Team leader: The Strategic Climate Institutions Programme

Team Leader Reports to: Engagement Partner Works with: • Fund Management Committee (FMC) • Current and Potential CSO Partners in the CC&E Key Result Area • Other TA that may be engaged by the Programme Manages • Core Programme Management Team, including Grants Manager and Finance and Administration Manager • Short-term Technical Experts • Climate Change Experts (from Resource Pool for Strategic and Technical Appraisals) • Grantees Duration: Design and Set-up: Six Months, Estimated to Start January 2012 Implementation: Three years Location: Programme Office in Addis Adaba, with travel through Ethiopia Background: Climate change is both a significant threat to and a huge opportunity for Ethiopia’s development. Changing patterns and intensities of rainfall will have consequences for all Ethiopians, but especially the poor. Ethiopia will need to help its people adapt to the impacts of climate change. At the same time, the promise of carbon trading and carbon finance offers significant potential for renewable-resource rich Ethiopia. The Strategic Climate Institutions Programme (SCIP) is a four year DFID-funded programme to build Ethiopia’s institutional capacity to respond to the challenge of climate change. The programme consists of three pillars; supporting government, civil society and the private sector (via Innovation Center managed by InfoDev, World Bank). The goal of SCIP is to enable Ethiopia to achieve its MDGs through the better management of climate change risks and opportunities. The purpose is to build organisational and institutional capacity within the Ethiopian Government, civil society and the private sector to: (1) increase resilience to current climate variability (2) adapt to future climate change and (3) benefit from opportunities for low carbon growth and carbon sequestration. The role of the SCIP Fund Manager is to design and implement a simple but innovative process for identifying and managing capacity building projects on the above three areas. Grantees may be drawn from government, academia, civil society and international development. However, the SCIP Fund does not apply to the private sector. The private sector component of the programme is to be lead by the Innovation Centre, an initiative managed by InfoDev, a Global Partnership Program, of the World Bank Group. Total funds available for the SCIP Fund are expected to be some £6 to £6.5 million over the life of the initiative. The Fund Manager will report to the SCIP Fund Management Committee, comprising DFID and other key stakeholders (from government, civil society and the private sector as well as other development partners). The initiative is broken into a two phases: a six month design and inception phase followed by a three-year implementation phase.

Purpose of Position:

The Team Leader will be responsible to the Engagement Partner for the timely and effective management and implementation of the SCIP Fund, ensuring all outputs are met. The Team Leader is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the Programme and ensuring the effective and efficient mobilization of resources to achieve objectives. They will represent the SCIP to the Fund Management Committee as well as DFID and other development partners, civil society and government and maintain networks throughout all of these stakeholders. Through their networks and understanding of Ethiopia, the Team Leader will identify, generate and attract innovative project proposals from diverse grantees that build capacity in various areas related to climate change. They will continuously scan the changing social, political, economic and cultural environment in Ethiopia to identify risks to programme implementation and develop risk mitigation strategies.

Tasks: For Design and Set-Up of SCIP in the Inception Phase, the Team Leader will lead the team on: • Establishing fully functioning office in Addis Ababa • Establishing a grant-making mechanism, management systems, M & E and results reporting mechanisms (by end of third month). • Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships DFID with other relevant organisations and programmes, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the civil society climate change fora, relevant private sector organisations and InfoDev, outreach work consultants, major donors including the any future contributing donors.
• Ensuring effective support from the SCIP Fund to EPA’s efforts to develop permanent institutional arrangements for responding to climate change. This includes the establishment of a Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) Facility and Strategy. Also ensure effective SCIP support to activities across the government which contribute to CRGE. • Running at least one grant-making round to pilot the process. • Develop a strategy, with budget, for the implementation of the SCIP Fund for the following three years.

For Implementation and Monitoring, the Team Leader will lead on: • Developing and maintaining a strategic project portfolio, including marketing the Fund to the full range of prospective applicants and proactively working with them to identify and promote promising SCIP proposals • Manage the process for assessing and selecting project proposals, including: • Appraise applications to ensure fit with eligibility criteria, including reviewing budgets, work plans and accounting systems, • Arrange for qualifying applications to be assessed by technical reviewers, • Make bid approval recommendations on the basis of technical assessments received and in the case of applications for £100,000 or more in consultation with DFID-Ethiopia. • Provide active support to funding applicants, including limited in-house technical advice and feedback on project ideas and proposals.
• Be proactive in terms of identifying and assisting in the generation of proposals across the sectors and managing associated risks • Negotiate and sign grant agreements with successful applicants and allocate funding, making timely disbursements based on the achievement of agreed project delivery targets. • Oversee project implementation and manage associated risks. • Monitor and evaluate all project funded under this facility and ensure that projects funded by the SCIP deliver according to plan, are cost effective and results-oriented • Assess risks of SCIP’s approach to grant making at regular intervals and manage identified risks. This will include drafting contingency plans and programming adequate flexibility to deal with unforeseen risks. • Maintain financial oversight of programme and project funds and ensure compliance with DFID financial management regulations/new business case format. • Prepare annual budget, work and procurement plans for SCIP and submit to DFID. • Contract a reputable audit firm to conduct independent annual audits of the SCIP. • Act as Secretary to a Fund Management Committee, to be convened on a six monthly basis. Selection Criteria Skills and Experience: • Extensive experience in the design and implementation of grant-making mechanisms and the management of donor funds for DFID or similar bi-lateral donors. • Proven experience in leading teams to achieve results in complex operational environments • Experience in developing relationships with and building the capacity development of public sector and civil society organisations • Knowledge of strategic planning– using both results based management / log-frame and other innovative approaches • Experience of supporting organisations to strengthen their approaches to monitoring, learning and evaluation • Capacity to ensure that gender and the strategic interests of marginalised groups are incorporated into planning and reporting processes • Extensive experience in Ethiopia is highly desirable and in sub-Saharan Africa is essential • Post-graduate qualifications and or relevant experience in an area relevant to climate change and environment is an advantage • Understanding of UK Government thinking on climate change an advantage • Understanding of the operations of Development Partners • Fluency in written and spoken English (essential) and Amharic (an advantage)

Person Specification • High performing team player, with strong orientation toward achievement of results, promoting effectiveness and realising value for money. • Adaptability and flexibility in taking on, and contributing to, new approaches; • Willingness to learn and support learning of others • Commitment to strengthening capacity to address climate change issues in Ethiopia

Closing date: 23 September 2011 Application details: If interested, please send your CV to talentrecruit@kpmg.co.ke . Please put “The Strategic Climate Institutions Programme” in the subject line for prompt consideration. No telephone inquiries please. Candidates are encouraged are to apply as soon as possible as we will stop reviewing applications as soon as a suitable candidate is identified.