Recruitment: Development Manager – Business Action Projects

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is looking for an energetic project development manager to join its team working specifically as part of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (the Alliance). This is an opportunity to be part of an exciting international development initiative working to make trade across borders simpler, faster and more cost-effective, creating new business opportunities, enabling greater economic and social development and reducing poverty.

 

About the ICC and the Alliance

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the institutional representative of more than 45 million companies in over 100 countries. ICC’s core mission is to make business work for everyone, every day, everywhere. Through a unique mix of advocacy, solutions and standard setting, we promote international trade, responsible business conduct and a global approach to regulation, in addition to providing market-leading dispute resolution services. Our members include many of the world’s leading companies, SMEs, business associations and local chambers of commerce.

ICC, the World Economic Forum, the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), are the lead organisations of the Alliance, a pioneering global initiative that brings together governments and businesses as equal partners to design and implement commercially-meaningful trade facilitation reforms.

The Alliance’s work is designed to help governments in developing and least developed countries implement the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The Alliance is currently implementing projects in Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zambia and a regional project in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is developing further projects in Costa Rica, India, Nigeria, and Tunisia among others.

The Alliance is supported by the governments of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Denmark, and works with private sector partners from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the world’s largest multinationals such as DHL, FCA Group, Maersk, UPS and Walmart.

 

Why we are recruiting:

The Alliance is launching an exciting new workstream to allow its business partners to identify and propose ideas for trade facilitation projects for selection, validation and implementation by the Alliance. In doing so, the Alliance aims to further leverage the private sector’s know-how and resources in support of sustainable trade facilitation reform and accelerate successful implementation of the TFA.

We are looking for an individual who has practical experience in international trade and in particular trade facilitation in developing countries. The desired profile will have worked in the field, has experience working with both private sector and government, and can identify, design and operationalise practical solutions to trade facilitation challenges. The ideal previous work experience would include having worked with a private sector logistics, shipping or trade company in operations. You should be able to travel for a few weeks at a time and be passionate about making things happen.

 

Reporting lines & interactions:

You will be based in Paris and will report to the ICC Deputy Director of the Alliance. You will work closely with the Alliance’s international team spread throughout the world. You will also work with a broad range of stakeholders, including private sector partners, governments, and multilateral and non-governmental organisations.

 

Main responsibilities:

The Development Manager – Business Action Projects will be responsible for:

• Soliciting and assessing the viability of ideas for projects submitted by Alliance business partners
• Working with Alliance business partners, project stakeholders and Alliance cross-organizational and cross-functional teams to develop concept proposals
• Ensuring successful hand-off to the designated project implementation partner or lead
• Providing continued support throughout project implementation, in particular to ensure continued business partner engagement

 

Key activities and responsibilities will include:

• Designing and implementing a process to operationalise the new workstream
• Providing Alliance business partners with all necessary support and follow-up in relation to project development and implementation
• Organizing and facilitating brainstorming workshops/ sessions leading to project idea identification and concept and/ or proposal development
• Leading missions in-country to validate ideas for potential projects with government and local business stakeholders
• Working with the project implementation partner or lead to prepare detailed project plans, including activities, milestones, resource needs and budget for approval by the Alliance’s Management Team and Steering Group
• Tracking and reporting on private sector in-kind contributions
• Collecting and sharing lessons learned and best practices
• Seeking input and support from all relevant Alliance teams, including Monitoring & Evaluation and Knowledge and Best Practice for project design
• Providing regular, complete and timely reporting on business action projects under development

The ideal candidate will:

• Understand how the private sector works and the challenges it faces when moving goods across the world
• Be able to translate general concepts into actionable plans
• Thrive in the field to make operational progress in environments with multiple stakeholders with multiple interests
• Be able to work in a multi-stakeholder environment to achieve common goals
• Be able to work across cultures and organisations to generate interest and buy-in and align different points of view

Preferred requirements and experience:

• University degree in business administration, economics, international trade, or a related field.
• Minimum 5-7 years of experience in the domain of international trade with demonstrated experience in rolling-out practical projects in developing countries.
• Experience with complex stakeholder relationships including with governments, politicians, businesses and international organisations.
• Excellent organisational, interpersonal and network-building skills and the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities under pressure with a ‘can-do’ problem-solving attitude.
• Excellent critical thinking skills and high attention to detail.
• Experience in managing projects from conception to full delivery.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English (proficiency in another language – ideally French or Spanish – is a plus).
• Open, dynamic and creative mind yet feet firmly on the ground to be able to deliver outputs accurately and on time.
• Positive, energetic and solutions-oriented, willing to travel as needed.
• Experience working in developing countries in a trade-related activity would be an asset.

If you would like to be considered, please send your curriculum vitae and a cover letter by email to RecrutementICC_Alliance@iccwbo.org.

Closing date for applications: 24 January 2020