Coordinator at Expertise France

Reporting to the Programme Director based at EF headquarters in Paris, the Regional Coordinator will coordinate the operational implementation of the “Thematic OCTs” programme from Paris for the more isolated and dispersed of the targeted OCTs: Bermuda, Greenland, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Falkland Islands, St. Pierre and Miquelon, St. Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory)

In order to achieve this, the Coordinator will work in conjunction with the programme team, which includes:

• A “headquarters” Coordination Unit based in Paris (Programme Director, Administrative and Financial Manager, Project Managers, Project Assistant, etc.),
• Her/his counterparts; “field based” Coordinators in the Pacific and Caribbean regions,
• Technical Experts focusing on the programme’s priority themes and issues (Resilience, Energy, Monitoring and Evaluation, Communications and Visibility).

The Coordinator will be responsible for the successful implementation of the programme in the isolated OCTs, in particular for carrying out the following tasks (this list is not exhaustive):

Animation of regional networking operations and coordination with partners

• Identify relevant partners (representatives of beneficiary territories, donors, related initiatives, pools of expertise etc.) for the Programme across the target area(s);
• Maintain regular contacts with the Programme’s stakeholders across target area(s);
• Prepare, coordinate, participate in and facilitate workshops and meetings of the Programme across target area(s);
• Participate in appropriate events and representation/field missions in the target Overseas Countries and Territories;
• Develop, coordinate and implement actions which will raise the visibility of the programme, Expertise France and the donor and ensure the dissemination of any and all relevant feedback as required and considered “best practice” methodologies to support the Programme’s success.

Operational implementation of programme activities at a regional level

• Carry out an active watch across the target OCTs and areas, with particular attention being paid to the specific intervention sectors of the Programme;
• Participate in the identification and selection of experts who can intervene effectively across the target OCTs and areas;
• Coordinate and facilitate the effective participation of technical experts in the thematic areas (Energy, Resilience, Communication, Monitoring and Evaluation, etc.);
• Participate in the capacity building of the Programme’s partners across the target OCTs and areas;
• Identify pilot projects and activities to be implemented by the Programme across the target OCTs, ensuring effective and systematic consultation with territorial and national parties;
• Supervise the effective implementation of the projects financed across the target OCTs and areas;
• Anticipate and participate in mitigating potential risks (political, diplomatic, technical, financial, HR…) and develop contingency plans, in support of the Programme Director and the Programme Team.
  Coordination with the headquarters based Programme Team: logistics, administration and finance
• Provide, as required, appropriate Programme operational management tools (planning, monitoring, budgets, etc.) and ensure timely and accurate feedback to the headquarters based Programme Team;
• Coordinate, in collaboration with the headquarters based project assistant, all logistics of activities (organisation of missions, events, meetings, etc.) associated with the target OCTs and areas, and ensure the proper management of any administrative and or financial or related activities;
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of deliverables associated with the target OCTs (deadlines, technical content, budget, etc.) in coordination with other team members as required;

This job description is not exhaustive, in general the Coordinator is a key implementing guarantor of the outputs and projected achievements of the contractual objectives of the programme. She/he and will be called upon to carry out any activity deemed to be necessary to ensure Programme goals and objectives are achieved on time and within budget, and to the satisfaction of the beneficiaries.

Project description

In accordance with the commitments of the European Union with its Overseas Countries and Territories, and those of the United Kingdom, and in particular the Overseas Association Decision (OAD) and the 2015-2020 strategy of the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA), the Thematic Programme is dedicated to the 25 European and British Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs). The Programme aims to contribute to the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of these countries and territories. Two specific objectives are targeted, namely: (i) strengthening the resilience of European and British OCTs to climate change and the COVID-19 health crisis; (ii) supporting their transition towards a low-carbon energy economy. This 17.8 million euro program is implemented by Expertise France (EF) and will last 68 months.

The main beneficiaries are the 25 European and British OCTs, including their governments, national, regional and local authorities, the private sector, civil society actors and citizens.

The concerned OCTs include the following:

– Aruba, Bonaire, Curação, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten

– Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, St Helena, Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands

– French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic Territories, New Caledonia and Dependencies, Wallis and Futuna Islands, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Pierre and Miquelon

– and Greenland.

The expected results of the action are described below:

• Strengthen the OCTs’ capacity to respond to the COVID-19 health crisis;
• Strengthen the OCTs’ capacity to carry out climate change (CC) risk assessments and disaster risk reduction (DRR);
• Identify and implement integrated and sustainable management practices in the OCTs for land, coastal and marine resources, as well as water management and security;
• Contribute to improving the OCTs’ knowledge on energy management and storage technologies and models;
• Contribute to building capacity, tools and knowledge in the OCTs to facilitate the development, financing and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency programmes;
• Contribute to the implementation of effective energy management strategies in the OCTs.

A consultation/cooperation phase with partners and beneficiaries is foreseen in order to identify and better define precise needs and refine the programme strategy. Particular attention will be paid to the upstream involvement of all relevant stakeholders (beneficiaries, civil society, local population, financing institutions, etc.), in order to ensure a participatory management of the programme, from its conception to its closure. In addition, encouraging ownership of the programme by the beneficiaries, through iterative and progressive learning, will also be a major indicator of the programme’s success.

Required profile

Skills required

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (engineering, environment, international relations, development economics, international project management, etc.),
• Strong capacity to adapt and work in a demanding context and in a multicultural environment,
• Well developed and proven coordination and/or team management skills,
• Capacity for institutional representation,
• Perfect command of office automation tools,
• An excellent command of English and French, both written and spoken, is essential,
• Good knowledge of issues related to climate change resilience, health, energy efficiency and the renewables.

Professional experience

• Successful experience of at least 5 years managing scientific cooperation and/or technical assistance projects in the field of environment and/or climate change, ideally with EU funding,
• Procurement and monitoring of contracts,
• Experience in multi-country coordination and in one/several overseas countries or territories is strongly desired.