Senior Advisor (Winrock International)

Background

The Reducing Pollution Project, funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to support Vietnam’s efforts to address environmental pollution challenges using a collective impact approach. Collective impact addresses complex challenges by mobilizing diverse actors to collaborate, identify ways to solve a shared problem, and act based on their roles and comparative advantages.

The Project applies the collective impact approach to facilitate networks of local organizations, government agencies, private sector, research and education institutes, and communities in joining efforts to prevent and reduce environmental pollution.

Through this Project, USAID expects to attain the following results:

Six collective impact initiatives launched, including plastic pollution, air pollution, pollution from craft villages, and transparent data disclosure from companies and industrial zones;
Improved legal framework on environmental pollution reduction to support the effective implementation of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection;
Enhanced collaboration among networks of stakeholders working together to prevent and reduce environmental pollution; and
Strengthened capacity for establishing, sharing, and using environmental data to support the development of policy and solutions for environmental pollution challenges.

Position Description

The Senior Advisor will assist and support the Chief of Party (COP) in leadership and management of the project by providing technical and financial oversight in project planning and implementation, while supporting coordination with key Government of Vietnam (GVN), private sector, and other counterparts at the national and local levels. The Senior Advisor will assist in building and maintaining effective coordination with and between the Project’s three Team Leaders (Collective Impact/Technical, Learning & Innovation, and Finance & Administration), program staff, and partners. S/he will work closely with Winrock home office staff to ensure consistent application of organizational standards and procedures.

S/he will be based in Hanoi, with periodic travel to the project’s target sites as required for project activities.

The Senior Advisor is a local hire (Vietnamese) position.

Responsibilities

Provide technical oversight and guidance for project activities

The Reducing Pollution project currently has six different collective impact initiatives focused on: Vietnam’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy, reducing plastic waste from medical facilities, addressing air pollution from open burning, reducing air pollution from road transportation, improving environmental management in craft villages, and increasing the transparency of private sector reporting of environmental data from operations and production. The project also supports a range of pollution-related policy development areas with GVN counterparts. Given the project’s ever-growing and expanding focus areas, the Senior Advisor will provide technical leadership in areas related to:

Implementation of the project’s collective impact initiatives;
Overseeing, contributing to, and providing technical input into policy development activities;
Providing guidance on the collective impact approach for grantees and project partners; and
Supervising capacity building and organizational strengthening efforts for project grantees.

Provide guidance and input to overall project planning and implementation

The Reducing Pollution team has annual workplanning processes in place and uses a series of tools and guidance documents to complete and monitor annual workplans, and complete regular performance reports. However, as the project continues to grow and evolve, there are opportunities to review and improve upon the procedures and practices in place. The Senior Advisor will be responsible to:

Work closely with the COP, Team Leaders, and project staff to develop annual workplans; ensure timely, high-quality implementation of activities and development of deliverables; and support monitoring and evaluation to ensure achievement of goals and objectives;
Review and prepare deliverables to be submitted to USAID, ensuring technical compliance with Winrock policies and principles and strict adherence to USAID rules and regulations; and
Contribute to strategies for working with local CSO/NGOs, private sector and relevant stakeholders, including host government programs and other donor projects to leverage resources and maximize results.

Ensure effective coordination with GVN, private sector, and other partners at national and local levels

The current project team has developed strong collaborative relationships with GVN partners at the national (including Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment, among others) and local (including City of Hanoi, City of Ho Chi Minh City, and relevant local Departments of Natural Resources & Environment) levels. The Senior Advisor will ensure effective coordination, and continue to maintain and strengthen GVN relationships, including in areas with new partnerships under development. This will include:

Coordinate activities with other agencies and closely collaborate with key staff on implementing activities; focus on achieving results in all areas on schedule while maintaining positive relationships with USAID, Vietnamese officials, NGOs, private sector, and other implementing partners;
Represent the project and Winrock to USAID, local and national government entities, the media, local NGOs, the local business community, and other stakeholders as needed;
Directly engage with those partners with whom relationship development has proven challenging, and build stronger collaborative relationships.

Ensure compliance with donor and organizational policies and requirements

The Senior Advisor will play a key role in overseeing project operations and overall management to ensure compliance with donor regulations, local government policies, and Winrock headquarters procedures and standards and procedures.

Work with Finance & Operations Director to ensure financial management systems and procedures are efficient, effective, and meet donor and HQ requirements;
Support the COP to review and approval financial reports for the donor, HQ, and GVN partners as needed; and
Coordinate closely with Winrock HQ technical and support staff to ensure project deliverables, operations, and financial practices meet Winrock organizational standards.

Other duties as required

Serve as acting COP when appropriate; and
Other duties as assigned.

Required experience and qualifications

Experience

Advanced degree in international development, environmental management, political science, organizational capacity building or relevant field of study
Minimum 12 years of professional experience in donor-funded projects in a related role with proven supervisory and management experience in Vietnam, of which at least six years is in a senior management position;
Previous experience working in projects or fields related to sustainable waste management, recycling, ecosystem-based conservation, hydrology/water resources, natural resources management, CSO/NGO governance and/or general objectives of the project highly desirable;
Experience working with government ministries and ability to foster and maintain good working relationships with senior officials;
Experience building partnerships with key private sector actors;
Experience with grants management and organizational capacity building required; and
Ability to support Vietnamese NGOs that can provide synergies and sustainable solutions for the project’s outcomes; experience with collective action and impact desirable.

Skills

Effective team-building and participatory leadership skills;
Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills, creative problem-solving, conflict, ethical management skills and excellent written and oral communication skills;
Demonstrated competence in negotiation and communication;
Familiarity with USAID policies and approaches is an advantage;
Financial and grants/sub-award management skills and experience;
Creativity and enthusiasm to tackle new challenges;
Able and willing to undertake periodic field travel;
Strong experience working with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) required; and
Strong English speaking and writing skills are required. Native Vietnamese speaking and writing are required.

Supervisor

The Senior Advisor reports to the Chief of Party.

How to apply

Applicants should submit a current resume and cover letter referencing Senior Advisor via VietnamJobs@winrock.org with the title: “Your full name_Application for the Senior Advisor” by 4 August, 2023.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and candidates are strongly encouraged to apply soon.