Team Leader-Economic Empowerment

iDE (ideglobal.org) and The Asia Foundation (asiafoundation.org) are looking for skilled and ambitious candidates for Team Leader (one position) for a new women’s economic empowerment program in Bangladesh. This position relates to a grant recently awarded to the partners by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida to implement the “Women’s Economic Empowerment through Strengthening Market Systems” (WEESMS) project in Bangladesh from 2016-2021.

The USD 7.5 million WEESMS initiative will focus on increasing women’s opportunities for economic participation and decision-making through improved access to productive employment options with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) led by women entrepreneurs. Following a rigorous market research and sector selection process, the WEESMS project will aim to i) increase the number of women entrepreneurs and growth of women-led SMEs, ii) improve women’s access to formal and informal employment opportunities, and iii) increase retention rates of women already in the labor market across the 2-4 targeted sectors.

The Team Leader will provide overall strategic, operational and technical direction across the program and oversee the development of innovative partnerships to test and implement solutions to ensuring productive employment opportunities for women in target sectors. The Team Leader will also play the leading role in representing the program within Bangladesh and internationally, building awareness and contributing to the discussion on best practice in women’s economic empowerment through markets-based interventions.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Develop strategy for the project, in close collaboration with the Programs Director at iDE Bangladesh, the and other members of the project management or consortium team as required;
• Lead and manage project interventions with partners and ensure they are effectively delivered against the agreed implementation plans;
• Monitor progress of the assigned project against the performance management system defined in the project plan;
• Prepare regular updates, including verbal and written communications, and written reports as required for program reporting;
• Maintain budgetary control of expenditure, manage grants and monitor the financial status of the project; and
• Additional duties as defined by the Programs Director at iDE.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher qualification in business administration, economics, development studies, or social sciences, or equivalent.
• 7 years of experience in program management and implementation, ideally in consortia which follow market development approaches (mandatory);
• Proven experience working on bilateral donor agency-funded programs (mandatory);
• Proven, practical experience with market development approaches including Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) and value chain development, and monitoring methodologies such as the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) Standard for Results Measurement (practical experience mandatory);
• Significant experience working with the private sector, understanding trading relationships, and an ability to apply this experience in development initiatives;
• Significant experience managing complex women’s economic empowerment initiatives;
• Strong experience in strategic planning, program budgeting, financial management and reporting;
• Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building skills;
• Demonstrated understanding of the range of capacity building approaches and their applicability to different contexts and needs
• Demonstrated understanding of gender and development issues in Bangladesh and more broadly;
• Demonstrable performance management and leadership skills, particularly influencing and communications skills;
• Strong ability to multi-task and handle complex programming challenges; and
• Excellent speaking, writing and oral communication skills in English.

Desired Qualifications

• Practical experience managing Sida-funded programs;
• Self-motivated, energetic and a team player;
• Prepared to undertake frequent field visits and extensive travel;
• Demonstrated strong management skills and experience in supervising multi-disciplinary teams;
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; and
• Proven interpersonal and intercultural skills, including flexibility and sensitivity.

HOW TO APPLY:

Candidates are encouraged to submit a CV of maximum 4 pages along with a 1 page cover letter detailing your experience and suitability for the role to bangladesh-jobs@ideglobal.org by Wednesday, September 14.The subject line of the email should read“Application for the position of Team Leader, WEESMS”.Applications will be reviewed as they are received. We thank all applicants, however only those making the shortlist will be contacted.