With the appreciated support from Irish Aid and in partnership with Concern Universal, Renew’N’Able Malawi (RENAMA) is offering a vacancy for the next
Network Coordination Officer (F/M) for the MBAULA secretariat
The Movement for Advocacy, Utilization, Learning & Action in Malawi (MBAULA) seeks to provide a network and exchange platform for players in the clean cookstove sector as well as bio-fuel related stakeholders. It was founded in March 2012 during the StoveCamp, which was supported by the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) and the DISCOVER project. As one of the founding members, RENAMA took up the role as the networking facilitator for the MBAULA movement which started as a simple mailing list and a website for information sharing.
Being a core member of the National Cookstove Steering Committee (formely National Cookstove Taskforce) since its initialization and through the support of Irish Aid, a small MBAULA secretariat could be established in 2013 under the facilitation of RENAMA. The team organized meetings for existing and potential members in all three regions and analysed their needs and suggestion for the movement’s long-term strategies and activities. They also undertook a field research on the major cookstove production projects and the different technologies promoted by them all over the country in order to create a baseline assessment of the sector and inform the National Cookstove Taskforce.
Meanwhile, MBAULA has over 300 members and connects players on all levels, from local grassroots producers of cleaner cookstoves to big development project implementers and donors. Members like the Malawi Bureau of Standards and the National Commission for Science and Technology have joined in, hence the network involves representatives of the complete technology development, production and distribution chain.
As a next step, the MBAULA secretariat will be required to set up and secure sustainable income sources for its self-reliance and activity expansion; create value for the existing and future members so that they will contribute actively to its growth and sustainability, by implementing suggestions from the regional meetings; maintain active information flows to and between the members through facilitating forums, web information platform newsletters etc; and
In the context of this, we are looking for a dedicated person to strengthen our team through helping to strategize, expanding and coordinating the activities of the network. The initial term of duty will be 9 months, from mid June 2015 through February 2016. Extension may be sought by our organisation depending on individual performance and available funds, which will mainly depend on secured or highly prospective fundraising outcomes during the initial terms of duty by the Officer. The Officer will be supported by the RENAMA Projects Coordinator and the Board.
The incumbent will, among other things,
– identify and develop creative funding and sponsoring partnerships and developing tailored proposals for these; respond to CfPs
– create short-, mid- and long-term strategies, work plans and M&E frameworks for MBAULA in cooperation with partners and members, and update these as needed
– budget for activities, reconciliate expenditure (also of subordinate staff) and cooperate closely with RENAMA Funds Administrator on budget planning and
reporting to the funding partners
– supervise trainees, interns and other subordinate staff to support secretariat activities (where funding allows)
– make the secretariat and active linkage point between grassroots level organization members, research members, and the NCSC
– regularly attend NCSC meetings and update them on the activities and progress of MBAULA
– support mapping exercises and other field-based research and monitoring needs of the NCSC, members and other stakeholders (where funding allows)
– organize stakeholder meetings and networking events (where funding allows) regularly updating the website and forum,
– circulate regular member newsletters by actively involving members
– widen membership and encourage members to push information actively to the network and NCSC
The incumbent will be based in our Limbe Office but will also be engaging in regular travel to Lilongwe for stakeholder meetings or field visits to member organizations, production groups etc. for research and monitoring activities, mainly using public transport.
The ideal applicant for this position should be a strong networker, love information sharing, be a self-starter and like to work independent of frequent guidance, while actively providing the Projects Coordinator and other designated colleagues with updates. S/he should be familiar with the Malawian energy sector and its stakeholders, ideally has worked with practical cookstove issues, has an educational background in a related field and at least 3 years of experience in the coordination of project activities beyond different locations. S/he should have an eye for potential conflicts and bottlenecks during the implementation of plans and always pro-actively discuss potential solutions with management. Implementing precise, thorough and regular documentation must be part of the professional determination of the incumbent.
The salary will be in the range of MWK 170,000-210,000 (gross). MASM will be paid by our organization.
We explicitly encourage applications from female applicants, also because we know that cook stoves are mostly to the benefit of women.
For more information on MBAULA, the National Cookstove Steering Committee and Renew’N’Able Malawi, please visit
www.fb.com/MBAULAmalawi / www.mbaula.org
www.fb.com/RENAMA / www.renewnablemalawi.org
We are looking forward to online applications (only) by suitable persons to hr@renewnablemalawi.org.
Entries will be accepted until Wednesday 3rd of June, 5 pm.
Please ensure to submit three elements:
– Cover letter (1 page) with your motivation to take up specifically this position and why you think to be the best fit
– CV (max. 2 pages, focussing on relevant(!) experience and achievements), including three traceable references ( NOT relatives please)
– A short essay (max 2 pages) about what you would do and what you would think to realistically achieve in your first year to develop MBAULA to
become a sustainable, useful and recognized network.
All documents should be sent in ONE email and in PDF format (free PDF converters are widely available on the Internet).
To ensure fairness for all applicants, the above page limits are STRICT. Incomplete or excessive applications with overloaded CVs may NOT be entertained. For a guide on how to write a good application, you may also refer to the respective post on the RENAMA Facebook page.
Please accept our apologies that we may only contact shortlisted candidates.
Thanks for your interest and we look forward to your application!