Job Description

Title: Technical Lead, Ultra Poor Graduation- HICRA, FIVDB

Company Name: Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB)

Vacancy: 1

Location: Cox's Bazar

Salary: Negotiable

Experience:
∎ At least 10 years
∎ The applicants should have experience in the following business area(s):NGO

Published: 18 Sep 2024

Education:
∎ Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Requirements:

Additional Requirements:
∎ Required Qualification & Skills:
∎ Master’s degree in agribusiness, international development, MBA or similar fields.
∎ At least 10 years working with development programs engaging extreme/ultra poor participants through the UPG approach, VSLA, business planning, agriculture, livelihoods, income generation activities and/or microenterprise development.
∎ Minimum of five (5) years of successful experience as a technical lead or major coordinator in a donor funded project, preferably USAID.
∎ Demonstrated experience in pro-poor, marginalized people or UPG programming
∎ Previous experience Cox’s Bazar district, and the CHT desired.
∎ Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
∎ Fluency in English required.
∎ Skills:
∎ Strong analytical, strategic, operational, coordination, relationship and communication skills.
∎ Advanced skills in programme implementation planning, tracking and reporting.
∎ Excellent skills in coordinating, representation, partnership management and staff management.
∎ Good report writing, and computer proficiency in MS Office.
∎ Passionate about taking on challenges, applying innovative approaches and learning
∎ Highly versatile, ability to work well under pressure and to manage a variety of issues at the same time
∎ Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural skills.
∎ Competencies:
∎ Leading and inspiring others,
∎ Delivering results,
∎ Developing self and others,
∎ Problem solving and decision making,
∎ Innovating and adapting
∎ Inclusive
∎ Empowering
∎ SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice):
∎ Respect: We strive to acknowledge the contributions of stakeholders and staff and foster an environment that values dignity.
∎ Diversity: We value, respect, and appreciate the unique talents of every individual and work to remove bias for our decisions and actions in our efforts.
∎ Quality: We value the experience and skills of individuals and support and encourage excellence.
∎ Participation: We empower constituents through active participation, and amplify diverse voices, fostering inclusive decision-making and community-driven development.
∎ Integrity: Committed to improving lives with integrity, we uphold honesty, fairness, and truthfulness in all our actions and decisions.
∎ Do no Harm: We ethically enhance communities' lives across all programmes, ensuring equitable, empowering, and non-exploitative interventions that respect and uplift the vulnerable without reinforcing societal inequalities.
∎ Additional job responsibilities:
∎ The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.
∎ Child Safeguarding:
∎ We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.
∎ Gender:
∎ The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with FIVDB gender policy.

