Manager located at GERES Headquarters. ECODEV is a recently created program seeking to institutionalize pro-poor market-based approaches and principles and mainstream such approaches across GERES’s portfolio of projects globally. The PSE Technical Advisor may also be mobilized for short-term technical assistance support to other GERES regions in relevant thematic areas to PSE. 

3/MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

3-1/TEAM MANAGEMENT

• Ensure team members are managed by objectives that are regularly define collectively and provide a clear understanding of team member responsibilities;
• Plan and anticipate team member workload;
• Ensure the follow-up of team members work, facilitate regular teams meetings;
• Mediate team member and internal clients dialogue to ensure effective working relationships;
• Implement existing set of HR and Knowledge management tools to ensure team member well-being and personal development (annual development review, regular career development meeting, personal and team trainings plans) and ensure team building;
• Advise the Cambodia Country Director, and as necessary, the GSEA Regional Director on future team staffing needs according to anticipated unit activity;
• Liaise with other colleagues working on related issues to capitalize on internal existing track-record, methodologies and expertise.

3-2/TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR GSEA PROGRAMS AND GSEA PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT

• Identify current needs for PSE services on on-going projects. Support programming at fundraising stage to mainstream market-based approaches and finance unit services and development;
• Identify, engage and negotiate key partnerships with other development stakeholders to refine PSE unit core mandate while building on existing resources to ensure efficiency;
• Work closely with other GSEA Technical Advisors, and notably the Climate Change and Development Technical Advisor, and the Fundraising and Partnership unit to harmonize PSE unit activities, avoid overlaps and contribute collectively to the strategic plan of GSEA and its integration of social strategic and operational (communication) marketing within the scope of the unit;
• Explore, engage and operationalize projects with novel stakeholders in the development sphere, and notably the financing continuum from CSR portfolios to impact investors to leverage private funding to finance development projects and input on opportunities to improve GSEA business model;
• Ensure a sectorial intelligence / watch on private sector development approach in the development industry and translate/transfer key findings and update through digestible briefs to PSE and other development teams and management;
• Identify, formulate and operationalize new services that can bring added value to GSEA projects, notably with regards to entrepreneurial capacity building and improved access to finance to GSEA’s projects’ beneficiaries;
• Contribute to develop a complementary expertise of policy design and policy-making recommendations for project governmental partners, using knowledge drawn from PSE analysis

3-3/TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO OTHER GERES REGIONS

• As relevant, support GERES’ projects in specific regions, including in fragile settings, to develop and strengthen their business development interventions through short-term targeted technical assistance.
• Cooperate with project teams to define relevant and manageable scopes of work to guide appropriate technical assistance support.
• Ensure the production of highly-quality deliverables as an outcome of such consultancies by gathering key contextual knowledge, adapting interventions with strong involvement from local teams, and developing realistic inventions in accordance with team capacities

3-4/FINANCIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE UNIT MANAGEMENT

• Comply with GSEA HR, Financial and logistics related process and reporting;
• Provide to the GSEA Regional Director and keep up to date an annual budget to set annual objectives, notably with the short-term objective to stabilize the funding of the unit by project-based financial streams (institutional donor’s external funding) and advise on strategies to finance unit development.

3-5/OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT

• Ensure guidance, support, quality control of the unit’s deliverables and client feedbacks
• Report regularly on operational activities directly to the GSEA Regional Director; engage in monthly GSEA Development meetings and monthly GSEA management meetings;
• Ensure that PSE activities are designed with and understood by internal clients; draft internal ToR when required;
• Prepare external communication and advocacy materials; ensure a representation of GSEA in regional forums, workshop and working group related to the PSE approach and expertise;
• Build and keep up to date a track-record of delivered activities

4/QUALIFICATIONS

4-1/EXPERIENCE

•At least 5 years of progressive experience in managing and implementing international projects, either in the private, public or civil society sector. While good knowledge of the development sphere (its methodologies & tools, its stakeholders, public and private financers, and trends) is a strong plus, priority is given to applicants with proven track-record on enterprise financing, growth and support;
• Previous international experience in an emerging or developing country required.

4-2/ EDUCATION & TRAINING

• Master degree in economics, development economics, business management, finance / audit, marketing, project management;
• A demonstrated willingness to continuous learning

4-3/SKILLS

• Diplomacy, tact, capacity to remain calm under pressure and not lose sight of strategic priorities;
• Good interpersonal skill, problem solving oriented and driven by results;
• Ability to translate in an efficient and simple way economics and business concepts, tools and literature to a non-specialist audience;
• Strong interest to understand the life and constraints of the poorest, the risk they face and their aspirations. Ability to learn from observation and question one’s own preconceived idea;
• Passionate on how development economics with a focus on how entrepreneurship can contribute to poverty alleviation;
• Excellent communication (written and presentational) skills required;
• Flexible, willing to adapt and take on new ideas;
• Commitment to the mandate and values of GERES;
• Enjoys working in a multicultural environment;
• Mature and professional attitude and approach;
• Capacity to work in demanding settings
• Proficiency in English essential, good command of French and/or khmer is a plus;
• Very comfortable with standard office software

5/CONDITIONS

• Status: French expatriate contract (CDDU)
• Duration: 12 months
• Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Start date: As soon as possible
• Gross monthly salary: according to GERES salary scale, profile & experience
• Paid leaves: 26 days per year
• Other advantages: Monthly living allowance (330$), health, unemployment and retirement insurances, repatriation insurance
• 1 round trip ticket per year between Cambodia and home country

How to Apply

Contact: GERES HR department To apply: Please send your résumé and cover letter (in English), no later than October 16th by email at mailto:[email protected] (applications by phone are not accepted). Reference to specify: GSA_PSE TA Web site: http://www.geres.eu/

Job Categories: Economic Development. Job Types: Full-Time.

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