JOB DETAILS:
Climate Smart Jobs (CSJ) Uganda Climate Innovation Fund Team Leader – Job Description
Swisscontact, in consortium with Palladium, is seeking qualified candidates for the role of Team Leader for the Climate Smart Jobs (CSJ) project, Uganda Climate Innovation Fund. This leadership position will drive innovative, technology-based solutions to address challenges in Northern Uganda's agricultural sector, promoting sustainable land management, climate adaptation, and job creation. We invite you to join us in advancing impactful, sustainable change in this dynamic project.

Position title: CSJ Uganda Climate Innovation Fund Team Leader
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Job Family: Market Systems Team
Starting date: Immediate (preferable from December 2024)
Contract duration: 2 years (renewable subject to project extension)

About Swisscontact
Swisscontact is an independent non-profit development organisation established in 1959 by representatives of the Swiss private sector and civil society. Our development work focuses on unleashing the potential of private initiatives in developing and emerging countries. We foster sustainable and inclusive economic development with the objective of improving the quality of life for all. Our work is based on three foundational pillars: We strengthen the competencies of individuals so they can improve their income and their opportunities for employment; we enhance the competitiveness of businesses to help them grow and become more resilient; we promote socioeconomic systems that favour comprehensive development for widespread prosperity. The organisation is currently active in over 130 projects in 41 countries with around 1400 employees. It is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.

For over 25 years now in Uganda, Swisscontact has been strengthening people’s competencies, improving their employability, increasing enterprise competitiveness, and promoting social and economic systems which promote inclusive development. We have reached over 70,000 direct beneficiaries (25,000 women) with innovative skills, diverse markets and information, various financial products/services, and life skills. Our current portfolio includes 5 projects focusing on skills development, sustainable agriculture, trade facilitation and humanitarian development nexus in 30 districts in Uganda.

Background
The focus of the project is to implement a Climate Smart Jobs (CSJ) program, focusing on Northern Uganda as part of the UK's International Climate Finance commitment. CSJ Component One is a part of the CSJ program, and its objective is to support large-scale job creation in the agri-business sector, aiming to improve productivity and/or incomes in agriculture. The program seeks innovative, technology-based solutions to address issues faced by agriculture in Northern Uganda, promoting sustainable land management practices and climate adaptation, and job opportunities. The program is funded by the UK's International Climate Fund, building on the UK-funded Northern Uganda - Transforming the Economy through Climate Smart Agriculture (NU-TEC) program. CSJ Component One consists of two components: Component 1A, which is a market systems development intervention, and Component 1B, which runs a challenge fund called the "Uganda Climate Innovation Fund."

Overall Requirement
CSJ recognises that climate smart innovations are critically important. The Climate Innovation Fund has been set up to fund and mobilize private sector actors, entrepreneurs including institutional investors, and leverage funds to encourage corporates to co-invest with us as well as fund high-risk/high return climate innovations. The Manager will report to the Deputy Team Leader and will contribute to deepening the fund set up and management expertise within CSJ, responding to the client’s increasingly demanding requirements. In addition, the incumbent will work closely on related market-systems interventions to support development and implementation of WPs.

Scope of Work
• The core responsibility of the CSJ Uganda Climate Innovation Fund Team Leader will be to support the core team on providing climate smart innovations incubation, scale up and mainstreaming to WPs.

• Towards this end, the Manager’s responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:
o Support the core team on key deliverables, including design of the Fund, operationalisation and management.
 Coordinate with implementation team to ensure efficient processes and prevent overlap/find synergies.
 Be responsible for the overall direction, business strategy, and execution of the Fund.
 Be responsible for leading the negotiations, structuring, investment and exits of the Fund.
o Provide technical and thought leadership in engaging private sector actors in line with the Fund’s objectives.
• Establish and maintain positive relationships with the client, project team and key private sector players to generate and support climate smart innovations and businesses that meet the Fund’s objectives on climate impacts and paradigm shift.
• Maintain a strong project pipeline for the relevant sectors and interact with government ministries and other financing institutions.
• Act as quality control in sourcing and structuring the right climate investments that are high quality based on the Fund’s investment criterion.
• Manage the engagement, due diligence, negotiation, and delivery of funding proposals for high quality impact, including the internal approval process.
• Work closely with Stanbic Business Incubator to facilitate strengthening incubation and acceleration support to businesses.
• Effectively lead the team for overall project delivery, ensuring proper documentation and appropriate approvals are secured in a timely manner.
• Conduct targeted, short trainings or mentoring sessions with key project stakeholders where there are identified needs or requests.
• Support project stakeholders as requested to adjust activity in an effort to being more responsive in relation to specific context or operational changes.
• Work with the Evaluation, Results and Learning (ERL) Manager to ensure that the Results Framework includes Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) sensitive and specific indicators.
• Support ERL Manager to generate evidence around beneficiaries (disaggregated by GESI targets) accessing/deriving benefit from CSJ interventions. Take part in Sprint Cycle Reviews, Quarterly Strategic Reviews as well as Annual Reviews.
• Create and oversee marketing collaterals, awareness campaigns, roadshows etc. for knowledge dissemination about improving Climate Fund interventions.
o Coordinate and ensure effective reporting and communications for all Fund-related and innovation interventions.
 Other tasks as agreed with Deputy Team Leader (Technical) and or Team Leader.

Role Requirements
• Deep understanding of Funds, incubation, acceleration, innovation lifecycle and climate change innovations in Uganda, and in particular in the North.
• Knowledge of and existing relationships with private sector actors, development actors, relevant public sector/government actors in Uganda, including within refugee camps and host communities in Northern Uganda and Kiryandongo.
• Expertise and demonstrable experience delivering effective training to programme teams, to improve their capacity to think and work inclusively.
 Outstanding oral communication and workshop facilitation skills.
 Experience of fund structuring.
 Proven deal sheet of successful negotiations, closure and exit.
 Strong track record in sourcing, structuring and managing the funds to exit.
 Proven track record of managing complex and multi stakeholder relationships.
 Strong supervisory skills and track record in managing careers of junior staff.
 Possess a high level of integrity, professionalism and client management skills (internally and externally).
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed.

Swisscontact is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply by submitting their CV along with a cover letter explaining why you are a suitable candidate for this position to the email and copy suzanne.oweka@swisscontact.org. Please indicate the name of the position applied for in the “subject” line of your email.