PROJECT MANAGER/MONGOLIA COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE (M/F) – MONGOLIA At Groupe Energies Renouvelables, Environnement et Solidarités

context & the organisation

Set up in 1976, Geres is a French based international development NGO which works to improve the living conditions of the poorest and tackle climate change and its impacts. As a grassroots actor, Geres considers the energy transition as a major lever in all its actions. In order to drive societal change, Geres promotes the development and dissemination of innovative and local solutions, supports climate-energy policies and actions and encourages everyone to commit to Climate Solidarity by taking action and supporting vulnerable populations.

In Central Asia, Geres has been working mainly in the sphere of energy poverty and access thereof, energy efficiency in building, bioclimatic solutions in the agricultural sector & overall better (natural) resource management, following as much as possible inclusive market-based approaches and access to finance.

In Mongolia, Geres has a permanent representation office since 2010 and been working consistently in the fields of bioclimatic solutions (solar passive greenhouses and cellars) for the small-scale agriculture sector and in building energy efficiency (thermal retrofitting of individual houses in ger districts but also public buildings) in Ulaanbaatar but also Khentiy and Arkhangai provinces.

The current projects’ portfolio includes:

• A partnership with AVSF & MONES NGOs under an EU CSO-LA “IMPACT” project aiming at supporting the vegetable sector by fostering affordable and adapted production and preservation technologies and the role, initiative and leadership of women in the value chain and towards policy makers.
• Within the AFD-funded multi-country “*Climate – Energy: Measure of Adaptation and Mitigation on Rural Territories – CEMAATERR”* programme (4 countries in total), the Mongolian component in Arkhangai province, aiming at raising awareness and providing support to local actors to take into account climate changes and their effects when establishing their local development plans and infrastructure investments. A second phase is currently ongoing and a third in the pipes.
• A large project in a complex consortium with national and international NGOs under the EU SWITCH-Asia programme, called “Switch off Air Pollution”, aiming at piloting a comprehensive delivery model to ensure thermal retrofitting of ger districts individual housing. The project intention is to design a functioning intermediation system between construction SMEs, material suppliers, auditing and labelling schemes, line agencies and most importantly end-clients and banks in the delivery of green loans (backed by a GCF funded project). A second scale-up phase is pending funding decision.

Main donors are European Union, the AFD (French Agency for Development), Foundation Abbé Pierre and other private foundations.

Mission

Under the hierarchical management and with the support of the Central Asia Regional Director, the Project Manager/Country Representative will be in charge of declining and rollout Geres regional strategy at national level with the programme team. She/he will represent Geres in the country, lead fundraising efforts and oversee all projects/programmes in cooperation with managers and Finance and Admin department. She/he will ensure compliance, quality of implementation, monitoring and reporting.

She/he will directly manage SWITCH Asia SOAP as Project Manager, defining relevant objectives and ensuring their achievement, through proper project cycle management, efficient financial management & smooth consortium management

Additionally, she/he will specifically support and coach the CEMAATERR and IMPACT project managers by overseeing PCM and ensuring the quality & impact of the respective programmes.

She/He will work in close coordination with Financial Controller and key subject matters experts based in HQ.

She/he will liaise with donors, partners, the NGO and IO networks and coordinate Geres communication and advocacy towards national and local authorities.

Activities

As Switch-Asia SOAP Project Manager:

1. Oversee Project Cycle Management

· Lead and support project staff & partners in planning, coordinating, implementing and monitoring activities

· Support the monitoring and evaluation process, in particular by developing methodologies M&E tools to measure the results and impacts of the projects

· Smoothly tackle implementation constraints and put in place the necessary corrective measures in consultation with stakeholders (including authorities, partners, and beneficiaries)

· Supervise and ensure compliance in the use of external service providers, internal support missions and other suppliers

· Ensure quality and timely preparation of internal and external reports

· Ensure and maintain a knowledge management system, incl. archival and sharing

· Ensure ownership and capacity building of the team across the entire project cycle management

2. Manage project partnerships

· Monitor, assess and facilitate project partnerships

· Ensuring commitments of Geres towards its partners are dully filled and reciprocally, that project partners abide by their respective commitments towards Geres

· Prevent and, if need be, solve issues and disputes with partners

3. Supervise administrative, logistical, and financial management of the project

· Develop and/or guarantee a framework of operations and responsibilities between the stakeholders in accordance with the rules of the financial partners

· Supervise the planning and delivery of financial expenditures and accounting flows in collaboration with the Administrative and Finance Officer

· Communicate to teams and ensure compliance with logistical, administrative, and financial procedures

· Actively participate in co-funding research efforts

· Ensure that project managers report to the HQ Admin/Finance department in timely manner

As Mongolia Country Representative:

4. Lead and animate the country strategy in coherence with Geres Regional Strategy

· Analyse the country context, strengths/weaknesses/challenges/opportunities

· Develop networks and identify strategic partnerships with donors, international NGOs, national CSOs, national and local authorities, private sector.

