Practical Action
Job
Vacancy: Africa
Partnerships & Special Initiatives Lead
Reporting
to: Africa Director
Directorate: Africa
Financial
Scope: N/A
Location: Africa
(in one of the Practical Action Africa entities) – Rwanda, Sudan, Senegal)
Duration: Fixed
Term – Contract Duration will be aligned with conditions of where the role is
based.
Grade: TBA
according to specific country
Travel: Frequent
About
Us
We
are an international development organization putting ingenious ideas to work
so people in poverty can change their world.
We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems.
Challenges
made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality.
We
work with communities to develop ingenious, lasting and locally owned solutions
for agriculture, water and waste management, climate resilience and clean
energy. And we share what works with others, so answers that start small can
grow big.
We’re
a global change-making group.
The
group consists of a UK registered charity with community projects in Africa,
Asia and Latin America, an independent development publishing company and a
technical consulting service. We combine these specialisms to multiply our
impact and help shape a world that works better for everyone.
Our
Vision: Practical Action’s vision is of a world that works better for
everyone.
Our
Aims
We
help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems, made worse
by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality.
Our
aims are to:
· Make
agriculture work better for smallholder farmers, many of them women, so they
can adapt to climate change and achieve a good standard of living
· Help
more people harness the transformational effects of clean affordable energy and
reduce avoidable deaths caused by smoke from indoor stoves and fires.
· Make
cities in poorer countries cleaner, healthier places to live and work.
· Build
disaster resilience into the lives of people threatened by hazards – reducing
the risk of hazards and minimizing their impact on lives and livelihoods.
How We
Work
We
work on holistic solutions that change systems and have a framework to help us
achieve the aims:
· Analyze
the root causes of a poverty and vulnerability
· Define
the change at scale we need to make
· Develop
activities along three complementary paths: Demonstrate, Learn and Inspire.
·
Demonstrate that our solutions are sustainable in the real world
·
Learn by capturing evidence and adapting our approach
·
Inspire wider support to multiply our impact.
Our
Organisation
Practical
Action is an unconventional, multi-disciplinary change-making organization
· A
highly innovative community development charity operating in Africa, Asia and
Latin America. Practical Action community projects use ingenious ideas to
design, test, refine and prove new ways to overcome poverty and disadvantage
and then ‘open-source’ knowledge of what works so that it can be implemented at
a greater scale by others.
· A
world-class consulting operation that helps socially responsible business,
government policy makers and other development organizations. This draws on
learnings from our own development work as well as the combined brainpower of a
roster of over 2,000 expert consultants. Practical Action Consulting helps to
extend the reach of our influence by providing the best advice to others, whose
work can make a bigger difference.
· A
well-respected specialist development publisher. Practical Action Publishing
brings together development practitioners, researchers and thought leaders to
create publications that stimulate discussion, strengthen peoples’ capabilities
and inspire sustainable change.
About
The Role
The
role works with and supports the Africa Director in making sure the Africa
strategy is on track, the Africa agenda on climate is taken forward and
business development is kept live and vibrant.
It
supports the African countries in scanning business environments, funding
intelligence and business communications to ensure that our work is effectively
and widely communicated internally and externally.
The
role requires an all-rounded dependable, energetic, and highly skilled team
member with research Business Development and Communication background who is
ready to take on the following responsibilities:
· Coordinating
the design, implementation, and evaluation of multi country programming in the
region and share knowledge of climate change, professional experience and
networks to enhance programmes and activities.
· Coordinate
engagements between Country and Global offices on mainstreaming climate and
gender transformation in program design and implementation.
· Take a
lead in climate change advocacy either directly or through strategic
partnerships with a focus on enhancing vulnerable communities to be resilient
to climate hazards.
· The
role supports MEL teams and coordinates engagement on learning following the
Africa Director’s initiatives to make sure that there is learning at regional
level.
· Support
Africa Director in pursuing business opportunities and lead in all relevant
influencing spaces to enhance our visibility and positioning.
· Deliver
effective communications, presentations, writing winning proposals and take
donors forward.
· Develop
powerful concept notes and leading our business development network to build
skills, capabilities and improve our overall fundraising performance.
· Tracking,
identifying, and pursuing strategic opportunities and building/strengthening
our relationships with key donors.
· Work
with multilateral and bilateral organizations such as UN, World Bank, IFAD,
UNFCCC, AU, IGAD, AFBD etc. and identify events and spaces where Practical
Action would participate.
Accountabilities:
Strategic
Alignment
· Understand
Practical Action’s change ambitions including the Climate Resilience,
Agriculture and Energy in each country and region and support in the
development of plans for effective and quality delivery of work.
· Have
capacity to analyze and integrate the cultural, political and economic factors
for the RCO – using a systems thinking approach.
· Ensure
firm integration of a transformative gender approach in our work.
· Oversees
the growth of funding, ensuring our fundraising strategy and approaches are
aligned to the Strategic Business Plan, coaching RCO teams to develop
ambitious, strategically aligned and realistic funding plans relevant to their
local market conditions.
· Being
accountable for measuring and monitoring progress and performance and adjusting
course where required.
· Coordinate
the translation of evidence and impact into winning proposals.
External
Engagement & Influencing
· Supports
Africa Director to Promote our change ambitions with donors and in external
fora, seeking to engage institutional donors both as funders and as shapers of
policy and development priorities.
