Terms of Reference

Position Title:

Provincial Coordinator

No. of positions

02 positions (one in Son La and one in Lao Cai)

Location:

Son La and Lao Cai with frequent travel to project areas. Some travel to Hanoi

Period of Assignment:

1-year contract (with possible extension)

Reporting To:

Deputy Team Leader (for Program Coordination)

Responsible Portfolio Manager(s) (for direct partnership management)

Staff to supervise:

Provincial Administrative Officer and Driver

Background:

With more than 35 years of experience, Cowater International is Canada’s global leader in management consulting services specialising in international development. We have managed the implementation of over 2500 projects in more than 95 countries around the globe for clients such as FCDO UK, DFAT Australia, the European Union, the World Bank and Global Affairs Canada. We work with governments, partner organisations, communities and civil society to design and implement sustainable solutions that generate lasting social, economic and environmental impacts. Our adaptive approach to management has led to our award-winning work and recognition as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies from 2017 to 2021.

Cowater is recruiting a highly qualified professional as Provincial Coordinator to support a socio-economic development initiative - Aus4Equality|Gender-Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT Program) in Vietnam.

The objectives of the Aus4Equality|GREAT Program are:

Objective 1 – Women, particularly ethnic minority women living in Son La and Lao Cai, have improved economic benefits.

Objective 2 – Women, particularly ethnic minority women living in Son La and Lao Cai, have increased confidence and social status, including more balanced workloads and greater decision-making within the home, workplace, and community.      

Objective 3 – Women, particularly ethnic minority women and household members living in Son La and Lao Cai benefit from more gender-responsive, inclusive, and effective provincial and national policies, plans, strategies, and programs.

Our approach to women’s economic empowerment focuses on:

• Reach: Engaging women in all project activities and addressing barriers to participation.
• Benefit: Improve women’s access to assets, financial services and support services.
• Empower: Strengthen the ability of women to make strategic life choices and put these into action.

The program is entering its second five-year phase and GREAT 2 will continue its focus on agriculture and tourism, identifying specific sectors that lend themselves to opportunities for women’s economic empowerment and work with multiple stakeholders to address constraints, generate opportunities, drive market growth and increase productive value of the sector. A limited number of agriculture sectors will be targeted, in addition to tourism. Cross-sector strategies such as women, access to finance, digital transformation, policy advocacy and behaviour change will complement the sector strategies.

Statement of Duty:

The Provincial Coordinator establishes a close working relationship with the program’s partners in the province, acting as a focal point between the partners, the GREAT team, the Provincial Program Management Unit, maintaining a strategic relationship between Cowater and DFAT.

Specific Duties:

Under the guidance and supervision of the Deputy Team leader, the Provincial Coordinator will be responsible for:

1.     Program coordination

• Represent GREAT 2 at provincial level;
• Liaise and support PMUs in executing their duties;
• Coordinate activities with the PMUs and relevant government agencies to ensure effective functioning of the office and appropriate support to program activities and events;
• Supervise the work of provincial ALO & driver staff.

Under the guidance and supervision of the responsible Portfolio Manager, the Provincial Coordinator will be responsible for:

2.  Project & partnership design and development

• Provide inputs to sector & systems analysis and ongoing; monitoring/diagnostics of local government and private sector priorities and plans in the agriculture, tourism sectors and gender equality;
• Input to, and support portfolio o coordinators and technical experts with, partner identification and project design;
• Input to, and support GEDSI and Policy coordinators and technical experts with, policy and WEE constraints and opportunities analysis;
• Guide and coach partners (co-facilitators and market actors) to adopt approaches consistent with GREAT’s MSD and GEDSI goals and objectives.

3.     Partnership management and adaptation

• Ensure partners are familiar and up-to-date with guidelines, policies and procedures in the GREAT’s SOP and manuals, particularly in project planning, budgeting and disbursement and provide training as necessary;
• Support ongoing output and outcome performance monitoring (including disbursement status vs budget) and identification of key issues and mitigation strategies;
• Support partners and GREAT in establishing performance feedback loops, identifying in a timely manner performance issues to inform project adaptation and decision making;
• Lead periodic partner performance assessments;
• Identify and support training to address key technical skills gaps as part of partner support.

4.     Program planning, monitoring & reporting

• Support and provide quality assurance to partner preparation and update of intervention plans, annual workplans and budgets;
• Support partners to prepare quarterly and annual progress reports;
• Support partners and GREAT colleagues to identify, document and share lessons learned;
• Support GREAT communications with input to media releases, briefings, communication activities and events;
• Support and provide quality assurance to partner monthly project reporting on budget variance;
• Verification and validation of partner’s completed activities via GREAT’s reporting App;

Required Qualifications:

• At least a Bachelor’s degree in business, economics or a related field, such as agriculture or tourism;
• At least seven (07) years experience working with multiple stakeholders, including government, community organisations, cooperatives, and private sector;
• Minimum three (03) years’ experience in inclusive business, value chain development, and/or implementing markets for the poor approaches in Vietnam;
• Experience working on agriculture and/or tourism value chain projects;
• Good spoken and written communication skills (English and Vietnamese)
• Willingness to work in Lao Cai/Son La.

Application process

Candidates are encouraged to apply no later than 5 pm Hanoi Time (GMT+7), 5 May 2023. Applications will be assessed as they are received. We thank all applicants, however, only those making the shortlist will be contacted.

Interested candidates are invited to send an application to [email protected]. Please indicate in the subject “Application for Provincial Coordinator”.

Applications should include:

• A cover letter responding to the selection criteria.
• A Curriculum Vitae.
• Contact details of three referees.

Cowater is an equal opportunity employer. Women, people with a disability, and people from minority groups are strongly encouraged to apply. We thank you for your interest in building a better tomorrow with Cowater International.

For more opportunities, please visit our website at https://equality.aus4vietnam.org/careers or facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Aus4EqualityGREAT/