Cooling and Cold Chain Project Management Specialist – Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES) and India Centres of Excellence (CoEs)

Result of Service

• Comprehensive and high-quality project management of current and upcoming projects.   • Strategic partnerships and donor relations, supporting fundraising and seamlessly integrating new resources (grants and in-kind contributions).  • Insightful communications and outreach. 

Work Location

Remote - need to work according to Europe/Africa business hours given the range of countries in which the work is focused.

Expected duration

12 months

Duties and Responsibilities

UNEP is accelerating the global transition to sustainable appliances and equipment through United for Efficiency (U4E). U4E is a global initiative launched in 2015 to help developing and emerging markets quickly and comprehensively transition to energy-efficient lighting, air conditioning, refrigeration, electric motors and transformers. U4E has a diverse and growing portfolio of activities around the energy-efficient and climate-friendly cooling. Getting the right solutions in place for refrigeration and space conditioning (cooling) is essential for improving the quality of life and health of people without undue impacts on the planet. A Cooling and Cold Chain Project Management Specialist is needed to support the management of cooling portfolio, particularly ACES and India CoEs and other crosscutting areas in the cooling domain. ACES was established to lead the way in the development and roll-out of affordable, sustainable, resilient and equitable on- and off-grid cooling and cold-chain solutions for food and health sectors in Africa. The programme is developed by the Governments of Rwanda and the United Kingdom; the United Nations Environment Programme; the UK's Centre for Sustainable Cooling bringing together a consortium of leading UK and international universities, and the University of Rwanda. Funding and support to date exceeds $25 million. Two further CoEs are in development in India, in the states of Telangana and Haryana. ACES is the only Centre of its kind with a focus on holistic and sustainable cold-chain solutions tailored for African markets. It has a uniquely situated and equipped 4-hectare headquarters campus in Kigali, under development: • a state of the art in-market technology test and demonstration Centre, • demonstration and test facilities; • fully equipped refrigeration and data telemetrics training centres; • a business hub to support for early-stage technology companies to accelerate to market and scale up their businesses. ACES is establishing Specialised Outreach and Knowledge Establishments (SPOKEs) pan-Africa to showcase how solutions can be deployed in practical, real-world applications and provide the on-site and outreach learning, training and knowledge transfer, and technical assistance Centres to support local community uptake. The first SPOKE model is being developed in Kenya with African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS); further SPOKEs are being developed. A range of community uptake training and demonstration programmes, and industry capacity building programmes as well as Master's Degree and other academic programmes are being developed at ACES. We are looking to recruit a Cooling and Cold Chain Project Management Specialist to help the Programme Management Officer manage, coordinate and administer the flagship ACES project, SPOKEs and India CoEs and the wider project portfolio as it expands. This includes project planning, developing and managing the work plans, coordinating, administering and minuting meetings, progress reports and generally ensuring proper execution, quality control and reporting. These are major and complex international projects and involve interaction across multiple geographies and cultures. The Specialist will use a wide range of skills, both project management based and administrative, be designated to lead specific tasks which interface across the diverse and growing project team. and capture and report on the impact delivered through these projects. The consultant will use his/her knowledge of the research funding landscape to identify and pursue grant funding opportunities. Core details A. Project and partner management / Capturing and reporting impact • Support the Senior Management team and work with our partners to ensure a single unified collaborative, knowledge sharing and resource efficient programme across the multiple Centres and projects. • Produce and maintain accessible overall project, finance and resource management plans for day-to-day operational oversight for managing and ensuring the timely delivery of ACES Headquarters, SPOKEs, and India CoEs. Facilitate smooth coordination with fellow team members and external partners and plan ahead for pending deadlines. • Develop and maintain accessible project, finance and resource management plans, etc for day-to-day operational oversight for managing, budgeting and ensuring the delivery of CSC activities and programmes. • Organize and participate in regular calls and chats and use shared files (MS Teams and SharePoint) for efficient communications and transparency, providing timely notes and follow-up on action items from meetings.  • Prepare ACES and India CoE reporting including weekly, quarterly, six monthly and annually in coordination with project partners to fulfil UNEP and donor requirements (Logframe reports and otherwise per assigned templates and guidance). • Prepare and review project deliverables to ensure high-quality and timeliness consistent with key priorities, ensuring that partners receive work products following a thorough check of the technical content, spelling and grammar, and proper formatting (using current templates, where applicable). B. Internal Processes • Support internal processes by helping to gather needed information, content, feedback, and helping to ensure deadlines are anticipated well in advance and met for grants, project management, reporting, finance, recruitment/HR, travel, IT and other issues as assigned. • Act as support service for the wider team to investigate and provide responses on required processes and protocols. • Help manage time and priorities to ensure successful programme delivery with hands-on support to ensure successful programme delivery and efficient use of overall team’s time and resource. C. Grants and Funding • Track, help identify and manage new grant funding opportunities from other possible donor sources (i.e. UKRI, Innovate, EU and other non-UK government funding teams, development agencies, philanthropic organisations, etc.), and co-ordinate agreed funding proposals. • Lead the development of at least 2 new funding proposals, including drafting and completing the submission of the applications, and supporting negotiations with proposed partners and donors. • Help forecast budget needs and potential sources and support the planning for grant funding allocations. D. In-country Teams • Work with partners, collate, develop as required and maintain a core set of Job Specs/ Terms of reference for recruitment. Support recruitment plans, organising interviews, etc. • Create and monitor the recruitment plan (timeline, costs) for staffing, and help forecast budget needs and potential sources for staffing at CSC and ACES overseas projects and Centres. E. Communications, Workshops and Meetings • Help coordinate across the team partners to ensure aligned and efficient programme delivery, highlighting risks and concerns. • Maintain an accessible and structured database of contacts. • Develop and deliver communications content in partnership with U4E and UNEP communications specialists, project partners and donors for use on social media, websites, webinars, newsletters and in-person events. Ensure communication materials are clear, concise and engaging consistent with project developments. • Support conference and event organising (incl. on the day), procurements, bookings and delivery (incl. travel where required for senior CSC team and key guests/speakers), in-person and virtual, in compliance with UNEP requirements.

Qualifications/special skills

• Undergraduate degree-level equivalenting a pertinent science, engineering, or policy domain. • At least 8 years of multi-project and multi-partner project management, preferably to include international, remote projects and collaborations across sectors. • Professional experience working with African and/or Indian contexts. • Proficient IT skills, in particular project co-ordination, the ability to handle complex emails and multi-partner diary organization, the wider MS Office suite of programmes including excel and PowerPoint. Confident and able to quickly learn new IT skills and software packages as required. • Experience of managing budgets and reporting processes, including reporting to external stakeholders. • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to write clearly, concisely and persuasively. • Excellent analytical skills with an ability to analyse complex qualitative and quantitative information and present conclusions clearly and concisely. • A high degree of professionalism, tact, and diplomacy, and the ability to exercise discretion regarding the handling and management of sensitive information/issues. • An understanding of the funding landscape and how to pursue competitive grant opportunities. • A high degree of initiative, personal judgement, resourcefulness, flexibility, and a self-motivating approach. • Ability to work effectively in a large, complex organisation, and to develop a good understanding of how the University and higher education institutions work. • Understands the importance of equality and diversity in the workplace. • Ability to identify and respond to equality and diversity issues in line with relevant policies and procedures. • A can-do attitude.

Languages

Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Basic proficiency in French is an asset.

Additional Information

Not available.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.