Request for Consultant: Governance Action Hub, Accountability and Citizen Engagement

Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too.

We have a unique and vibrant culture at R4D. Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our work environment and help advance our mission. Diversity—of ideas, identities, perspectives and backgrounds—is vital to who we are and what we do. We seek people who embrace these values and will help reinforce them. Our work culture is collaborative, creative and entrepreneurial. We operate based on trust and respect. Teams across the organization frequently collaborate on programmatic work and support each other in continuously building a better R4D.

Project Background

The Governance Action Hub seeks to explore what is possible in governance action and reform through coalitions for change, connecting people, organizations and networks, and complementing or strengthening existing efforts. In resource-rich and non-resource-rich settings alike, we see a knowledge gap on how to build effective coalitions for systems-wide change, particularly at the local, sub-national level.

At the Action Hub, we understand governance as the ecosystem needed to achieve common, desirable, societal goals. The rethinking of our strategies to pursue a better governance environment requires the agency of local stakeholders, engaging them in the solutions of challenges they face. We do this through strengthening collective action strategies, elevating and supporting local stakeholder ideas, promoting cross-learning, and facilitating the coordination of local and global action.

At the country level, the Action Hub fosters coordination with national or international partners to support radical collaboration, elevate voices, and support problem-solving by testing solutions proposed by local stakeholders. At the global level, the Action Hub aims to progressively build a global community that promotes exchange and cross-learning between and among local and global level actors, leveraging new voices and connecting actors with different perspectives and experiences.

The Action Hub is currently testing a multi-phase locally-led co-creation process to identify entry points for intervention around the Just Energy Transition process in Colombia. Starting in early 2024, the Governance Action Hub completed the first stage of its co-creation process. This included sectoral political economy work and interviews with 50 individuals and organizations in Colombia with deep knowledge of: a) energy transitions, b) the extractives sector, and c) governance and anti-corruption.

In March 2024, R4D conducted the second phase of the co-creation process, which was a scoping trip to test some of the team’s hypotheses around feasible entry points in the country. As part of this trip, R4D traveled across the country and interviewed a diverse set of community stakeholders. Immediately following this trip, the Action Hub is trying to seize momentum and interest in Colombia to develop and establish our plan of action. The team has initial ideas about a systems-wide approach of support, focusing on undertaking pilots at the local level. This would be reinforced and complemented by targeted activities at the meso, national and global levels.

The consultant will be the primary in-country point of contact for the next steps around this process and supporting R4D to take concrete steps towards establishing and implementing some of the identified interventions.

More information about the Action Hub can be found here: https://r4d.org/projects/governance-action-hub/.

Role of Consultant

• The consultant will play an important in-country role for R4D. They will be working closely with groups of international governance experts and R4D staff, none of whom are based in Colombia. ​The following tasks are expected from the consultant:
• At R4D’s direction, facilitate the implementation of MOUs with government officials
• Design 3-5 pilots around Alternative Energy Communities at the local level and present pilot designs to R4D for approval and to determine next steps. Pilots will include providing methodological support and identifying resources around innovative approaches to governance as a systems intervention.
• Find innovative ways to capture the testimony of local voices engaged in transitions
• Coordinate learning and evidence collection methods to ensure the sustainability of efforts and provide lessons for other countries.
• Be the main point person to carry out high level dialogue with government and respond to their requests for support at the micro, meso and macro level as they emerge.
• Oversee the design of a two-way learning and solutions system, with support from R4D’s learning team, to ensure: (i) prompt solution of problems throughout the system, (ii) a replication effect of the pilots at scale, and (iii) action research that can be used to collate robust evidence on this experiment.
• Identify additional entry points for GAH and ways to leverage ongoing work in Colombia
• In coordination with the research fellow, support the publication and sharing of material for other allies and partners inside Colombia and outside.
• Upon mutual agreement, the consultant may support the development of analytical material on the Action Hub’s approach to governance around energy transition processes to be discussed in other countries.
• The consultancy will involve domestic travel to locations where the Governance Action Hub is working, as well as program representation at selected events and meetings in Bogota, upon agreement between the consultant and the program director.
• A Master’s (or PhD) degree in Business Management/Administration, Public Policy, Public Administration, Developmental Studies, or a relevant field is preferred
• 10+ years of applicable experience in governance, accountability, innovation, democracy, energy transition, or related fields from roles within donor/funder organizations, governmental bodies, or multilateral institutions
• Knowledge of innovative approaches to governance, drawing on relevant tools from other disciplines.
• Facilitation skills and experience with knowledge of participatory methodologies.
• Experience in coordination roles – able to shift between leadership and team membership roles
• Fluent in both Spanish and English
• Knowledge of natural resource governance issues in Colombia required
• Based in Colombia
• Knowledge of the history of clean energy transition policy in Colombia and the plans of the present administration is a plus
• Ability to build strong relationships across sectors (government, civil society, private sector, international funders, etc.). Already established relationships with these stakeholders are a plus
• Self-motivated and able to work as part of a team and independently
• Experience establishing and managing strong networks of various stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience with project management and reporting
• Organized and able to balance competing priorities at the same time
• Solutions-oriented
• Diplomatic communication style

Results for Development is an EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled/Affirmative Action Employer committed to fostering and nurturing an energetic, collaborative and diverse workforce. R4D provides market-competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits.