COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE CAMBODIA & MYANMAR (M/F)

CONTEXT

Would you like to work on projects that make sense and have a real impact?

Do you want to work towards a fair and sustainable energy transition? Then join us!

Set up in 1976, Geres is a French based international development NGO which works to improve the living conditions of the poorest and tackle climate change and its impacts. As a grassroots actor, Geres considers the energy transition as a major lever in all its actions. In order to drive societal change, Geres promotes the development and dissemination of innovative and local solutions, supports climate-energy policies and actions and encourages everyone to commit to Climate Solidarity by taking action and supporting vulnerable populations.

With 30 years of experience in Southeast Asia, Geres has introduced accessible and transferable energy solutions tailored to local needs, with a strong focus on wood and biomass energy. These efforts aim to enhance the resilience and livelihoods of rural communities, empower local stakeholders, and promote sustainable resource management. Currently active in Cambodia and Myanmar, Geres seeks to expand its activities in these two countries and initiate operations in other parts of the region.

In Cambodia, Geres implements several initiatives, including promoting energy efficiency in the garment sector and advancing sustainable biomass sourcing for industrial use, particularly focusing on wood energy. These interventions are guided by principles of social justice and women’s empowerment, ensuring inclusivity and equity. Geres strives to make its efforts complementary to those of local civil society organizations (CSOs), such as the Cambodia Women for Peace and development (CWPD) and Live and Learn Cambodia (LLC), with whom we collaborate closely.

Since 2018, Geres’ garment program has supported over 65 factories. Its technical interventions align with the priorities of key institutions in the sector, such as TAFTAC (Textile, Apparel, Footwear & Travel Goods Association of Cambodia) and CGTI (Cambodia Garment Training Institute). To encourage the adoption of sustainable energy practices, Geres showcases replicable examples within the industry, while collecting, analyzing, and sharing lessons learned with stakeholders both in Cambodia and internationally.

Starting in 2025, Geres will renew its partnership with national academic institutions and ministries involved in energy policy and management. This collaboration will focus on capacity building and skill development to strengthen local expertise and ensure the sustainability of energy solutions.

In Myanmar, Geres has been working since 2013 on decentralized energy access, both for cooking and electricity, mostly in rural areas. It does so through support to locally based MSMEs and distribution networks, with an emphasis on women and youth empowerment.

Geres, a committed organisation !

In accordance with our ethical charter, we apply the following principles:

➔ Respect for the environment

➔ Improving living conditions

➔ Respect for cultures and ways of life

➔ Respect for the principles of fairness and transparency

➔ Respect for legality and employees’ rights

➔ Principle of safety

In practice, we strive on a daily basis, and therefore also in our practices to:

⚤ Promoting respect for women’s rights and combating gender-based discrimination. We have also introduced an internal policy to combat sexist behaviour and sexual harassment.

☕ Maintain and develop cohesion between our employees through social events organised by a dedicated committee.

Seek to improve and innovate, including in our administrative management.

1. Respect the law and employees’ rights : transparency in our recruitment process, company agreements.

Mission

Under the hierarchical management and with the support of the Asia Regional Director, the Country Representative will be in charge of declining and unfolding Geres regional strategy at national level with the programme team. She/he will represent Geres, lead fundraising efforts and oversee all projects/programmes in cooperation with managers and Finance and Admin department in both countries. She/he will primarily guide and support country office teams in achieving optimal office, security and project management. She/he will ensure compliance, quality of implementation, monitoring and reporting are performed properly.

In Cambodia, she/he will specifically support and coach the Energy Programme Manager and other senior project staff as they are deployed, in overseeing Project Cycle Management and ensuring the quality & impact of the portfolio of projects

In Myanmar, the incumbent will serve remotely as the official focal point of Geres, responsible for facilitating communication with partners and institutions. This role requires strong diplomatic skills and the ability to represent Geres professionally in external interactions and largely remotely. She/he will oversee the quality and implementation of the EC funded SENTRUM project with Geres project coordinator in Europe, senior staff in country, partner and donor.

She/He will work in close coordination with Financial Controller and key subject matters experts based in HQ.

She/he will liaise with donors, partners, the NGO and IO networks and coordinate Geres communication and advocacy towards national and local authorities.

Activities

1/ Leading and animating the country strategy in coherence with Geres Regional Strategy

• Analyse the country context, strengths/weaknesses/challenges/opportunities
• Develop networks and identify strategic partnerships with donors, international NGOs, national CSOs, national and local authorities, private sector.
• Implement the country strategy; evaluate and update if deemed necessary
• Be active part to the regional strategy development

2/Fundraising & project/programme portfolio development in coherence with the country strategy

• Perform prospective work and develop field understanding of the country, also beyond current zones/topics of interventions
• Prospectively identify funding opportunities
• Identify partnership opportunities in order to prepare swiftly concepts and consortium ahead of calls for proposals
• Organise the development of funding proposals (narrative and budget) in country, following the existing procedure in close collaboration with the Regional Director and HQ
• Pending opportunity, perform fundraising efforts at regional level, beyond Cambodia & Myanmar, based on Geres regional and international experience and expertise

3/Overseeing the portfolio of projects

• Supervise the implementation of all projects with project managers and teams assigned to action
• Follow-up on indicators and activities/impact related objectives. If needed, ensure challenges are identified and corrective measures taken

Specifically related to Myanmar and SENTRUM project:

• Monitor the evolution of the project environment when and where appropriate and share thoughts and propositions for adaptation in case of identified needs.
• Liaise with HQ and GRET team in Myanmar to contribute to the development of the SENTRUM project, in particular regarding implementation arrangements, preparation, and alignment of the consortium partners.
• Participate in various functional working committees for Sentrum project
• Meet with EU when decided in between GRET management and Geres HQ

4/Representation of Geres amongst key stakeholders in-country (only for Cambodia)

• Ensure proactive and regular communication with institutional partners and development stakeholders
• Manage the external communication of Geres in- country in accordance with regional director,
• Integrate and maintain relation with relevant networks in-country

5/Supervision of human resources, administration & finance

• Ensure compliance of Geres’ administrative status with local rules and regulations, particularly regarding registration with local authorities. For Myanmar this is a specific pint that will be discussed directly with Geres CEO.
• Ensure the good management of the office(s) related to Human Resources, logistics, administration, and finance/accounting. Make sure that the national legislation is duly respected.
• Organise and regularly check the quality/consistency of the budget planning, disbursement plans, financial and accounting reporting.
• Ensure that all practices and processes are in line with the rules and procedures developed by the Finance and Admin Direction of Geres.
• In line with Geres HR policy and for national colleagues, supervise the elaboration of the Country-level HR policy, submit it to Regional Direction/HR at HQ for validation

6/Management and animation of the country level teams

• Ensure hierarchical management of the country level team (recruitment, integration, training, appraisal, workload, work planning and prioritisation)
• Develop skills and competencies,
• Ensure the well-being and proper work conditions for the team

7/Management of partnerships

• Monitor, assess, and facilitate project partnerships, including prospective and or strategic partnerships.
• Facilitate the identification and formalisation of partnerships at country level

8/Management of in-country Security

• Continuously assess and analyse context, key actors, and incidents
• Follow-up on these contextual analyses and liaise with Regional Director
• Keep up to date the required security documents/processes, ensure proper diffusion to members of the team after Regional Director’s validation
• Ensure security and internal rules are respected in-country and by everyone
• Manage incidents (in line with the Executive Director for critical incidents), relay key relevant information to Regional Director and HQ
• Integrate relevant national networks

Specifically related to Myanmar:

• Liaise with GRET Myanmar security officer in-country to organize mutualization of tools and trainings and ensure as much as possible consistency of security decision making in case of security alert or crisis.
• Plan security and safety briefing and update with HQ management
• Take part in the SENTRUM project security committee (ad hoc frequency)
• Organize the team for coordination with relevant authorities and stakeholders to mitigate potential risks and threats.

PROFILE

• A Master’s Degree in Engineering, Development Economics, Development, Political Science, Energy, Environmental studies, Social Sciences, Anthropology or other related field (required)
• A Degree or Diploma in Engineering, Development Economics or Renewable energy (appreciated)
• 5-year minimum prior experience as a project manager in the international development sector (required)
• Previous experience dealing with private sector, particularly working in industry, (appreciated)
• Previous experience in South-east Asia (an asset)
• Previous experience as a Country Representative (an asset)
• Proficiency in Project Cycle Management with an attention on project performance and quality (required)
• Proven capacity to develop project proposals with Excellent writing and reporting skills(required)
• Excellent management skills including strengthening colleagues and ability to delegate(required)
• Excellent interpersonal skills, ability to establish contact with people from different background and cultures (required)
• Comfortable with high-level governmental/institutional and private sector relationships(required)
• Demonstrated understanding of the energy-climate nexus in developing countries(required)
• Fluency in English both written and spoken (required)
• Intermediate knowledge of French (appreciated)
• Working knowledge of gender principles and main applied tools in the development sector (appreciated)
• Knowledge of Theory of Change (appreciated)
• Knowledge and willingness to learn about industrial processes (appreciated)

CONDITIONS

• Fixed-term contract, duration: 12 months (renewable, with funding acquired)
• Desired start date: As soon as possible
• Full time (204 days worked with approximately 22 days of recovery for a full year)
• 26 paid leaves per year
• Position based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia , with travels to project sites regionally, travels abroad, within France
• Teleworking possible
• Monthly salary on recruitment in line with the Geres salary scale according to profile and experience between
• 2 691,60 € and 3 312,91 € gross monthly salary
• For eligible candidates, regarding remuneration policy:
• Expatriation allowance of 510 € paid on site, annual leaves bonus
• Luggage allowance and installation allowance
• 1 flight tickets per year (home – place of expatriation)
• Health insurance (50% covered by Geres), life/invalidity insurance, retirement, unemployment, repatriation insurance
• Supplementary health insurance
• Position open to family companions (spouse + children) with support according to Geres internal policy
• holiday bonus
• Repatriation insurance