Band 4  - National Personnel	Advisor for Demonstration Projects in the project “Promoting Green Deal Readiness in the Eastern Partnership Countries” (PROGRESS) and “EU4ClimateResilience” in Baku/Azerbaijan
Reports to:	Project director (AV)
Deputy:	Project Manager

 

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is pleased to announce a job offer for the position an advisor for demonstration projects for the regional project "Promoting Green Deal Readiness in the Eastern Partnership Countries” (PROGRESS).

 

Duration of employment: 08.04.2024 – 30.11.2027

 

A. Background on project “PROGRESS”

 

The regional project ‘Promoting Green Deal Readiness in the Eastern Partnership Countries’ (PROGRESS) is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV).

 

PROGRESS supports the countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in their transition to climate-oriented, resilient, and green economic development. It aims to improve the conditions for the transformation of selected agricultural and related industrial food value chains. The project promotes the introduction of innovative technologies, tools and methodologies that provide a significant impetus for a transition to greater sustainability, climate resilience and long-term GHG mitigation in the region, accompanied by improved enabling framework conditions. Better access to financing options and support for the further improvement of existing financing mechanisms and instruments involving for example national banks, development banks and public budgets will facilitate implementation. Good practices and expertise will be fostered via regional exchange and anchored in the institutional structures of the regional and national implementing partners. GIZ will serve as the Partnership Coordinator for the overall project coordination of PROGRESS. The GIZ project co-ordination unit will be based in Georgia with project representation in each of the five partner countries via GIZ, the Regional Environmental Center (REC) for the Caucasus in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia, the European Business Association (EBA) in Moldova and the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (IEF) in Ukraine.   

 

As from April 2024, PROGRESS will include a multi-donor action jointly co-funded by the European Union and BMUV on Decarbonization and Climate Resilience in the EaP (“EU4ClimateResilience”). The multi-donor action will be implemented by GIZ and OECD. As part of this multi-donor action, GIZ will support the countries’ capacity to adequately measure and reduce national emissions and increase their capacity to adapt to the impact of climate change. Further, the multi-donor action will implement demonstration projects in selected municipalities in the EaP that demonstrate the benefits of climate adaptation. The focus of these demonstration projects will be set on nature-based solutions. During implementation, the project will closely coordinate with the Covenant of Mayors (CoM).

 

B. Responsibilities

The advisor is responsible for

 

• Cooperation with selected PROGRESS consortium partners (i.e. REC Caucasus) as well as local partners (e.g. Covenant of Mayors Azerbaijan, local municipalities, Grant Agreement recipients).
• Planning and implementing project activities in cooperation with local stakeholders (e.g. with selected agricultural organizations on smart agricultural management and with municipalities on nature-based solutions for climate adaptation).
• Supervising local and international experts and/or service providers that provide consultancy services.
• Ensuring knowledge management and information exchange with the project team, and with the other advisors for demonstration projects of the project on the piloting activities.
• Ensuring information exchange with the management team and other Demonstration Project Advisors on the implementation status of the demonstration projects.

 

C. Tasks

1. Planning and implementation of demonstration projects in Azerbaijan

 

The Advisor

 

• In consultation with the Project Manager of the Azerbaijan Project Team and the Advisor for EU4ClimateResilience, selects the local partner organizations that will implement the piloting activities (i.e. agricultural organizations, Grant Agreement recipients) and the selection criteria for a call for proposals for the demonstration projects in the municipal context.
• Implements relevant project activities at the local level in consultation with the Project Manager and the Advisor of EU4ClimateResilience and in close cooperation with the local implementation partners.
• If feasible, travels frequently to the project’s pilot regions and municipalities in Azerbaijan and to third countries if feasible and necessary, in accordance with the project requirements.
• is planning and monitoring project-related activities and expenditures in close cooperation with the Project Manager and the Advisor of EU4ClimateResilience.
• represents the project at workshops, seminars, and conferences in Azerbaijan, as well – if required – abroad.
• contributes to project management activities, e. g. for project progress reviews, reporting and contributing to PR and communication measures.
• participating in public meetings on issues directly connected with the project.
• develops ToR for technical local and international consultancy services as well as grant agreements.
• manages the contracting processes and ensuring timely submission of invoices by the contractees.

