Compete Caribbean Programme Coordinator Consultant - Tenders Global
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Compete Caribbean Programme Coordinator Consultant

Inter-American Development Bank

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Job Description

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Description

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The Caribbean continues to face several challenges that impacts the livelihoods of its citizens, including very low rates of economic growth, exacerbated by its inability to recover from the pandemic and other external shocks, and the vulnerability of the region to the impacts of climate change.

An analysis of the very slow long-term growth trend of the Caribbean countries since the 1990s has identified low Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth as a key explanatory variable. Globally, TFP accounts for most of the growth differences across countries. The main driver of long-term TFP growth at the economy level is business innovation, including the creation or adoption of technology, leading to higher value-added activities, products, and processes, and improving the performance of existing ones, thus increasing labor productivity at the firm level. Caribbean businesses invest significantly less in innovation in products and services than those of other small world economies, and this difference is concentrated in Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). 

Simultaneously, climate change is already generating global changes in average temperatures, extreme heat waves, droughts, changes in rainfall patterns, duration, and intensity, sea level rise, and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Since the turn of the millennium, there has been an increase in both the frequency and potency of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic. In the Caribbean region, average annual loss from tropical cyclones is estimated at US$835 million, while in the Pacific this number is US$178 million. In addition to natural disasters, the region is already experiencing other aspects of climate change, such as an increase in heat stress, extreme rainfall and flash flooding, dry spells and drought, sea level rise and changes in ocean temperature and salinity, all of which threaten economic activity and livelihoods, especially of the most vulnerable. 

In this context, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), are co-financing a program called “The Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF). CCPF is executed by the Inter-American Development Bank, through a Facility Coordination Unit based in the IDB’s Barbados Country Office. The facility’s objective is to support the region in increasing productivity and Caribbean firms’ contribution to economic growth. The Facility executes this mandate through two pillars:

  • Productivity and Innovation in Firms – This Pillar seeks to support firms to grow, innovate and enter new sectors and markets by funding innovation and productivity-enhancing activities at the firm level utilizing different instruments.
  • Business and Innovation Climate – This Pillar seeks to promote innovation and growth by working with governments to enhance the environment in which firms invest and operate.
Specifically, Pillar I of the Facility focuses on: (i) supporting and scaling up catalytic projects that could have a significant demonstrative effect on existing or new sectors, at the individual and collective level; (ii) supporting firms and groups of firms to develop innovative products, processes or services that will make them more competitive and generate sustained employment; (iii) supporting the competitiveness of firms by strengthening technology extension and innovation support services in institutions that promote Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME); (iv) institutional strengthening and capacity building to organizations in charge of promoting clusters, value-chains, entrepreneurship, innovation funds and technology extension services with a proactive focus in small and vulnerable countries; (v) support for the implementation of Cluster Competitiveness Improvement Plans for clusters and value chains and technological extension services; and (vi) supporting projects to increase the bankability, investment readiness and access to long term capital for potential projects and projects that promote collaboration among financial ecosystem actors, including key financial institutions in the region, venture capitalists, private equity funds, commercial banks and high impact investment funds to facilitate access to finance for SMEs. In addition, this pillar supports: (i) cluster and firm level data and knowledge generation activities; and (ii) dissemination activities.
By September 2023, CCPF had approved and committed 100% of its available resources (US$27.3 million) and disbursed 80% of them across 56 projects in all 13 beneficiary countries, meeting and/or surpassing most of its output and outcome indicators. Under Pillar 1, it had improved the capacity and willingness of 673 businesses to collectively address specific private sector challenges and opportunities via clustering, it had increased innovation and technology adoption in 809 businesses, it had improved the technical capacity of 110 business support organizations to stimulate productivity and innovation in firms, and 504 of treated businesses had introduced innovations.                                                                                                                                   

Further, the IDB is in the process of mobilizing a new programme, Compete Caribbean + (CC+), with the objective to mainstream climate action in the Caribbean private sector, while increasing Caribbean businesses’ contribution to economic growth in ways that expand employment and inclusion opportunities for vulnerable groups. CC+ will consist of three pillars:
 

