Team Leader

Team Leader

Location: Kathmandu, with 33% of time spent in Shuklaphanta region
Reporting Line Manager: Country Director, Nepal
Responsible for: Regional project team and consortium partners
Contract: 2-year initial fixed term, with expectation of extension to 45 months (project lifetime)
Salary: 145,000 NPR per month basic

Renewable World
1.2 billion people are still living in poverty, inequality is rising, and the world is failing to decarbonise quickly enough to avoid climate disaster. The world’s poorest people contributed little to climate change, yet they are most impacted, and least able to adapt. This is not fair. And it is not sustainable. Renewable World (RW) is an ambitious and dynamic International NGO (INGO) headquartered in the UK, with branches in Nepal and Kenya. We envision a sustainable and fairer world where clean energy is accessible to all-because with clean energy, both people and planet can thrive. By 2030, we aim to enable over 500,000 people living in poverty to transform their lives by improving their access to clean energy, empowering them to develop sustainable and resilient livelihoods, and mitigating the impact of climate change.

Role summary
An experienced project manager, with a strong understanding of delivering projects through a market systems approach, this position will oversee and directly deliver Renewable World’s flagship project, ‘Connecting communities and ecosystems in Shuklaphanta National Park’ (CONNECT). CONNECT is a clean energy centred project, designed to conserve the vulnerable ecosystem of Shuklaphanta National Park (ShNP), alleviate multi-dimensional poverty within the park’s buffer zones, and reduce human wildlife conflict, through a market systems approach to achieve transformational change. CONNECT is designed to be inclusive, locally owned, and sustainable, benefiting over 12,000 people, with the potential to benefit many more through replication, and through its research and learning components. The project will be delivered in consortium with three conservation and livelihood development partners, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Himalayan Nature (HN), and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), and in close coordination with national park and government stakeholders.

The Team Leader will effectively co-ordinate and allocate project resources to deliver project objectives, outcomes and outputs on-time, within scope and budget. The position will lead, manage and support the project team and will represent the project and the team at critical stakeholder meetings at local, provincial and central level. The position will be responsible for making the project plan (Detailed Implementation Plan and Guidance), overseeing spend against the plan, monitoring the timely and quality delivery of activities, ensuring donor compliance and reporting progress to the senior management team, within Nepal and the UK. S/he will ensure effective and timely coordination with partners and local stakeholders in all aspects of the project and the successful completion of assigned responsibilities.

Main Duties and Responsibilities
1. Programme Planning and Implementation

• Lead in the planning and implementation of CONNECT, coordinating the multi-sectoral team to deliver against the project goal, ‘to increase the biodiversity and climate resilience of ShNP and sustainably improve buffer zone community livelihoods, underpinned by systemic improvement in the region’s capacity for integrated conservation and development’.
• Develop the Detailed Implementation Plan and Guidance, within the inception phase of the project, and reforecast these at least annually, or when required in response to unexpected events that impact on programme delivery outside of organisational control.
• Ensure team understanding of and adherence to the project management framework, including RW approved delivery tools and templates.
• Provide guidance and support to the team to implement planned activities, hold regular project team meetings to review progress, identify and resolve challenges and course-correct where necessary.
• In collaboration with RW’s technical team, efficiently coordinate and facilitate RW and partner staff in the delivery of all aspects of the renewable energy technologies (RETs) on time and to budget, including needs assessments, feasibility studies, procurement and installation, through to commissioning and handover to the target groups.
• Undertake project and partner risk assessments in line with organisational risk management guidelines, and lead in putting in place mitigation activities.
• Oversee project delivery against budget, maintaining oversight of transactions against project codes, and coordinating with RW’s Head of Finance and Operations and consortium partners where discrepancies are identified.
• Be accountable for the delivery of project interventions on target, on time, on budget with compliance and quality, including regularly updating project tracking mechanisms.

2. Partnership Management and Stakeholder Coordination

• Act as Partnership Manager and key contact for the project’s two national and one international NGO partners, overseeing delivery by partners of their key areas of responsibility, including biodiversity conservation, livelihoods enhancement and human wildlife conflict reduction.
• Drive the consortium to adopt a systems approach across all activities, ensuring coordinated actions to strengthen the market system in the target area, through providing strategic support to build the capacity of core actors, supporting services and decision makers in the region.
• Lead in all aspects of partnership management, including leading partner capacity assessments, in collaboration with other team members as required, developing, overseeing and regularly reviewing partner management and capacity development plans utilising RW’s partner management tools.
• Review partner reports for quality and complete funding release mechanism in collaboration with the Head of Finance and Operations before funding tranches are released.
• Establish and maintain positive working relationship with key project stakeholders, including government, the national park, universities/ research partners, community management and user groups and the private sector.
• Coordinate with project partners to identify, leverage and mobilize necessary match funding for project technology and infrastructure components, such as local government, provincial government, community, and other related stakeholders to achieve project financial closure.