 

2. Knowledge management

The advisor

• develops ready-to-use strategies and technical concepts for the piloting measures, including guidelines, manuals, and other publications in close cooperation with partners.
• actively contributes to relevant technical working groups (e.g. on agriculture, urban development).
• draws up reports and presentation documents.
• prepares appropriate input for various project reports including annual reports and contributes to other reports required by the team leader, GIZ Head Office and donors.
• assists with research activities and studies and ensures knowledge transfer towards project transformation.
• reports on participation at workshops, seminars, conferences, and information visits.
• provides data on the progress of the piloting measures for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

 

3. Advising the partner institution(s)

 

The advisor

• Advises the piloting organizations (i. e. agricultural organizations and local municipalities) on order clarification, identifying needs, developing concepts and strategies, and provides technical or conceptual input related to the development of (sustainable) value chains and nature-based solutions in the municipal context.
• plans and supervises the development and implementation of demonstration projects in close cooperation with partners as well as in consultation with the Project Manager and the Advisor of EU4ClimateResilience.
• manages/ coordinates relevant human capacity development activities/ measures.
• contributes to identifying needs for external support and advice, works on policy recommendations and develops strategical approaches in close cooperation with partners.
• contributes to preparing and implementing the coordination process with partners, joint programme activities and work at the project level.
• formulates terms of reference and selects and supervises third parties while carrying out project activities, including performance evaluation.
• monitors the development and implementation of project plans and activities in close consultation with partners, identifies bottlenecks and recommends alternative management options to the Project Manager.
• deals with the design, preparation and implementation of workshops, seminars and other events on issues related to the project’s intervention area.
• develops and organizes quality assurance measures and suggests necessary changes, improvements and initiatives.
• uses GIZ’s management model Capacity WORKS.

 

4. Networking and cooperation

The advisor

• ensures cooperation, regular contact and dialogue with partners, local communities and municipalities, relevant organizations, non-governmental agencies and individuals in the project environment and with other projects to improve and maintain good working relationships, especially with the local piloting partners.
• communicates local interests and efforts, forwards these and encourages sharing of ideas and information for the benefit of the project.
• contributes to joint project activities and work at the EaP level.
• contributes to joint public relations works in coordination with the Project’s Communications Expert.

 

5. Other duties

The advisor

• performing other duties and tasks at the request of the project director.

 

D. Required qualifications, competences and experience

Qualifications

• university degree (Masters) in a relevant subject (e. g. Social or Political science, agriculture science, sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, agricultural economics, environmental science, urban development or similar);
• and /or additional training in a relevant subject (e.g. agriculture, organic agriculture, natural resource management, sustainable land management, urban development, cooperation with municipalities, value chains);
• knowledge and practices of good agricultural practices, ecosystem services, and integrated ecological management;
• Broad knowledge of the (local) Azerbaijan agricultural and/or municipal sector, its relevant stakeholders and current policies/structure;
• at least 5 years’ professional experience in a comparable position;
• working experience with international development cooperation;
• Preparedness and flexibility for frequent business travel to rural areas;
• Creativity and innovative out-of-the-box thinking;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Passion for the environment, livelihoods and social inclusion;
• very good working knowledge of ITC technologies (phone, e-mail, MS Teams) and computer applications (e.g. MS Office);
• very good (academic) Azerbaijani skills in writing and speaking, fluent English skills in writing and speaking; knowledge of German is of advantage;
• willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding measures are agreed with management.

 

Qualified candidates are kindly asked to send their motivation letter and resumes/cvs applications by e-mail to: [email protected]

 

Please indicate the name of the position (PROGRESS – Advisor for Demonstration Projects) you are applying for in the subject line of the email.

 

Deadline for submitting applications: 07.03.2024

 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.