Practical Action Consulting Eastern Africa Regional Office Regional Manager Job in Nairobi, Kenya

Practical Action Consulting (PAC) is the dynamic consulting arm of the Practical Action Group. PAC extends Practical Action’s work by providing independent and professional consulting services in the use of technology for poverty reduction to governments, NGOs, donors and the private sector. 

PAC works with clients and partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America to deliver projects across the development sector and has particular expertise in energy access and small-scale renewable energy provision; climate change; and inclusive market development.

PAC Eastern Africa Region Office is seeking to recruit a high caliber individual to lead and manage our regional consultancy portfolio who has a technical expertise and a track record in developing; winning, managing and coordinating high-quality consultancy assignments in the exciting and vibrant field of inclusive market development.

Regional Manager - Practical Action Consulting, Eastern Africa Regional Office

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Full / Part time: Full Time

Permanent / Temporary: Permanent

Job Purpose: The Job holder is responsible for 

i) managing the strategic development of PAC EA and its role as a delivery mechanism within Practical Action Regional office. Ensuring this delivery aligns with the regional strategy and way of working and feeds into PAC international objectives and global strategy delivery; 

ii) Developing; winning, managing and coordinating high-quality technical consultancy in the exciting and vibrant field of inclusive market development (a.k.a. value chain development and M4P) in Eastern Africa Region to meet PAC’s strategic and financial targets and work collaboratively with programmes teams and effectively manage projects and technical teams.

Duties & Responsibilities

Planning and Strategy

• Develop, lead, manage and deliver consultancy work and contribute to the growing programme of innovative work and the achievement of PAC EA’s strategy and serve as a member of the Regional Management Team.
• Actively contribute to the Development and delivery of the PAC international strategy
• Work as an integral part of the PAC international team delivering to both regional and PAC international strategy. In doing so the role will develop close working relationships with the PAC UK team as well as other PAC regional teams – particularly Southern Africa, Sudan and in time West Africa.

Project Implementation

• Accountable for developing and delivering a robust body of work and maximizing associated linkages with all organizational goal areas (energy, food and agriculture and urban water/sanitation/waste), cross cutting themes (markets and climate change) and Practical Answers.
• Lead and performance manage the PAC EA team and hold them accountable for the technical delivery, financial control, management of associates, donor reporting, strategic fit, contract preparation and conformance of the assignments.
• Lead the PAC team members and Associate Consultants in the delivery of work  that ensures strategic integration of PAC work with regional goals

Fundraising and Markets Development

• Responsible for business development and winning new work from international donors and commercial organisations.
• Explore consultancy opportunities, design proposals and deliver consultancy work of an international dimension. In doing so ensuring delivery is aligned with Practical Actions values, leverages best practise and learning from within and outside the organisation and challenges the status quo to ensure the highest quality of outputs.
• Provides technical support to proposals designed by PACs associates.
• Increase PAC’s technical capacity to apply inclusive Market approaches mainly in energy and agriculture (other possible areas are urban water and sanitation and disaster risk reduction). For example, providing technical inputs to proposals developed by PAC’s associates or by Practical Action’s regional staff where PAC associates can participate.
• Collaboratively with the Eastern Africa Fundraising Manager to identify funding opportunities and develop proposals/bids for programmes and PAC in the Eastern Africa region.
• Directly raise funds for PAC’s growth and expansion
• Assist all PAC teams/associates in planning, writing and editing funding proposals to comply with fundraising guidelines and standards, paying particular attention to our accountabilities and ensuring that applications meet donor guidelines.
• To fundraise and manage a strategic portfolio of regional assignments with a target annual PAC turnover of approximately £500,000.
• Lead in Business Development of PAC portfolio of projects to maintain a healthy pot of work and funding
• Work closely with the PAC International Market Systems Specialist (international thematic leader) to strengthen and deliver markets work in the region and embed markets as a cross-cutting theme in PAC and programs. Develop regional expansion opportunities into other regional targets

Financial Management and Administration

• Responsible for managing project budgets for PAC of approximately £500,000 a year.
• Oversee timely and accurate preparation of Project budgets.
• Ensure the effective and timely management and control of project budgets, managing project and  operational expenditure against approved budgets and ensure that expenditure does not exceed allowed  limits
• Work with the finance team to prepare and submit timely and accurate monthly and annual financial reports.

Liaison and Networking

• Develop and deepen existing donor relationships, ensuring that the organisation maintains effective communications and good relations with our donor partners, ensuring they are updated on our work and achievements
• To represent PAC and Practical Action at international meetings, actively build and positive awareness of the Practical Action Group and manage the reputational risk of PAC (and thus the RCO and the group).
• Work closely with the Communications Manager, the Regional Management Team and others across the organisation to increase PA profile and enhance our reputation within the donor community
• To ensure knowledge generation and capture is effectively delivered through activities such as authoring and commissioning articles for publication based on a synthesis of project experience.
• Contribute to organisational processes of learning and policy formulation

Other Responsibilities

• Work effectively as a member of the Regional Management Team and contribute to RMT agenda setting, longer term strategic direction and decision making.
• When appointed, act as the Regional Director in the absence of the incumbent Regional Director.
• Support the Regional Director to meet the governance requirements including reporting to the Practical Action Kenya board

Person Specification

Education

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field i.e. Renewable Energy, Agriculture, Climate Change or related international development field
• Post-graduate qualifications in business management, CSR, value chains or any form inclusive market development is desirable.
• Additional training courses in international development and experience in consulting, project design and management are an advantage
• Qualifications and experience in project Management  and/or Marketing will be an added advantage

Experience

• At least seven (7) years’ experience working as a consultant in the region in a variety of contexts with demonstrable experience in the innovation and implementation of short and long term consultancy assignments
• Minimum of three to five years of senior management experience in an international non-profit organization.
• Significant Thematic experience (at least 5years) ideally in either Climate change, Energy or Agriculture and expertise in any form of inclusive market development (value chains, M4P, PMSD, pro-poor market development, etc.) preferably in developing countries and in professional environments for poverty reduction is mandatory.
• Experience in knowledge management and organisational learning, and/or M&E are desirable
• Experience of working in international organisations in a variety of contexts, with increasing levels of management and leadership responsibilities
• Strategic management experience: (strategic analysis, decision making and planning for organizations and programs) and strategy implementation (leadership and change management, and organizational development).
• Project management experience: project development, coordinating and managing project associates and teams, project control and monitoring, financial planning and control and liaising with and reporting to clients/donors.
• Demonstrable competence in recruitment, development, training and motivating staff to ensure timely delivery of targets.

Other Competencies / Abilities / Skills Required

• Strong research and M&E skills.
• Proven ability to inspire and manage a high performance team.
• Skills in management, reporting and delivery of short, medium and long term international assignments across a range of disciplines.
• Financial abilities in accurately reporting on project performance during the project lifecycle.
• Demonstrated analytical skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to support and motivate professional staff. Excellent project management skills.
• Keen entrepreneurial skills.
• Excellent written, and oral communication skills, and able to communicate to a variety of audiences.
• Fluency in written and spoken English essential.
• French language knowledge is desirable.
• Sound grasp of basic computer programming, including Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel.
• Clear understanding of gender issues and their implications on project delivery
• Experience working in an international NGO environment is desirable.

How to Apply

If you have the experience, skills and the ability we are looking for, please send your application letter and updated CV to Practical Action, Eastern Africa Regional Office by email:  recruitment@practicalaction.or.ke no later than 14th September, 2014.