3. Project monitoring and reporting

• Maintain overall responsibility for monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) for CONNECT, working closely with the project’s MEAL team from within RW and partners, ensuring MEAL elements (baselines, mid-term reviews, evaluations etc) are delivered on time and on budget.
• Ensure team understanding of the project’s logical framework (logframe) and guide the project team to deliver against this, with delivery centred on the achievement of KPIs at all levels.
• Provide technical input to Renewable World’s MEAL team during the development of project MEAL frameworks and associated tools.
• Organise periodic project review and planning meetings with partner organisations in
  collaboration with Renewable World’s wider central team.
• Monitor progress against Detailed Implementation Plan and Guidance, overseeing the
  correlation between output delivery and project spend.
• Lead in the preparation and submission of timely project progress reports (monthly, quarterly, mid-term and final in RW and relevant donor standard formats, including preparing comprehensive narrative and financial reports, in collaboration with the finance and operations/ MEAL team and the wider team.
• In collaboration with Renewable World’s MEAL team and partner staff, monitor and evaluate outcomes achieved, and collaborate in the development and presentation of learning papers.

4. Cross-cutting duties

• Line manage staff and coordinate the wider project team of Renewable World staff and partner staff, including leading team meetings, setting and supporting staff to deliver against agreed work plans.
• Deliver project activities in line with a Market Systems Development Approach and aligning with Renewable World’s Community Centred Model.
• Ensure CONNECT activities are delivered in a gender and socially inclusive manner.
• Ensure implementation by the project team to Renewable World’s Accountability mechanism.
• Adhere to Renewable World’s Safeguarding Policy at all times.
• From time to time undertake other reasonable tasks and responsibilities as requested by your direct line manager
• Attend regular supervision and take active initiation in personal professional development.

Qualification, Experience and Attributes
Essential

• 5 years’ work experience in renewable energy, livelihoods and/ or conservation with relevant master’s degree – sustainable development/ natural resource management etc; Bachelor’s degree with 7 years’ experience in similar field can apply.
• Hands on programme management experience with at least 5 years’ experience (strategy
  development, project cycle management, HR Management).
• Experience managing a multi-year project with a budget exceeding £1,000,000.
• Demonstrable understanding of market systems approaches and how they can be applied to project design and implementation.
• Proven experience in the usage of computer and office software packages (MS Office etc.) and able to write quality reports in English.
• Ability to work independently, including strong time management and self-motivation skills.
• Proven team leadership and proven track record in achieving great team performance and sound ability to work together with others and independently as required.

Desirable

• Experience in delivering multi-year market-systems projects.
• Experience delivering renewable energy technology centred projects.
• Experience managing a consortium project.

Values
In addition to the essential criteria listed above, candidates must demonstrate a willingness to work towards our ‘ENERGY’ values, namely:

• Excellence – striving to be the best in everything we do.
• Networked – increasing our impact by collaborating with others.
• Empathy – showing respect and responsibility for the people we work with inside and outside our organisation.
• Resourceful – being effective in our work, making the most of new opportunities and delivering value in everything we do.
• Gravitas – using evidence to influence and grow our support.
• Yes We Can – feeling inspired by and proud of our work.

This job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. However, it is inevitable that responsibilities and tasks may be varied and unpredictable. It is expected of the staff to respond with a flexible approach when tasks arise which are not specifically covered in this job description. Should an additional responsibility or task become a regular part of an employee’s job, the job description will be amended in consultation with the employee.

Applying for the post:
Please send your CV (4 pages maximum) and a covering letter (2 pages maximum) to jobs@renewable-world.org.

Closing date for applications: 4th June 2023
First interview date: Expected to be week commencing 12th or 19th June 2023

Interested candidates (women and disadvantaged groups are highly encouraged to apply) meeting above criteria are requested to send a cover letter and CV. Only short-listed candidates will be called for further selection process. The employer reserves all the rights to accept or reject any or all the applications without any reasons thereof. Undue influence will result in automatic rejection of application.

Tagged as: Kathmandu, NGO INGO, Renewable World, Team Leader