Practical Action
Head of Global Distributors Collective (GDC)
Location: Flexible location
Salary: This is a senior
post with commensurate salary. Salary will be benchmarked against local
conditions.
Launched in 2018, the Global Distributors Collective is a
collective of over 180 last mile distribution companies that cumulatively reach
millions of the poorest consumers in the world with beneficial products such as
solar lights, water filters and improved cookstoves.
The GDC was established in 2018 to support its members and develop the last mile distribution sector as a whole.
It provides a collective voice for its members to ensure their
priorities are supported; drives research and innovation across the sector;
facilitates the exchange of information, insight and expertise; and provides
critical services that leverage economies of scale.
The GDC has a strong track record of delivery, a clear strategy
and secure funding for three years and significant potential for further
development.
We have a dynamic and highly collaborative team working within
Practical Action (5 staff) and in our strategic/implementing partner Bopinc.
We are seeking an exceptional leader with expertise in last mile
distribution to grow and guide the GDC through its next phase, deliver value
for members, and help ensure that life-changing products can be made affordable
and available to all.
We offer flexible working hours and have a hybrid working
policy.
We believe that having a diverse and inclusive workplace culture
based on respect will enable us to be an effective organisation.
We seek to create an inclusive workplace in which people are
accepted as individuals, regardless of their differences and where they feel
their contribution is valued.
We treat all applications for employment on their merits and do
not take into consideration any factors that are not relevant to the job such
as disability, race, age, religion, gender, gender reassignment or sexual
orientation.
Practical Action is committed to safeguarding and protecting
children and vulnerable adults and as such candidates will be subject to
pre-employment checks including criminal checks and terrorist financing.
About the Global
Distributors Collective
The GDC is a collective of last mile distributors around the
world, dedicated to supporting distributors to help them reach millions of
underserved customers with life-changing products, and to developing the last
mile distribution sector as a whole.
The GDC is the world’s only entity dedicated to supporting last
mile distributors across sectors and across geographies.
Our vision is a world in which all communities have access to
beneficial products that improve their lives.
1.
Our mission is to help last mile distributors make beneficial
products available and affordable to all. We have two strategic goals:
2.
Help distributors improve business performance, by providing –
and enabling others to provide – solutions and services that help save time,
reduce costs, build capacity and develop catalytic partnerships.
Build a collective voice for the sector by generating and
sharing learnings, raising the profile of distributors, and helping the broader
ecosystem to work effectively with distributors to achieve shared impact goals.
Launched in 2018, the GDC is hosted by Practical Action
alongside strategic and implementing partner Bopinc, and is guided by an
Advisory Council comprised of both experts and member representatives.
The GDC has nearly 200 members operating across more than 50
countries.
The GDC has been supported by a range of funding partners to
date, most significantly UK Aid through the Transforming Energy Access Program,
but also USAID, GET.Invest, IBAN, British Investment International (formerly
CDC), EEP and others.
The Role
The purpose of this role is to lead, champion and provide
oversight of Practical Action’s flagship innovation initiative, the Global
Distributors Collective (GDC).
The role of Head of the Global Distributors Collective involves:
· leading the GDC team,
currently 5 full-time staff within Practical Action as well as associates and
consortium team members
· leading the GDC’s
strategy, and overseeing its implementation;
· leading the GDC Steering
Committee (consortium partners) and Advisory Council (high level experts and
member representatives);
· being the key face and
spokesperson for the GDC and its 200+ membership, including speaking at key
international and regional events;
· creating and maintaining
high level and influential relationships and partnerships with stakeholders
including members, impact investors, foundations, aid agencies, government
institutions, and multilateral institutions, to build our profile and
relationships to advance our last mile distribution agenda.
· driving strategic
development and fundraising that will enable the GDC to deliver though its
current phase and beyond;
· supporting the GDC
Project Manager to ensure high quality, timely delivery and financial controls
across the GDC’s workstreams;
· supporting the GDC
Communications Manager to ensure high quality, timely delivery of
communications and member engagement activities across all our workstreams,
e.g., events, webinars, brokering technical advisory support, etc.
· serving as a key technical
expert on last mile distribution, leading and providing strategic technical
input into GDC workstreams.
· Providing steer and
thought leadership on all aspects of last mile distribution, for example
through shaping and authoring high profile research outputs, authoring
blogs/articles.
· In addition, as
Practical Action’s lead expert on last mile distribution, this role involves
acting as a strategic technical adviser for the broader organisation. This
involves driving innovation, providing strategic input into proposals and
projects and brokering strategic partnerships in last mile distribution work
across the organisation.
Scope
Title: Head of the
Global Distributors Collective
Reporting to: Head of
International Operations, Practical Action
Directorate: Operations
Direct reports: GDC Project Manager, GDC
Communications and Impact Manager, GDC Senior Consultant
Relationships
· External consultants
· Consortium members,
Steering Committee and Advisory Council
· Internal relationships:
Regional and Country Teams, Influence and Information Teams, Marketing
Directorate
Financial scope: To oversee project
budgets in range £30k to £3m per annum. To oversee team finances, including
delivery against annually agreed income generation targets
Location: Worldwide – to be
negotiated
Contract type: Permanent. This is a
full-time position working 35 hours per week. An agile working scheme is in
operation, which allows flexible hours and hybrid/remote working and
flexibility may be required to meet project or proposal deadlines).
Grade: A
Travel: 6-8 weeks per year
Person Profile
The ideal candidate is a senior leader with recognised expertise
in last mile distribution, strong active networks in the sector (particularly
with the private sector and donor/investor community) and significant
experience in fundraising and business development.
The ability to build the capabilities of colleagues and
effectively manage a team is essential, as well as the ability to lead a
partner consortium.
Experience &
Knowledge
Essential
· Masters in a relevant
discipline or equivalent work experience
· In-depth and
high-profile expertise in last mile distribution, or possibly inclusive
business, and/or energy access.
· Demonstrated experience
of working in partnership with diverse organisations
· Business development
experience including preparing proposals, winning work and programme/contract
management
· Proven experience of
successful high-level engagement and networking, and established relationships
with key stakeholders in the LMD space
· Proven leadership and
management experience of an organisation/unit
· Experience of living and
working in markets in which last mile distributors operate
· Excellent strategic and
analytical thinking skills
· Ability to innovate and
build and implement strategies and systems-wide interventions
· Excellent communication
and influencing skills across cultures and mediums, including proven technical
writing and presentation/ communication/ advocacy skills.
· Fluency in written and
spoken English essential
· Strong project
management abilities, including finance and contract management, client and
stakeholder management and managing inputs from team members, consultants and
partners
· Experience in motivating
and building the capacities of others
· Fluency in French
CLICK HERE for more details.
How to Apply
If you believe that you are the leader the GDC is looking for,
then we would like to hear from you.
Please submit a copy of your CV and a supporting statement that
describes your suitability for the role to recruitment@practicalaction.org.uk
Closing date for
applications: Sunday 27th November 2022
Interview Process:
· First round of
interviews to be conducted provisionally in the week commencing 28 November
2022
· Second round of
interviews to be conducted provisionally in the week of 12 December 2022