Responsibilities & Context:
∎ Cox’s Bazar and the three Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) districts are among the lowest ranked in Bangladesh for education, skills training, food security, poverty and agricultural productivity. The situation has worsened since 2017, with the Rohingya refugee influx, which has put enormous pressure on the local economies, resulting in loss of livelihoods, depressed local wages, increased food insecurity and distorted local market systems. The increased population has also put severe pressure on already limited resources. There is a need for safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. Forests have become degraded negatively affecting biodiversity and ecosystem services. Moreover, these districts are prone to natural disasters including fires, flash floods, landslides, extreme heat and drought. Cox’s Bazar experiences these as well as rising sea levels, salinification of soil and water, and tropical cyclones.
∎ In response, USAID’s Host and Impacted Communities Resilience Activity (HICRA) led by Friends In Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB) will take an integrated approach to improve the overall well-being and resilience of people residing in the communities hosting or impacted by the Rohingya refugee crisis. HICRA will achieve this goal through the implementation of livelihoods; water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); natural resource management (NRM); and disaster risk reduction (DRR) interventions with an estimated 114,000 households across the four prioritised districts, Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban, Rangamati, and Kargarachari,
∎ ROLE
∎ Technical Lead, Ultra Poor Graduation (UPG) will ensure the activity meets the results, milestones and targets of intermediate result (IR) 1.6: Achieved graduation criteria for extremely poor households which includes UPG groups and Village Savings and Lending Association (VSLA) groups. This will entail developing work plans, detailed implementation plans (DIPs), and supervising two district-based UPG coordinators. The candidate will work closely with the Cox’s Bazar Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) and other technical leads to ensure synergies among other parts of the project: disaster risk reduction, WASH, natural resources management, and cross-cutting themes of gender equality, youth empowerment, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. S/he will receive overall technical guidance from the Result 1 (R1)Team Leader Income Generation and Market Facilitation and DevWork’s home office Senior Agriculture & Market Systems Advisor. S/he will provide technical and managerial leadership of this IR which will include collecting, developing and/or adapting training materials (including training the trainers), training staff in the UPG and VSLA process and elements, developing training programs for Field Facilitators and community volunteers to carry out activities, and building the capacity of these frontline staff to delivery quality sessions and technical support to an anticipated 24,000 UPG households. The candidate will develop detailed action plans and related guidelines for implementing the UPG approach by district, upazila, union and village, including UPG participant selection, UPG and VSLA group formation, transferring cash (for consumption grants and assets), UPG-level livelihoods/IGA training and other steps to ensure graduation. S/he will manage IR 1.6 budget and ensure effective and efficient use of activity’s resources.
∎ The candidate will create an enabling environment for collaboration, learning and adaptation, contribute to staff capacity building and support localization. This position will also provide the inclusive and well-orchestrated leadership necessary to meet the complex needs of HICRA’s IR 1.6 participants in cost efficient ways. This includes collaborating with various stakeholders including the Government of Bangladesh, other USAID activities, traditional leaders, UPG communities and HICRA consortium partners. S/he will apply strategic and analytical skills to accomplish goals and meet objectives, and demonstrate initiative and willingness to work together in partnership with the consortium and all key stakeholders. The Technical Lead will ensure activities are completed as per plan, meet USAID requirements, and maintain good relations with all.
∎ SCOPE OF ROLE:
∎ Reports to: Result 1 (R1) Team Leader, Income Generation and Market Facilitation
∎ Dimensions: Cox’s Bazar at least 40% field visit, occasional trips to Dhaka
∎ Staff directly indirectly reporting to this post: UPG Coordinators
∎ Key contacts: Other Technical Leads, MEL staff, DCOP, Technical Lead GYSI and Environmental Specialist
∎ Job Type & Duration: Regular (September 30, 2026)
∎ Main Areas of Responsibilities:
∎ Lead and achieve IR 1.6: Achieved graduation criteria for extremely poor households
∎ With MEL support, lead participant selection process for UPG participants and formation of VSLAs.
∎ Develop work plan, detailed implementation plans and staff plans
∎ Develop curricula, train staff
∎ Engage and manage staff and consultants as necessary
∎ Manage the IR 1.6 budget while maximising efficiency and impact
∎ Provide weekly updates on progress against plans
∎ Lead donor and GOB reporting for IR 1.6
∎ Ensure GYSI and protection/safeguarding approaches
∎ Coordinate with other UPG, agriculture and livelihood programs/projects
∎ Work with MEL team to collect and analyse data, share learnings and adaptively manage the approaches
∎ Support the development and management of mobile banking cash transfer protocols for UPG participants
∎ Lead monthly cash transfer process with support from technical coordinators, front line staff, district and upazila coordinators and finance - ensuring integrity built into the system from participants to mobile banker
∎ Collaborate with MEL team to develop monitoring tools to assess participants’ progress towards graduation
∎ Support the development of complaint mechanisms
∎ Troubleshoot and adaptively manage interventions to meet milestones on time.
∎ Elevate concerns, challenges and issues
∎

Compensation & Other Benefits:
∎ Weekly 2 holidays, Mobile bill, Provident fund, Gratuity
∎ Salary Review: Yearly
∎ Festival Bonus: 2
∎ As per the project policy of FIVDB and the budgeted provision of this project.

Workplace:
∎ Work at office

Employment Status: Full Time

Job Location: Cox's Bazar

Read Before Apply: FIVDB affirms the 'ZERO' tolerance approach against sexual exploitation and abuse. And is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behavior at work including sexual harassment, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct, and expects staff to promote the welfare of children and adults at all times. FIVDB expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our Code of Conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate this commitment are recruited to work with us. FIVDB is an equal-opportunity organization and any kind of persuasion will be construed as automatic disqualification. Female candidates are encouraged to apply. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. Join us on our Facebook page for more updates: www.facebook.com/fivdbngo

Company Information:
∎ Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB)
∎ Khadimnagar, Sylhet-3103
∎ FIVDB is a development organization, established in 1979. Its major operation cover 7 major districts and concentrates round in the north-east of Bangladesh. It mission is to give disadvantage women, men and children greater voice, reduce their vulnerability, increase use of citizenship rights and help them enhance their quality of life.

Address::
∎ Khadimnagar, Sylhet-3103
∎ FIVDB is a development organization, established in 1979. Its major operation cover 7 major districts and concentrates round in the north-east of Bangladesh. It mission is to give disadvantage women, men and children greater voice, reduce their vulnerability, increase use of citizenship rights and help them enhance their quality of life.

Application Deadline: 23 Sep 2024

Category: NGO/Development