Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain Strategic and Partnerships Coordination Lead [Strategic and Partnerships Lead for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chains Centre’s of Excellence]

• Country: France
• Organization: UNEP
• Deadline: 2023-11-25
• No of Vacancies: N/A

Duties and Responsibilities
ACES was established to lead the way in the development and roll-out of affordable, sustainable, resilient and equitable on- and off-grid cooling and cold-chain solutions for food and health sectors in Africa. The programme is developed by the Governments of Rwanda and the United Kingdom; the United Nations Environment Programme; the UK’s Centre for Sustainable Cooling bringing together a consortium of leading UK and international universities, and the University of Rwanda. Funding and support to date exceeds $25M. Two further Centres of Excellence are in development in India, in the states of Telangana and Haryana.
ACES is the only Centre of its kind with a focus on holistic and sustainable cold-chain solutions tailored for African markets. It has a uniquely situated and equipped 4-hectare headquarters campus in Kigali, under development,
• a state of the art in-market technology test and demonstration centre,
• demonstration and test facilities;
• fully equipped refrigeration and data telemetrics training centres;
• a business hub to support for early-stage technology companies to accelerate to market and scale up their businesses.
ACES is establishing Specialised Outreach and Knowledge Enterprises (SPOKEs) pan-Africa to showcase how solutions can be deployed in practical, real-world applications and provide the on-site and outreach learning, training and knowledge transfer, and technical assistance centres to support local community uptake. The first SPOKE model is being developed in Kenya with African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS); further SPOKEs are being developed. A range of community uptake training and demonstration programmes, and industry capacity building programmes as well as Masters and other academic programmes are being developed at ACES.
We are looking to recruit a Strategic and Partnerships Lead to help co-ordinate and administer the flagship ACES project, SPOKEs and India Centres of Excellence and the wider CoE portfolio as it expands. This includes developing and supporting the strategic work plans, co-ordinating with core partners, and generally ensuring proper execution of the programme, quality control and reporting. These are major and complex international projects and involve interaction across multiple geographies, partners and cultures. You will be able to use your wide range of skills, to support the strategic direction of the programme and identify grant funding and in-kind opportunities.

2. Purpose and Scope of Assignment

Support the Senior Management Team and work with our partners to develop inclusive strategic plans and ensure a single unified collaborative, knowledge sharing and resource efficient programme across the multiple Centres and projects. Develop content and resources to deliver priority ACES and India COE objectives agreed upon with project partners.
Identify strategic risks and threats and develop recommended solutions linked with workplans across core delivery partners.
Align goals, processes and delivery against the organisational strategy, presenting progress, risks and recommended actions to Leadership team and the Board.
Work with in-country team members and subject matter experts to support the design, build-out, procurement and operation of the Centres, SPOKES, and try before you buy programme.
Research background information, draft and edit content for use in plans, presentations, reports, and other information products on sustainable cooling and cold chain.
Prepare content, make logistics arrangements, and participate in capacity-building sessions.
Contribute to the development (via research, assessment, outreach to experts, compiling information, etc.) of tools, guides, case studies, and other content, as assigned.

3. Partnership and Fundraising

Identify and support new grant funding opportunities from other possible donor sources (i.e. UK Reasearch and Innovation, Innovate, European Union and other non-UK government funding teams, development agencies, philanthropic organisations, etc.), and agreed and co-ordinate funding proposals through:
• Developing and maintaining effective working relationships with partner organizations and key local, national, regional and international stakeholders and helping with overall information exchanges and coordination.
• Coordinating across a diverse range of stakeholders to identify potential new funding and partnership opportunities from bilateral aid agencies, philanthropic funds, multilateral funds and Governments and leveraging in-kind expertise, data and other resources to amplify the portfolio.
• Pursuing funding opportunities, including information gathering on the requirements, liaising with co-applicants, drafting content, submitting information, and informing negotiations with donors. Substantively engage on at least 2 new proposals.

Other Cross-cutting Support
Conduct outreach to current and potential project partners and stakeholders, fostering relationships to share data and information to underpin analytical work through:
• Capturing progress and key findings for reporting, outreach, and promotion of programme activities.

• Assisting with awareness raising as significant milestones are reached by providing inputs to communication materials (e.g., press release, social media content, flyer, banners) and undertaking outreach activities, including serving as a speaker, to increase visibility and transfer knowledge of lessons learned.

• Planning and hosting meetings, events, and calls – including preparing agendas and materials, taking notes on critical findings, and pursuing assigned follow-up tasks.
Qualifications/special skills
University degree (Masters or Bachelors with equivalent additional experience) in public policy, economics, engineering or natural / physical science fields.
At least 10 years of full-time professional experience on international policies and programmes, including energy and climate policies. A focus on sustainable cooling or cold chain technologies is an asset.
At least 8 years of prior experience working with the public sector to support analyses, negotiations and setting policy targets with implementation thereafter.

Key Competencies

● Excellent written and oral communications skills on cooling and refrigeration topics.
● Thorough familiarity with project management best practices, including supporting negotiations and analyses to reach agreement.
● Knowledgeable of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning industry, technologies and practices.
● Experience collaborating with a range of stakeholders in Africa and India (e.g., policy makers, international organisations, national institutes, and/or business etc.).
● Familiarity with developing successful funding plans /proposals.
● Experience in securing the buy-in of priority partners to take concrete action (e.g. Officials committing to implement energy policies, businesses participating in voluntary programmes to promote sustainability, academics pursuing new curriculum, etc.).
● Experience in organising and executing high-level international events, webinars and meetings.
● Experience in building effective coalitions to support existing activities and proposals for new activities.
● Excellent record in collaborating with a team, and ability to adapt to varying needs as a project evolves.
Languages
Fluency in spoken and written English is required.

APPLY NOW