Palladium recrute un chef d’équipe d’activité (PSD, Sri Lanka) H/F, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Company Overview:
About Palladium – Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 3,000 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most importantly, people’s lives.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.
Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or any other circumstance, please email our team at [email protected]
Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.
Activity Overview and Role:
Palladium seeks an Activity Team Lead for the USAID/Sri Lanka Private Sector Development (PSD) Activity, a 5-year, $19.5 million buy-in program under USAID’s global CATALYZE Blended Finance Mechanism. PSD will strengthen SME competitiveness in high potential growth sectors that also have high potential to effectively engage women as business owners and employees. Both directly and through business advisory service (BAS) providers, PSD will support SMEs to access blended finance opportunities, generate demand, and more effectively engage women in their operations. The project will initially focus on five target sectors: tourism, information and communication technology, commercial care, apparel, and food processing. Given the overwhelming impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sri Lankan public health and the local economy, PSD will also support economic relief to SMEs to boost their long term resilience and adaptation through the pandemic.
The PSD activity is organized under these primary objectives:
- Capacity and Competitiveness of SMEs Increased ;
- Access to Finance for SMEs Increased ;
- COVID-19 Relief and Adaptation.
The Team Lead will be responsible for the technical implementation and the effective and compliant management of the activity, in close coordination with the Palladium Home Office Activity Manager. S/he will be the senior in-country representative of Palladium on the activity, with overall responsibility for supervising activity staff and managing day-to-day relations with the client and counterparts in government, private sector, and civil society. As PSD will have a significant grants component under Objective 3 to administer rapid COVID-19 relief funds, the Team Lead should have a strong background in grants administration and management.
Specific responsibilities of PSD’s Activity Team Lead include, but are not limited to:
- Provide overall strategic oversight for the project across all functional areas such as technical approach, monitoring, evaluation and learning, finance, and operations ;
- Oversee successful management of all administrative and programmatic functions and activities in line with the project’s Scope of Work and approved annual work plans ;
- Work collaboratively and in close coordination with the Palladium home office team to ensure alignment with the CATALYZE umbrella contract requirements and full utilization of Palladium home office technical and operational resources ;
- Ensure integration of project components through effective work planning and budgeting, project management, and monitoring, evaluation and learning ;
- Provide and facilitate technical expertise to inform and guide the development and implementation of the PSD technical approach ;
- Ensure judicious use of USG resources, on-time delivery of activity reports and partner deliverables, and overall compliance with USAID regulations and Palladium policies and procedures ;
- Serve as the activity’s local representative, acting as the principal liaison with USAID, Government of Sri Lanka, Palladium Home Office, local implementing partners and subcontractors, and the local private sector ;
- Support the development of strategic partnerships to strengthen SME positions in global supply chains, mobilize capital, and increase women’s labor force participation ;
- Supervise local activity staff and support Managers to provide oversight of human resources matters, including ongoing performance reviews, recruitments, and teambuilding ;
- Oversee successful administration of grants funds and identification of grants pipeline ;
- Identify issues and risks related to program implementation in a timely manner, and suggest appropriate program adjustments ;
- Ensure agile program implementation in line with monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) findings through leadership of a collaborate, learn, and adapt (CLA) approach ;
- Ensure safety and security of activity personnel and resources.
Required Qualifications:
The position of Activity Team Lead requires significant coordination skills, broad general and technical knowledge, experience in international development, and the ability to ensure coherence and consistency while under urgent deadlines. The minimum qualifications are as follows:
- Masters’ degree or equivalent in business, economics, international development, or other relevant field ;
- Minimum of 10 years of experience managing projects in economic growth, SME development, access to finance, investment, livelihoods, market systems strengthening, or related fields ;
- Demonstrated leadership in the administration of similarly sized international donor support programs with skills in strategic planning, management, supervision and budgeting. Prior USAID experience preferred ;
- Experience managing for success teams of 10+ people ;
- Proven ability to develop and communicate a common vision among diverse partners and the ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams ;
- Experience utilizing pay-for-performance incentives to achieve program objectives, and other innovative blended finance approaches is a plus ;
- Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills, as well as negotiation skills in English ;
- Prior relevant professional experience in Sri Lanka preferred.
Through the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, applicants should have the ability to work remotely as public health restrictions demand. Palladium will provide reasonable accommodation (equipment, phone/internet reimbursement) as appropriate to selected applicants