· Developing
of resources for inspiring institutional donors with our story.
· Engage
with partners, technical institutions, private sector and civil society
organization on the development agenda
Communications
and Business Development
· Puts in
place and ensures the effective operation of a streamlined intelligence
gathering system that allows for opportunity identification and screening.
· Takes a
lead role in scanning the market for new funding mechanisms and works with the
Africa Director to determine how and when to test and pursue such
opportunities.
· Develops
strong and effective communication flows with RCOs on institutional donor
opportunities, liaising closely with the International Operations Managers.
· Builds
and maintains critical knowledge about institutional donor requirements,
approaches, strategies and makes these easily available to RCOs.
· Present
funding ideas and concepts to appropriate stakeholders and donors.
· Review
assessments and baseline studies to gather and prepare background information
and data to support donor engagement and fundraising at regional level.
· Using
collaboration and influencing skills to work effectively with colleagues across
Practical Action to lead, plan, prepare and write major strategic bids for
funding. This will involve working proactively with people from a range of
cultures, backgrounds, disciplines and across time zones.
· Coordinate
relationships with potential donors during the proposal writing process
developing a keen understanding of their requirements and ensuring this is
understood by those developing proposals.
· Develop
good understanding and a pipeline of prospects by liaising with colleagues in
country offices to understand potential opportunities and carrying out detailed
donor mapping, engagement as well as partnership management.
Additional
Requirements for the job: The role occasionally requires
very intense periods of working – either where you are based or in the country
where specific support is required. The ability to flex a working schedule and
to travel is a requirement of this role.
Person
Specification:
· Mature,
open-minded, and willing team member who is ready to engage with Africa
Director to make the African regional portfolio successful.
· Undergraduate
and/or post-graduate qualification in relevant subject is desirable (Climate
Change, Agriculture, Development Studies, Economics, and related fields).
· A
minimum to 5 years’ experience working with an NGO or UN agency or equivalent,
is preferred.
· Experience
in programming of MEL systems explaining background and evidence in impact.
· Knowledge
of gender and social inclusion for climate change and a strong track record of
work in international development.
· Professional
experience in the field of international development, preferably with a good
portion of that gained in overseas contexts.
· Strong
understanding and experience of new business development, opportunity
identification, quality proposal development, partnership management, donor
mapping and engagement.
· Empathy
with Practical Action’s vision, mission, and values.
· Ability
to travel 14-16 weeks per year.
· Good
experience in business development or project design and reporting.
· Expertise
in representation and negotiation with governments and donors.
· Demonstrated
experience on development and humanitarian aid experience, preferably in the
context of Climate change, resilience, and gender transformation.
· Must be
able to relate and represent Practical Action to major program partners, in a
highly professional manner and communicate clearly and sensitively with
internal and external stakeholders.
· Gender
awareness and cultural sensitivity a must.
· Good
level management and problem-solving skills.
· Strong
understanding of print, radio, television and online media.
· Computer
knowledge including Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
Skills,
Abilities and Competencies:
· Outstanding
documentation and packaging of influential knowledge products, case studies
and most significant change stories.
· Good
communicator who is willing to engage RCOs in sharing knowledge and learning to
inspire and influence.
· Good
participation in and contribute to national and global discourses on climate
resilience
and project management systems and processes.
· Ability
to work in differing cultural contexts, using the most appropriate
methodologies for
adoption of change in each context.
· Proven
ability to implement a profile-raising strategy that builds Practical Action’s
profile in
RCOs, to make us the go-to agency of choice for all actors seeking technical
advice relating to
our work.
· Generate
knowledge and communication products for relationship building with
donors/clients, potential donors/clients, partners and key government bodies.
· Excellent
written and oral communications skills in English, with a second language
(French, Spanish, Arabic) desirable.
· Commitment
to Practical Action overall aims, policies and experience of promoting gender
equity, diversity and the interests of marginalized people in all aspects of
the work.
· Excellent
facilitation skills with the ability to listen, lead and build teams.
· Ability
to work collaboratively across teams, influence and enable where direct line
management does not exist, and to contribute strategically.
Application
Information
Location: This
role is being advertised to attract suitable candidates from across Africa and
beyond. The successful candidate could be based in any of the countries with a
Practical Action presence – Rwanda, Sudan, Senegal, Kenya & Zimbabwe
therefore the Right to Work for therespective country is essential.
Remote
working / home working is possible with this role.
Salary: The
salary and benefits will be applied according to the salary scale in the
country where the candidate is appointed.
Practical
Action is an equal opportunities employer, and we encourage applications from
under-represented groups.
We
stay committed to cultivating an inclusive and diverse working environment and
believe that people from different backgrounds or cultures give us different
perspectives, and the more perspectives we have, the more successful we will
be. By building a culture where everyone feels heard, respected and valued we
give everyone working with us the opportunity to achieve their full
potential.
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. Please note that should we
recruit a suitable candidate before the closing date, we will close
applications earlier than the specified date.
How to
Apply:
Submit
your CV and a supporting statement outlining your suitability for the role to
Human.Capital@practicalaction.org.zw
Closing
date for applications: Tuesday 14th February 2023.
Tentative
Date for 1st Interview: Tuesday 21st February 2023
Tentative
Date for 2nd Interview: Friday 24th February 2023
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