SCOPE OF WORK
Senior Technical Delivery/Subaward Management Advisor
CATALYZE
Project Overview and Role:
Palladium International, LLC is implementing the $250 Million, 8-year USAID CATALYZE contract which offers a facilitated partnership model that will craft solutions to crowd in $2 Billion in blended finance (i.e. blended concessional and commercial finance) to USAID partner countries; it can work in any development sector or region. Launched in October 2019, CATALYZE is a buy-in mechanism that allows USAID Bureaus and Missions to efficiently deploy investment facilitation solutions that respond to the needs of specific sectors, issues, and geographies.
USAID CATALYZE Ethiopia: MS4G is designed to benefit the Ethiopian people, build community resilience, and strengthen rural-urban linkages in the areas of food security, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). MS4G invests in developing relationships with private sector players, co-investing in inclusive business models, advisory services, digital solutions, and market-based initiatives that increase the resilience and sustainability of Ethiopian enterprises and employment for women and youth. The project supports activities in Addis Ababa and secondary cities.
To strengthen the private sector in the food security and WASH sectors, MS4G uses a market-based approach to deliver business development and financial advisory services to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The project leverages Business Advisory Service Providers (BASPs) and Pay-for-Results (P4R) awards and co-creates and co-fund partnerships to enhance enterprises’ performance, product/service delivery, and inclusion. The activities are designed to build institutional capacity, enhance knowledge and skill transfers through workforce devopment initiatives, advance the business enabling environment, accelerate digital transformations and scale best practices to increase productivity and quality.
As it enters its third project year, MS4G is expecting to receive supplemental fund to respond challenges in the cost of agricultural production and fertilizer resulting in supply disruptions from the Ukraine conflict. These supplemental funds will focus on 1) increasing smallholder farmers’ access to fertilizer; and 2) enhance the resilience of the Ethiopian fertilizer market and supply chain. Further MS4G has recently received new funding for WASH Finance and COVID resilience
OBJECTIVE/PURPOSE
CATALYZE MS4G seeks to mobilize reliable STTA resources on a Level of effort (LOE)-based consultancy basis to help the MS4G Country Team and Activity Management Unit (AMU) to rapidly ramp up partner engagement via the fertilizer supplemental funds, WASH Finance and COVID funds, by designing and executing procurements and assistance activities to achieve impact within the next 18 – 24 months. This includes taking efforts and guiding the technical team to convert work planning and mobilization plans into actionable scopes of work for solicitations, subaward or subcontracts, and partnership agreements. This will include providing inputs and advising on the structure of innovative pay for results subawards, renewable and incentive based fixed amount awards (FAA), and other assistance mechanisms involving financial institutions (FIs), BASPs, TASPs and other Ethiopian non-traditional partners. It is critical that the deployment of these instruments are achieved in a rapid and efficient manner in close coordination with the MS4G and CATALYZE CORE teams. As needed, the consultancy will involve providing support efforts to develop and submit key documents for mobilizing the supplemental funds, including the Statement of Objectives (SOO), Performance Work Statement (PWS), AMELP targets and work plan. Based on the surge nature of the supplemental funds, the CATALYZE MS4G Team requires a consultant to provide both engagement in the field as well as ongoing, part-time support from the home office to provide dedicated procurement and technical delivery, including providing surge backstopping for the AMU whilst the Sr. Manager is on parental leave.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
The Consultant will provide a range LOE-based activities on an on-going and as-tasked basis, including
– Serve as a temporary senior member of the AMU to provide solicitation design, procurement and grants management leadership and support from US on a 25% – 50% basis based on the volume activities and programming in the ramp up of WASH finance, COVID resilience and fertilizer supplemental funds.
– Contribute to the development and submission of key documents for mobilizing the supplemental funds, including the Statement of Objectives (SOO), Performance Work Statement (PWS), AMELP targets and work plan
– Advise the field office team on best practices in innovative subcontracts and grants solicitations from a technical and compliance perspective; support the rapid design, structure and deliverables models for key solicitations and agreements, and otherwise taking steps to accelerate procurement design processes.
– Work with the field office team to streamline the procurement process, establish standards for due diligence and review processes, and emphasizing consistency and quality of procurement and grant documentation.
– Travel to Addis Ababa for up to four weeks to support and join MS4G country team in providing leadership in structuring, releasing, obtaining requisite USAID approvals, partner discussions and due diligence, compliance review and negotiations for a demanding pipeline of grants and subcontracts. These activities will be conducted in close coordination with MS4G Technical Leads, the DCD Ops and Finance, and the MS4G AMU.
– Upon return to US provide, ongoing surge support on a 25% – 50% basis to the AMU and country team to ensure that procurement and grants management plans are met, providing expert advice in troubleshooting challenges, drafting compliance documents, and developing reporting structures.
DELIVERABLES
The Subcontractor/Consultant will deliver the following outputs:
– Timely contributions, as tasked to key Supplemental Fund mobilization documents, such as the SOO, PWS, budget, work plan, results modelling and procurement plan, with an emphasis on integrating best practices and strategies for rapid, efficient, and compliant procurement and subawards management.
– Submission of a six-month procurement and grants management plan, developed in close coordination with the MS4G country and AMU teams, inclusive of RFA, RFP, and unsolicited grants scopes, expected budgets and timelines.
– Successful shepherding of assigned priority supplemental fund procurements.
– Weekly updates to the AMU and field team of status of priority solicitations, subcontracts or grants within the WASH Finance, COVID resilience and Fertilizer Supplemental funds, identifying issues and potential trouble shooting strategies.
Required Qualifications:
The ideal candidate shall have the following qualifications and experience:
– Demonstrated experience providing increasingly complex strategic management, grants and procurement design and oversight to large programs with large grant or subcontract portfolio, ideally within USAID program contexts focus on food security or WASH.
– Proven experience in leading or managing programs with a focus on using innovative grant and procurement instruments to engage the private sector, with a focus on engaging local partners.
– Experience leading or managing activities that work with private sector offerors or recipients to plan activities, negotiate budgets, assess organizational capacity, and identify ways to enhance grant or subcontract success and impact
The following qualifications and experience are preferred:
– Previous experience working in Ethiopia or engaging Ethiopian stakeholders on food security and agriculture programming, ideally with USAID programs with grants and sub award budgets.
– Excellent communication skills, including excellent written and verbal communication skills
Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of private sector stakeholders
– Program planning and implementation skills
– Skill in examining and re-engineering operations and procedures, formulating policy, and developing and implementing new strategies and procedures.
MONITORING
The Consultant will be overseen by MS4G Home Office Activity Lead, Brett Johnson.
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE AND DELIVERY TIMING
This assignment would commence in late August 2022 and end in January 2023 on a LOE-based consultancy agreement basis. The assignment requires travel to Addis Ababa in Late September to October 2022. All eligible travel costs will be reimbursed by MS4G/Palladium
All final deliverables must be submitted no later than January 31, 2022.
The estimated LOE for this assignment is 50 days, which includes:
4 – 5 weeks (25 working days) in Addis Ababa
3 months at 25 – 50% FTE from US (estimated 25 days)
Company Overview:
About Palladium – Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 3,000 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most importantly, people’s lives.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.
Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.
Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.
Apply now
Share
Save Job
