Malawi: Country Representative

COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE FOR MALAWI

Summary

Date of issue : 14th August, 2015

Closing date : 4^th September, 2015

Location : Lilongwe, Malawi

Duration : 21 days

JOB DECRIPTION

Background

Practical Action Southern Africa, part of an international technology development organisation head quartered in the United Kingdom with other offices in East Africa, Latin America and South Asia, is recruiting a Country Representative for Malawi, to be based in Lilongwe, Malawi.

The Country Representative will lead the development and delivery of Practical Action’s Southern Africa Strategy in Malawi primarily through consultancy delivery but also through longer term charitable development programming.

Malawi is the regional target for Practical Action and in prioritizing this Practical Action has committed resourcing and budget to support this development and has also formally registered PAC as a local company in Malawi.

Working closely with the Managing Director of Practical Action Consulting (PAC) and the Regional Director for Southern Africa, she/he will have a key role in relationship building, networking with potential donors and clients, developing and fulfilling a business plan to grow our profile and portfolio in the region, securing funding, managing projects and consultants and overseeing the delivery of Practical Action’s work while honoring organizational standards and values.

Key Outputs for the role:

• A strong and long term strategy for Practical Action in Malawi and strategic relationships to deliver it.
• Practical Action seen as a key development stakeholder by external actors in Malawi and the region including government, NGOs and stakeholders including the private sector.

Objectives within the contract will include;

1.Establish Practical Action Malawi Strategy

• Based on Practical Action’s strengths, develop an initial 2 year strategy for establishing PAC in Malawi. Then develop a longer term strategic vision.
• Establish short and medium term objectives for growing our work in Malawi
• Develop a fundraising strategy for 2015 – 2017 and annual fundraising plans

2.Profile raising and networking

• Represent Practical Action Consulting and Practical Action in Malawi
• Implement a profile-raising strategy that builds Practical Action’s profile in Malawi and in the region, to make us the go-to agency of choice for all actors seeking consultancy support and technical advice relating to energy access, climate change adaptation, agriculture, urban services and markets.
• Build relationships with donors/clients, potential donors/clients, partners and key government bodies.
• Proactively approach donors and clients to market PAC areas of expertise, pitching innovative solutions and securing client interest and funding.
• Raise profile of the organisation and achieve high visibility in Southern Africa by influencing key institutions (identify opportunities or events where we can be more strategic for this purpose)
• Keep abreast of news and developments across the funding environment and up to date with all the necessary policies, procedures, and systems.

3.Portfolio development / income generation and office management

· Independently conduct the day-to-day operational management and implementation of all activities pertaining to fund development and management under general directions and supervision

• Secure funding from institutional donors with inputs from consultants in the region, and Practical Actions International teams.
• Build PAC’s portfolio in Malawi, securing funding across our thematic areas, aiming to increase the number of successful proposals, the quantity of income and the number of clients on an annual basis.
• Explore opportunities for PAC by analyzing the priorities and funding strategies of potential clients, initiating dialogues and putting into action strategies to position PAC to access such funding.
• Manage the budget for Malawi office, including efficient financial reporting of any expenditure
• Lead and manage the consultancy team in Malawi and any team members based in Harare or the wider region.
• Develop a risk analysis of work in the region, and prepare regular updates on any areas for concern and risk mitigation measures.

4.Develop strategic partnerships with consultants and other local/regional actors

• Form strategic partnerships to deliver knowledge sharing service in Malawi
• Build a strong network of associate consultants (international and local consultants, researchers, academics, technical specialists) in our thematic areas
• Build links with suitable partner organisations (local and international NGOs, academic institutions, private sector/consultancy actors as appropriate) in our thematic areas

5.Knowledge sharing and project management

• Identify and secure specific partnerships to facilitate the effective sharing of knowledge around appropriate technologies in Southern Africa. Partners might be in the public, private or third sectors, or may be knowledge networks.
• Follow-up leads / funding opportunities on behalf of Practical Action Consulting
• Respond quickly and effectively to appropriate funding opportunities (calls for proposals, tenders, EoIs), pulling together well written proposals, often to short deadlines.
• Deliver components of consultancy assignments as an expert (depending on skill set of selected candidate, potentially deliver consultancy assignments in technical thematic areas in addition to overall project management and quality assurance functions).
• Coordination and Management of assignments/projects/consultants in Malawi

6.Coordination across Practical Action

• Have good coordination with UK-based functional Heads and the international teams.
• Proactively share updates across Practical Action and engage with multi-regional initiatives e.g. Global Groups

Person specification

· At least a Master’s degree in a technical specialism relevant to Practical Action work (energy, climate change, market development, food security, Development Studies, Economics);

· At least seven years active involvement in development work and/or management of consulting services;

· Demonstrable skills in marketing consulting services and exposure to dealing with diverse clientele in the context of racial, ethnic and cultural diversity;

· Proven expertise and knowledge in development of winning proposals, contract delivery and management.

Address and email all applications to: The Human Resources and Administration Officer at Human.Capital@practicalaction.org.zwby not later than the 4th September, 2015.

http://www.practicalaction.org/jobs