iDE

VACANCY CIRCULAR
iDE Bangladesh

Senior Sectoral Expert – Private Sector Engagement

iDE is an international NGO with over 40 years of experience in designing and delivering market-based anti-poverty programs in 11 countries. iDE was one of the first organisations to unlock the power of markets to fight poverty, reaching over 39 million people since 1982. iDE Bangladesh is the oldest iDE country programme, operated since 1982. Over the last four decades, iDE Bangladesh has focused on innovation in agriculture, food and nutrition security, WASH, clean energy, green enterprise development and women's economic empowerment with a market-based approach to address the increasing challenges climate change poses.

iDE Bangladesh is currently seeking a qualified Senior Sectoral Expart- Private Sector Engagement for a project titled “Nature Based Adaptation towards Prosperous and Adept Lives & Livelihoods in Bangladesh (NABAPALLAB/ নবপল্লব)” funded by UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). CARE Bangladesh led consortium has been selected to implement the project in two Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) – Sundarbans and Hakaluki Haor. The other consortium members are CNRS, CordAid, C3ER-BRAC University, Dushtha Shasthya Kendra (DSK), Friendship, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), iDE, and Practical Action. It is a key component of the Bangladesh-UK Accord on Climate Change and will deliver the adaptation outcome of the FCDO’s flagship Bangladesh Climate and Environment Program (BCEP). The program will make a significant contribution in Bangladesh to progress against GoB’s policies and priorities e.g., National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), commitments to biodiversity conservation, ongoing 8th Five Year Plan, etc. And it will also contribute to UK’s commitment to International Climate Finance (ICF).

The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, and Hakaluki Haor, a complex wetland system of the Meghna-Surma River basin, play a crucial role in protecting lives and livelihoods in the southwest coast and northeast Bangladesh respectively. With a population of over 4 million and a rich habitat with rare species, including tigers, the Sundarbans' inhabitants are threatened by climate changes due to rising sea levels and frequent cyclones. Over-extraction of forest resources by locals and industrial development in the nearby areas is currently threatening this World Heritage Site. Hakaluki Haor is one of the most extensive marsh wetlands in the country, inhabited by over 200,000 people and 558 animal and bird species and is a breeding ground for fisheries. Due to environmental sensitivity and high anthropogenic pressures such as overharvesting, overfishing, pollution and illegal logging, the Sundarbans mangrove and the Hakaluki Hoar wetland are at a vulnerable stage with climate change exacerbating the current situation.

FCDO’s NABAPALLAB aims to engage biodiversity and natural resource-dependent communities to strengthen the climate resilience of the ECAs, conserve biodiversity, and at the same time, diversify and improve people's livelihood through innovative nature-based (NBS) and locally led adaptation solutions. It will primarily target communities within the 10 km buffer zone of the ECAs, which are critically exposed and vulnerable to climate change impacts and have a lesser capacity to adapt to such changes. It will increase the climate resilience of more than 250,000 vulnerable households and ecosystem-based protection and restoration of 5,000 km2 area in, especially in the districts of Bagerhat, Satkhira and Khulna in the Sundarbans ECA, and Maulvibazar and Sylhet in Hakaluki Haor. The project will consider the most marginalized communities, involving stakeholders from multiple strata and ensuring ownership of provided interventions. It will also enhance the capacity of the local government bodies to manage and conserve the ECAs effectively and create an enabling environment to implement relevant government plans and policies related to Eco-System based Adaptation (EBA).

Number of Vacancies	1 (One)
Job Location	Dhaka with field visits as needed
Reporting Line	Sr. Technical Advisor-Private Sector & Renewable Energy
Contract Duration	2 years (Initially), with possibilities of extension; ‘Conditional recruitment subject to donor’s award of the fund’

Roles and Responsibilities:

The responsibilities of the Senior Sectoral Expert – Private Sector Engagement will include but are not limited to the descriptions below-