Promoting Competitive, Climate Smart Caribbean Businesses will increase private sector adoption of climate technologies and strengthen private sector capacity to generate innovative solutions for climate change with a strong gender and inclusion impact, by supporting:
  • enhanced adoption of gender-responsive, climate smart solutions by Caribbean clusters and value chains in growing or strategic sectors, or those that employ large numbers of vulnerable people,
  • enhanced capacity of Caribbean businesses to produce gender-responsive nature-based solutions with biodiversity co-benefits for climate change adaptation and mitigation,
  • strengthened ecosystems to support entrepreneurship and innovation of climate related products, services, processes and solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation,
  • enhanced capacity by Business Support Organizations (BSOs) to support the development and implementation of climate smart solutions in their supported business sectors, especially in those that employ large numbers of vulnerable groups. Incorporating digital technology to enhance green innovation (for example blockchain or artificial intelligence) will also be an area that the program will explore.
Strengthening regulatory capacities to support a dynamic, climate smart private sector will improve governance for climate action, including legal and policy frameworks that stimulate businesses to take climate action, use of technology and data for coastal protection, ability to evaluate the impact of nature based solutions, and a human rights and gender approach to climate governance by supporting:
  • Enhanced capacity by Caribbean Governments to implement and monitor mechanisms and/or policies to comply with their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) commitments that influence and/or intersect with private sector development ;
  • Strengthened legal and policy frameworks to promote the competitiveness, decarbonization and climate resilience of Caribbean businesses;
  • Enhanced knowledge of policymakers of climate governance to help them develop, implement and better participate in climate change governance mechanisms and solutions;
  • Strengthened public sector capacities to develop food systems, climate-smart agriculture, and nature-based economic sectors with biodiversity co-benefits
Promoting Scientific Research and Development Contributions to Climate and Private Sector Competitiveness will enhance the utilization by the private sector and government of the knowledge being produced by scientific and academic institutions in the Caribbean, thus strengthening the regional innovation eco-system around climate action, by supporting:
  • Enhanced capabilities of Caribbean research organizations to contribute to and participate in climate change governance mechanisms and solutions; and
  • Strengthening research, development, and tech transfer capacities of Caribbean academic and scientific institutions for nature-based solutions with bio-diversity benefits, climate-smart agriculture and food systems, and private sector development.
What you’ll do:
  • The Programme Coordinator will be responsible for the management of the remaining projects under Pillar 1 in CCPF and, after the approval of CC+, the management of projects under one or more pillars of its portfolio.
  • This includes designing and coordinating all aspects of project identification and selection, including calls for proposals’ timelines and processes, project application templates, and criteria for eligibility and selection.
  • The consultant will also manage the implementation of selected projects, including design, negotiation with beneficiaries, execution, and monitoring and evaluation of results.
What you’ll need:

Education:

  • Master’s degree (or equivalent advanced degree) in Business, Economics, Sustainable Development, Climate Change or other fields relevant to the responsibilities of the role.
Experience:
  • At least 5 years of progressive experience relevant to sustainable, gender mainstreamed, climate friendly private sector development. Previous experience relevant to managing projects relating to climate change, private sector development, innovation and competitiveness issues, and productive development policies in the Caribbean region is desired.
Languages:  
  • Proficiency in English.
Key skills:
  • The ability to design and evaluate technical assistance projects, identifying key performance indicators, and linking them to technical activities and a budget.
  • Strong experience in business plan development and assessment.
  • Experience in negotiating and interacting with private and public sector leaders.
  • Experience leading teams.
  • Experience coordinating and managing stakeholder relationships.
  • Knowledge and experience derived from working in/with the Caribbean private sector.
  • Knowledge and experience implementing projects funded by multilateral institutions.
  • Excellent communication skills are essential for this position. These should include skills in public speaking, face-to-face interaction, and the writing of material for public documents.
  • Strong planning, organization and time management skills.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and projects.
  • Capacity to explain unfamiliar concepts in easily understandable terms to beneficiaries and stakeholders.
  • Capacity to function effectively as a member of a multi-disciplinary team, to search for common ground, to resolve problems, and where appropriate, to recommend decisive action.
  • Willingness and ability to travel frequently.
  • Proven track record in the definition, discussion, and negotiation for the development of private sector development projects.

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