· Implement the country strategy; evaluate and update if deemed necessary

· Be active part to the regional strategy development

5. Fundraising & project/programme portfolio development in coherence with the country strategy

· Perform prospective work and develop field understanding of the country, also beyond current zones/topics of interventions

· Prospectively identify funding opportunities

· Identify partnership opportunities in order to prepare swiftly concepts and consortium ahead of calls for proposals

· Ensure & organise the development of funding proposals (narrative and budget) in country, following the existing procedure in close collaboration with the Regional Director and HQ

6. Representation of Geres amongst key stakeholders in-country and with the support of the Regional Director

· Ensure proactive and regular communication with institutional partners and development stakeholders

· Manage the external communication of Geres in- country, with the support of Comms officer and HQ Comms Department

· Relay key relevant information to Regional Director and HQ

· Integrate and maintain relation with relevant networks in-country

7. Supervision of human resources, administration & finance

· Ensure the good management of the office(s) related to Human Resources, logistics, administration, and finance/accounting. Make sure that the national legislation is duly respected.

· Organise and regularly check the quality/consistency of the budget planning, disbursement plans, financial and accounting reporting.

· Ensure that all practices and processes are in line with the rules and procedures developed by the Finance and Admin Direction of Geres.

· In line with Geres HR policy and for national colleagues, supervise the elaboration of the Country-level HR policy, submit it to Regional Direction/HR at HQ for validation**

8. Project portfolio supervision

· Support PMs & partners in planning, coordinating, and monitoring activities

· Support the monitoring and evaluation process, in particular by developing methodologies M&E tools to measure the results and impacts of the projects

· Assist PMs in tackling implementation constraints and putting in place the necessary corrective measures in consultation with stakeholders (including authorities, partners and beneficiaries)

· Supervise and ensure compliance in the use of external service providers, internal support missions and other suppliers

· Ensure quality and timely preparation of internal and external reports by PMs

· Ensure a knowledge management system, incl. archival and sharing is maintained

· Ensure ownership and capacity building of the team across the entire project cycle management

9. Management and animation of the team

· Ensure hierarchical management of the Mongolia team (recruitment, integration, training, appraisal, workload, work planning and prioritisation)

· Develop skills and competencies, support and include members of the Tajikistan team

· Maintain a team atmosphere and ensure information flows amongst the members of the team

· Ensure of the well-being and proper work conditions for the team**

10. Management of partnerships

· Monitor, assess, and facilitate project partnerships

· Facilitate the identification and formalisation of partnerships at country level

11. Management of in-country Security

· Continuously assess and analyse context, key actors, and incidents

· Follow-up on these contextual analyses and liaise with Regional Director

· Keep up to date the required security documents/processes, ensure proper diffusion to members of the team after Regional Director’s validation

· Ensure security and internal rules are respected in-country and by everyone

· Manage incidents (in line with the Executive Director for critical incidents), relay key relevant information to Regional Director and HQ

· Integrate relevant national networks

PROFILE

Education

• A Master’s Degree, preferably in Economics, Development, Engineering, Energy or Environmental studies or equivalent experience required

Experience

• 4 year-minimum experience as a project manager with progressive inclusion of management responsibilities in the international development sector is required
• Previous experience in managing and coordinating a multi-partners project is required
• Previous experience in value chain project, support to local entrepreneurship and finance sector is required
• Previous experience as a project manager in initiatives in support to local entrepreneurship is appreciated
• Previous experience in Mongolia/post-Soviet country is an asset
• Experience in managing medium sized grants for a recognised international donor (EU, AFD, SDC, USAID, etc.) is required

Skills

· Required skills:

• Commitment, dynamism, and strong enthusiasm for international development work
• Proficiency in Project Cycle Management, Logical Framework Development, M&E systems
• Excellent project writing/formulation and reporting skills (proven track record is an asset)
• Comfortable with high-level governmental/institutional relationships
• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to establish contact with people from different background and cultures
• Negotiation and diplomatic skills
• Organisation and attention to detail especially meeting deadlines
• Team player with capacity to work in a multicultural environment
• Fluency in English both written and spoken is a must
• Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite

· Appreciated skills:

• Conversant with energy, climate change questions
• Working knowledge of gender principles and main applied tools in the development sector
• Advanced knowledge of French both written and spoken

· Skills that would be an asset:

• Proven knowledge of energy-climate nexus in developing countries, in particular related to energy efficiency/access to energy/renewable energies
• Working Knowledge of Mongolian language

CONDITIONS

· 12 months contract (renewable, pending funding), Executive

· Full time with days off in lieu

· Starting date: October 2021

· Salary based upon profile & experience as per Geres salary grid

· 26 paid leaves per year

· 377€ expatriation allowance, annual leaves bonus, health insurance (50% covered by Geres), life/invalidity insurance, retirement, unemployment, repatriation insurance

· Other benefits: move allowance, luggage allowance, 2 air tickets/year

· Position based in Ulaanbaatar, with travels to project sites