General & Consortium Responsibilities	Provide technical inputs on the design of market-based interventions to design duration and systemic solutions across the project portfolios and value-added services Facilitate the development of Joint Venture Agreements with financial institutions and machinery firms; subsequently, manage their implementation; and monitor and report on results using market system indicators Outreach to local social enterprises with a focus on increasing profitability, marketing, and autonomy for the agricultural machinery sector in Bangladesh Promote the use of technology through increase availability of services and develop local manufacturing Trade facilitation and investment promotion to attract international firms Identify private sector actors whose interests align with the project's goals and engage in building private sector partnerships Collaboratively plan the implementation of intervention activities involving all other technical leads and the Activity regional staff members through the preparation of annual work plans and detailed implementation plan Provide input into improving program approaches and systems and supporting the team to build, test, and deliver the most effective and sustainable development interventions. Play an active role and coordinate with relevant technical units in planning and provide programmatic guidance for the project staff, partners, and other stakeholders according to project guidelines and donor requirements Play a supporting role in the delivery of project outcomes and expected results in accordance to project strategy
Planning and Reporting	Provide technical guidance and support to field teams in the implementation of the above activities, ensuring that a market system approach is maintained and followed. Support implementation of the project’s overall market facilitation strategy, including building and managing partnerships Manage budgets for assigned interventions and ensure efficient allocation of funding Assist in the preparation of periodic progress reports, technical briefs, case studies, and success stories Work closely with iDE’s Evidence & Analytics unit to periodically review and refine the project’s results chain and indicators in order to ensure that the project is capturing market system change Facilitate and frame the strategic direction of the project in collaboration with the Associate Directors Promote the application of iDE’s market system approach and closely work with market actors specific to selected value chains and business groups/actors Contribute timely donor reports on monthly, quarterly and yearly basis as determined in the contract
Supervision and Staff Development	Build capacity of stakeholders and represent all proven models and methods, Develop clear strategic vision for establishing and maintaining a network of relationships in the country and districts with a wide range of relevant stakeholders from both public and private sectors; Practice and promote the application of iDE’s Code of Conduct and people-first approach Coach supervisees in development of skills in activity implementation, strategic thinking and critical analysis Collaboratively develop monthly work plans with direct staff balancing project implementation and team member capacity Participate in the annual performance appraisals (APA) process for all supervisees
Coordination and Support	Work with the MEL team to establish a functioning accountability mechanism, and ensure closing the loop of all feedback, especially from livelihood, Market Based Approach (MBA) and WASH point of view. Provide inputs to prepare tools for periodical monitoring assessment and checklists from livelihood, Market Based Approach (MBA) and WASH point of view. Support MEL team tools design to ensure real-time monitoring on livelihood, Market Based Approach (MBA) and WASH point of view and ensure appropriate actions to reflect and improve consortium’s performance in these aspects Contribute in preparing consortium ’s learning and knowledge products from livelihood, Market Based Approach (MBA) and WASH perspectives. Assist to prepare the tender documents, Invite the bids from selected bidders; If necessary, organize the pre-bidding meeting with technology suppliers and visit the sites; Develop clear strategic vision for establishing and maintaining a network of relationships in the country and districts with a wide range of relevant stakeholders from both public and private sectors; Participate in relevant working groups and Dhaka-level PM meetings and workshops Quarterly & requirement basis travel to all field hubs at least once for problem solving and systems development
Other Responsibilities	Contribute in preparing consortium ’s learning and knowledge products from livelihood, Market Based Approach (MBA) and WASH perspectives. Actively learn and develop skills related to online platforms used by iDE including but not limited to: Salesforce, Smartsheets, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets Maintain use of online platforms for sharing reports, documents and data Participate in all relevant meetings and workshops Undertake additional tasks subject to workload and skill sets such as photography, cross-project trainings and evaluations

Skills and Experience:

Candidates are expected to have the following qualification, skills, and experience

Education	Master’s degree in Business, Agriculture, Economics, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or other relevant disciplines
Work Experience	Minimum of 5-years of working experience in the field of market system A minimum of 3-years of experience in international development with a focus on partnership development with different private sectors especially for access to finance Prior experience with FCDO programs preferred, but not necessary Experience with social and behavior change approaches to intervention design is of advantage Ability to cohesively work with various team members and the flexibility to adapt to different work conditions Proficiency in designing and conducting research using qualitative and quantitative tools, and in documenting and critically analyzing results efficiently and comprehensively Familiarity and experience with project management concepts such as Logical Frameworks, Impact Logic or Results Chains
Management and Programmatic Skills	Exceptional interpersonal skills with demonstrable success building, maintaining and progressing relationships within and between organisations. Success at working appropriately and effectively with individuals at a senior level, in person and at a distance. Capacity to develop a market actor map based on initial findings Experience of delivering multi-party, multi-activity projects; Proven leadership in the administration of similar activities with skills in strategic planning, management, supervision and budgeting. Ability to responsibly manage funds, monitoring and team progress Ability to plan and implemented iterative field level activities for market systems change (looking beyond the DIP) Understands the facilitative role of the market development approach
Personal Skills	Leadership and management skills for both technical and non-technical team members, whilst be able to listen to others and recognise their contribution Ability to work with team members and flexibility to adapt to different work conditions Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; Proven interpersonal and intercultural skills, including flexibility and sensitivity Demonstrate awareness and sensitivity to gender diversity Ambitious, “can-do” attitude with an entrepreneurial nature and capable to prioritize work under pressure Resilient and with the ability to think creatively to overcome challenges and effectively engage with new situations
Physical and Language Skills	Ability to travel and undertake fieldwork in rural contexts. Willingness to spend up to 50% of the time in field locations Written and oral communication skills in English, including the ability to present coherent and convincing messages to different audiences Strong computer skills in Microsoft Office, Suite and Google Apps Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills. Demonstrated ability to convey messages through clear and concise writing.

Application Process: Please submit your recent CV (maximum 3-4 pages) with a cover letter to bangladesh-jobs@ideglobal.org. Please mark the subject line as “Application for the position of Senior Sectoral expert- Private Sector Engagement, NABAPALLAB”. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for interview.

Application Deadline: 29^th July 2023

Women are actively encouraged to apply

iDE provides a women friendly work environment with flexible work arrangements, appropriate skill development opportunities and good career development potential for high performing individuals. We are committed to creating a diverse environment and proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Employee selection and related decisions are made without regard to gender, race, age, disability, religion, national origin, color, or any other protected class.