American Refugee Committee International Jobs Vacancies in Uganda

Company: American Refugee Committee International (ARC)


Closing date: 31 Dec 2010

Location: Uganda

POSITION TITLE: Program Director – Livelihoods

COUNTRY PROGRAM: Uganda

RESPONSIBLE TO: Country Director

STATUS: Full Time

SUPERVISORY CAPACITY: Livelihoods Project Staff

*POSITION PENDING FUNDING.

DEPARTMENT/COUNTRY PROGRAM DESCRIPTION/MISSION

The American Refugee Committee International (ARC) works for the survival, health, and well-being of refugees, displaced persons, and those at risk, and seeks to enable them to rebuild productive lives of dignity and purpose, striving always to respect the values of those served. ARC is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided multisectoral humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries for 30 years.

Our Vision – A Uganda where challenges to living life with dignity and self-sufficiency are overcome and people are enabled to live healthy and productive lives.

Our Mission – We will build individual and collective capacity to overcome the obstacles of displacement and develop sustainable livelihoods while supporting access to services when people cannot meet their basic needs.

ARC’s Renewable Energy Microfinance and Microenterprise Program (REMMP) activities will include a strong preference for gender activities and a requirement to foster technology transfer. The purpose of this project is to provide access to renewable energy sources and share lessons learned to the sector via multi-media, publications and websites.

PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

The primary responsibility of the Program Director will be to manage a $1.4 million a year program to develop a market based approach for improving access to renewable energy. This would be achieved through access to finance (Microfinance and VSLAs), skills training and market development (micro-franchises and local market development) for renewable energy sources. Reporting to the Country Director, the Program Director will manage a team of experts on energy and market development and ensure the project achieves its goals and objectives on budget and in the agreed timeframe.

MAJOR AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY

PRIMARY DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

* Promote activities that will foster an enterprise based approach for the assembly, manufacturing, sales, installation, operation and/or maintenance of these technologies that includes microfinance.
* Focus on household and community scale renewable technologies, including mini and micro grids for electrification, lighting (e.g. solar lanterns), and/or more efficient cooking and heating technologies (e.g. efficient cook stoves, solar water heaters).
* Improve access to modern energy services to underserved populations.
* Activities and programs will contain the following components:

* Enterprise and consumer financing

* Technology development and transfer

* Market development

* Enterprise development

* Legal and regulatory reform

Program Development activities in relation to this activity:

* Supervise a team of experts

* Manage budget and procurement

* Ensure goals and objectives are achieved on time

* Develop lessons learned for publication

* All other duties assigned.

EDUCATION, TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED

* At least 10 years experience leading, managing and implementing complex international development projects for an NGO or related experience in international complex emergency or post-conflict settings.
* A minimum of a Masters degree in natural resources and environment, energy, engineering, finance, economics or a related field.
* Demonstrated experience in the renewable energy enterprise development and microfinance field.
* Experience in Knowledge Management and Publication of Best Practice Guidance/Knowledge Transfer.
* Familiarity with private, US government, UN and multi-lateral funders.
* Demonstrated initiative in donor proposal development, implementation, project monitoring and evaluation and good negotiating skills.
* Demonstrated experience working in partnership with international donors and agencies.
* Strong oral and written communications skills; strong computer skills.

KEY BEHAVIORS & ABILITIES

* Strong participatory leadership and interpersonal skills. Ability to motivate staff and provide strong leadership for a diverse team in a politically sensitive environment.
* Excellent organizational, administrative and management skills. Ability to prioritize multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
* Knowledge of renewable energy and related areas.
* Extremely flexible with the ability to cope with stressful situations.

How to apply

For full job description and the online application form, please visit our website at http://www.arcrelief.org and click on Careers.

Reference Code: RW_8BTHBJ-99