Uganda: PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR

The Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) seeks to a Private Sector Development Advisor (PSDA) for an anticipated 5-Year Sanitation program in Uganda to be awarded by USAID in FY2015. The PSDA will provide support to private sector initiatives in support to the Chief of Party. He/she will have a lead role in technical direction and implementation of private sector/partnership activities in private sector engagement and drawing on expertise across the organization, ensuring effective internal coordination and collaboration, as well as managing external stakeholders and relationships She/he will work together with the other technical leads/specialists for the conceptualization, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of a strategy for WASH and private sector partnerships.

Specific responsibilities include the following;

· Lead MWA partners, the government of Uganda and private sector partners to develop and scale up market based sanitation products and services

· Work with key stakeholders in government, civil society and private sector to develop a plan for formulating necessary research and testing, in order to develop a national sanitation marketing strategy that applies commercial principles and other key features to Uganda's sanitation service delivery with clear plans for scalability.

· Take lead in the development of a comprehensive research that supports the understanding of the current market conditions and segments, its trends and drivers, and consumer knowledge, attitudes and practice; and the opportunities and barriers to scale up of services.

· Provide technical assistance to existing and emerging enterprises, and support the development of new innovative ones, utilizing customer centered focus in targeted districts.

· Support and mentor enterprises to utilize creative combination of improved products and services and financial services to launch an scale up contributions in order to reach the poor and underserved

· Work with national and regional governments to ensure strong incentives such as appropriate laws, financial incentives and reduce barriers for entrepreneurs that enter the sanitation market or public private partnerships

· Facilitate a range of financial instruments or credit services to facilitate access to water and sanitation products and services by stimulating the necessary push-pulls between supply of hardware and credit services and community demand for the same.

· Work with key stakeholders in government, civil society and private sector develop new models of for improved water supply and sanitation services

· Come up with appropriate strategies for creating economy of scale in rural areas; mobilizing private sector financing and other creative commercially oriented strategies for O&M of water facilities , solid waste disposal and meeting capital costs of water and sanitation services

· Promote financing mechanisms and support development of suitable financial products for the identified business model(s) to enhance commercialization and investment in the rural water and sanitation supply system through public private partnership and other targeted risk mitigation mechanisms.

· In collaboration with the project team, project partners and local communities, review GoU private sector strategy and provide support in designing and implementing market-driven strategy that creates incentives for private sector engagement in WASH and development of private-sector led solutions to myriad market constraints and enhance the business enabling environment/ frameworks for increased private sector participation and profitability.

· Facilitate the community, local government, and the service provider entrepreneur to become primary decision makers, effectively plan, manage and sustain operations of facilities to ensure the functionality of water supplies and sanitation services

· Develop appropriate methods for engaging both men and women and propose gender-sensitive solutions that clearly bring out their contribution to sustainable water supply and sanitation service delivery.

· Develop deliberate strategies and approaches that will increase the private sector potential to invest and become substantial actors in provision of WASH services delivery

· Lead MWA partners and the private sector partners in developing promising approaches, products and services that increase access to appropriate demand driven WASH solutions.

· Work with the government and private sector partners to develop and scale up market-based sanitation products and services that complement initiatives targeted under the BCC and CLTs

· Identify and develop opportunities for new strategic partnerships and broker relationships with existing program beneficiary groups

· Influence the private sector agenda and initiatives to lever greater benefits for WASH, poverty reduction and to avoid negative outcomes for the poor by producing good practice guidance on WASH for private sector and providing guidance on private sector financing and investment.

· Coordinate linkages between project staff, MWA partners, County Governments, and leverage private sector partners, the local WASH entrepreneurs and financial institutions to increase financial capital, capacity and competitiveness of the service providers and private sector recipients

· Identify, vet and broker innovative operational & business plans and concepts that increase access to markets for WASH products and services. In addition, provide tailored technical assistance for business management and technical O&M.

· Work with the private sector partners and the MEL officer to identify information collection nodes across the demand and supply chains and development of sustainable and effective information collection and dissemination mechanisms

· Promote learning and innovation among stakeholders that leads to improved competitiveness, greater inclusion of poorer segments of the community and greater transparency in the WASH sector

Minimum Requirements

· A minimum of a Master’s degree in Business Management, economics, Finance or related fields

· A minimum of 10 years’ experience in private sector or providing technical assistance to improve private sector performance

· Prior experience with WASH and private sector development

Application

Applicants should forward a cover letter, CV in reverse chronological format, and a list of at least 3 professional references (name, contact information, and statement of relationship to the reference) to mwa.uganda.jobs@gmail.com. The applications for this position close on 15/07/2015. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Please make sure to add the “job title” in the subject line of your email.

Qualified candidates are highly encouraged to apply. MWA is an equal opportunity employer. MWA is committed to providing equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or with respect to policies, programs, or activities.