About cewas

Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) is a joint international initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union (EU), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands, Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). WE4F aims to increase food production, impact gender and poverty, and promote biodiversity and climate and environmental resilience by sustainably scaling solutions to meet the challenges in the water-energy-food nexus.
WE4F is supported worldwide through 4 Regional Innovation Hubs (RIHs), the Middle and North Africa (MENA) being one of them. For the Iraqi track, additional specific mobilization of resources has been obligated and most of the dedicated resources will be directed towards financially supporting the innovators along with specialized Technical Assistance (TA). A local country team in Iraq will provide the direct linkage and facilitate the TA activities along with providing the general support as indicated in the sections below.

Your role and tasks:

You will be the Project Manager and focal point for WE4F activities in Iraq. Your tasks range from project management to providing direct support to selected WE4F innovators. You will be coordinating with the cewas Iraq Country Manager based in Erbil and regional WE4F staff on activity implementation. You will be reporting directly to the cewas Co-Director and WE4F Regional Hub Management. Your main areas of work include:

WE4F Iraq country coordination and management:

• Coordinate and plan all communication between MENA RIH, WE4F Iraq and selected innovators
• Co-facilitate the selection process, including assessment of innovators and organizing events and training, such as the innovator bootcamp
• Manage the portfolio of the assigned innovators and communicate all their needs to WE4F regional technical assistant manager, investment readiness manager, ESG and gender expert and partnerships manager. This includes the collection of data from innovators and to administer and organize all relevant documentation and agreements
• Engage in ecosystem activities that can support the approach of WE4F and its innovators, including collecting country market data, policy information and advocacy actions, building partnerships for WE4F activities and innovators on a local/national level, mapping and identifying relevant funding solutions and suitable financiers for innovators (incl. suitable financiers for end-user finance)

Direct support to WE4F innovators:

• Support the innovators in the development and delivery of their transformational /expansion plans including setting clear indicators and initiatives, qualitative and quantitative, and financial forecasts.
• Trigger specialized technical assistance packages in coordination with the Regional Hub, help innovator articulate their needs within and follow on their implementation as well as the assistance
• Track and monitor the Key Strategic Initiatives (KSIs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and other requirements set in the WE4F Innovators transformational plan, as well as the disbursement of grants, and fund usage.
• Develop in coordination with regional WE4F experts relevant content, modules, workshops amongst other related to TA, investment readiness, financial brokering and investment facilitation, and schedule and co-deliver them to Innovators on a one-on-one basis.
• On a case by case basis, provide specialized technical assistance to individual innovators as defined in each innovator’s transformational plan, coordinated with the Regional Hub and depending on field of expertise.

What we are looking for:

• You are enthusiastic and knowledgeable in supporting innovation and developing capacities in water, energy, and food. You have on-ground expertise and networks in agricultural and/or environmental sectors, ideally in Iraq.
• You think entrepreneurial and have a professional business background. Strong experience in training, coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs and SME’s is an important requirement.
• You are proactive in your project management duties, taking responsibility in planning and implementing tasks, having effective time management skills, and managing to meet tight deadlines. You don’t need constant supervision to keep you focused on your tasks.
• You are an organizer/networker/communicator. You have organized events or workshops before and ideally you have experience in what it takes to engage participants. You enjoy networking to develop relationships, connecting and matching people. In addition, you have very good personal communication and organizational skills – be ready to multi-task.
• Experience in a VC/PE fund, Investment banking or Corporate Banking would be an added advantage.

Other requirements:

• Outstanding Arabic and English skills (written and spoken) are a pre-condition
• A degree in business management, finance, water-energy-food nexus or any relevant major
• Iraqi nationality and no travel related restrictions to other countries in the region. Site visits to agricultural areas and businesses will be required
• You want to think, plan, decide and do things rather than administering work
• We are a decentralized team, which means that you will have to work independently and in an international/regional team at the same time. You have to want to do this!
• You should be excited about being part of a new, global program, and prepared to adapt to fast-changing environments, new deliverables, and a certain degree of uncertainty

Contract Type: 100% Consultancy

Contract Duration: 14 months (with an option to extend)

Location: Baghdad, with ability to travel for missions to mid-south Iraqi governorates.

Experience level: Min. 8 years

Starting date: 1st of November 2021

To apply, please incorporate your most updated CV and a cover letter (required) explaining in English why you’d like to join us until August 20th 2021. Both CV and Cover Letter should be new files attached specifically for this position when you apply.