Collective Impact Officer

USAID REDUCING POLLUTION ACTIVITY
RECRUIT
Collective Impact Officer

1. BACKGROUND

In support of Vietnam’s efforts to address environmental pollution challenges, the five-year USAID Reducing Pollution Activity fosters locally-driven initiatives and facilitates capacity for local actors/networks 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 take action based on their roles and comparative advantages. The Activity demonstrates clear connections between environmental benefits and other social benefits, including public health, employment, and sustainable economic growth.

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

• Strengthened networks of local organizations, government, private sector, and academic institutions working together to prevent, mitigate, and/or reduce environmental pollution; and
• Increased capacity of stakeholders to generate, share, and use pollution data to support policy/implementation solutions for locally-determined environmental pollution challenges.

2. POSITION DESCRIPTION

The core of each collective impact initiative is a ‘backbone organization.’ The backbone organization will be a local NGO that mobilizes local stakeholders through a set of activities to address the specific environmental pollution challenge. The Reducing Pollution Activity will be responsible for providing technical advisory support and general capacity building to each backbone organization, as well as facilitating learning and networking across the different backbone organizations working on the diverse portfolio of collective impact initiatives.

The Collective Impact Officer plays a critical role in the Reducing Pollution Activity team by serving as the main direct liaison between the project team and the backbone organization teams. This will involve:

• Conducting capacity building needs assessments with backbone organizations to identify their specific training needs and support requests.
• Developing and facilitating the implementation of capacity building plans to support each backbone organization over the life of the project.
• Maintaining close relationships with backbone organizations to identify needs that may arise during project implementation, facilitate improved networking within and between backbone organizations, and serve as an overall link on day-to-day collaboration between the Reducing Pollution Activity Team and backbone organizations.

The Reducing Pollution staffing structure includes two Collective Impact Officers. Each will focus on working with specific backbone organizations and their respective collective impact initiatives, as assigned by the Collective Impact Director.

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

3. RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support the Collective Impact Director to conduct capacity development activities with backbone organizations
  
  • Using the project’s Capacity Development Process as a guide, collaborate with Reducing Pollution team to develop collaboration plan for capacity development with selected backbone organizations.
  • Conduct capacity needs assessment, re-assessment and facilitate a participatory needs assessment process with each selected backbone organization to identify training and other needs of backbone organizations.
  • Based on needs identified, facilitate the development of a participatory capacity building plan with each selected backbone organization.
  • Coordinate with Reducing Pollution staff to provide necessary capacity building support to meet needs identified in capacity building plans with each selected backbone organization.
• Work with selected backbone organizations to implement their workplans for collective impact initiatives (CIIs) using adaptive management principles
  
  • Manage relationships with key focal points at each selected backbone organization to ensure close collaboration and engagement between Reducing Pollution and each backbone.
  • Communicate regularly with selected backbone organizations to ensure progress in their respective workplans for implementing the awarded CIIs, identify challenges, and work with backbone organization staff and Reducing Pollution staff to identify solutions.
  • Closely work with selected backbone organizations to provide needed support during implementation and monitoring of the developed capacity building plan.
  • Utilize adaptive management principles to ensure flexibility and adaptability in activities, so that backbone organizations can adjust as necessary to focus on emerging opportunities.
  • Follow up with backbone organizations on periodic progress reports.
• Support overall project implementation and reporting
  
  • Contribute to quarterly reporting, annual reports and to the annual work planning process and final documents.
• Other
  
  • Travel domestically to support project sub-grantees.
  • Other support to the Collective Impact team as required including translation andinterpretation supports for related project documents and meetings.

4. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor/University degree in environmental studies, social science, or related field.
  Postgraduate degree is an advantage.
• Ten years of general working experience, including at least five years of working experience providing capacity building support to local NGOs or local organizations.
• Experience working on donor-funded projects in the area of capacity building and community development.
• Experience engaging with community groups, local NGOs, and advocacy groups to address complex development challenges.
• Experience developing professional networks and/or collaborative working groups is an advantage.
• Experience developing and monitoring workplans and related planning procedures.
• Understanding of environmental issues, and experience working on environment projects is an advantage.
• Familiarity with the USAID Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) framework, tools and approaches is an advantage.
• Strong teamwork skills and commitment to collaborate with other staff.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work well in a team setting.
• 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.
• Strong English speaking and writing skills are required.

5. SUPERVISOR

The Collective Impact Officer reports to the Collective Impact Director

6. HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates with the right qualifications and motivation are invited to send letter of interest, a current full CV in English to the following email address: [email protected] with subject line of “Your full name – Collective Impact Officer” no later than 21 April, 2022

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview.