Location: Remote - Preference for candidates who can work within the Eastern Time Zone (ET)
Type: This is a consulting contract with an estimated workload of 25 hours per week.
Anticipated Start Date: September 2024
Duration: This is a one-year consulting contract starting from September 2024
Deadline to apply: September 13, 2024
ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW
RESOLVE, an international non-profit organization, is seeking a Consultant, to support our work on multi-stakeholder initiatives and responsible natural resource development to work alongside our Sustainable Resources team.
RESOLVE forges sustainable solutions to critical social, health, and environmental challenges by creating innovative partnerships where they are least likely and most needed. We are a team of collaborative leaders, mediators, policy experts, strategists, scientists, and facilitators. We bring a unique combination of expertise to our work: mediation and process design; solutions-focused strategies and programs; and a capacity to create and launch self-sustaining social enterprises. As a nonpartisan, nongovernmental organization (NGO), we work across sectors, borders, and political lines to engage with business, government, foundation, NGO, and community leaders.
The majority of RESOLVE’s team is based in our Washington, D.C., headquarters, with some senior staff and partners across the U.S., as well as in Africa, Canada, Europe, and Latin America. We work on local, regional, national, and international projects.
We challenge ourselves and others to tackle complex issues head on and create solutions. Our values include mutual respect, collaborative leadership, innovation, diverse inclusion, equity, openness, justice, impact, reflection/learning, and well-being. We are looking for someone who embraces our values, loves to learn, and shares our passion for fostering linkages between social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
Sustainable Resources Program
We envision a future where we can access, produce, develop, and value natural resources responsibly and local people and environments that are impacted by natural resource development see sustained positive outcomes.
We design and support collaboration between stakeholder groups to reinforce and build systems that drive responsible natural resource development. We innovate across the value chain, to show what works. We know t hat stakeholders across the value chain need to work together, even if they have divergent perspectives, objectives, and worldviews. As such, our initiatives focus on ensuring people have the tools, resources, and capacity to work together.
POSITION OVERVIEW
The Sustainable Resources Program has a full slate of active, funded projects. Reporting to the Director, Sustainable Resources, the Consultant will support with coordination, stakeholder engagement, communication and event planning activities across the 3 multi-stakeholder groups (The Resource Exchange, Devonshire Initiative and FPIC Solutions Dialogue), along with various other administrative tasks and responsibilities to support the SR program and team.
We are interested in candidates who have demonstrated experience in multi-stakeholder coordination, network engagement, and executing internal/external communication workplans. We will prioritize candidates who have experience working with various stakeholders in a forum setting and understand how to build an effective community of practice online.
Projects requiring coordination and consistent stakeholder engagement support from the Consultant, include but are not limited to:
- The Community Smart Initiative & The Resource Exchange. This project incentivizes and supports inclusive local governance in natural resource development. The project has anchor funding from BHP foundation and includes 4 implementing partners, RESOLVE, Landesa, Conservation International and the University of Queensland’s Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining.
- A central part of this initiative is The Resource Exchange (TRE), a community of practice (CoP) that connects stakeholders involved in local governance. It aims to share tools, knowledge, and resources and build relationships necessary for inclusive, community-led decisions about land and natural resources. We cultivate this CoP through in-person exchange summits and technical exchanges (e.g. Canada, Sierra Leone, South Africa, etc.), virtual exchange sessions, and an online Resource Exchange Hub on the Mighty Networks platform.
- Devonshire Initiative (DI), a multi-stakeholder forum dedicated to driving sustained positive outcomes for communities affected by natural resource development.
- FPIC Solutions Dialogue, a multi-sector initiative helping communities and companies work together to implement free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) in community processes relating to mining, oil, and gas projects.
Major Responsibilities
Project Coordination (20%)
- Supports with coordinating day-to-day project activities for the multi-stakeholder groups, ensuring effective and efficient implementation of project workplans, including communication and stakeholder engagement strategies.
- Collaborates closely and provide management of relationships with key stakeholders during the contract term.
- Participates in monthly partner meetings with Landesa and other potential partners regarding the Resource Exchange.
Communications, Stakeholder Engagement and Event Planning Activities Support (30%)
- Prepares logistics for virtual and in-person events for The Resource Exchange (including summits), Devonshire Initiative, and FPIC Solutions Dialogue, and other engagement activities as needed. This includes creating and disseminating communication materials such as posters, event notifications, guest speaker invitations, and post-event follow-ups.
- Maintains and updates the TRE, DI, and FPIC events calendar.
- Writes summaries of events and project activities for the Community Smart and other project reports, as well as for the RESOLVE and project websites.
Content Management of the Resource Exchange Hub (40%)
- Executes the content and management rollout strategy for 2024/2025.
- Ensures a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere across the hub with active online engagement.
- Schedules and manages regular updates, announcements, and activities to keep members engaged across the various Mighty Networks “spaces”
- Ensures ongoing upload of relevant content, resources, trainings, and materials to the online resource library.
- Encourages active participation and discussions among members by initiating and moderating conversations in select "spaces."
- Responds promptly to member inquiries, comments, and concerns.
- Provides guidance and support to new members to help them navigate the Mighty Networks platform.
- Monitors member activity and reaches out to inactive members to encourage participation, and monitors discussions for inappropriate behaviour or content, taking necessary moderation actions.
- Ensures technical issues are promptly addressed by liaising with platform support or IT teams.
Funding Proposal Development (5%)
- Assists in the development of funding proposals and grant applications – includes organizing meetings with relevant stakeholders, writing and copyediting.
Consulting Support Services(5%)
- The consultant will provide logistical support for calls and meetings, including scheduling, communication with participants, and coordinating necessary technology and other collaborative requirements.
- The consultant will assist with the organization and oversight of room reservations, set-up, and catering for in-person events, as required.
- The consultant will manage project-related invoicing, copy-editing, recordkeeping, and file management in alignment with the scope of work agreed upon.
- The consultant will provide additional administrative support to the Sustainable Resources team as needed, within the agreed contract terms.
Competencies
We are looking for an individual with a commitment to RESOLVE’s independent, solutions-focused orientation and demonstrated experience working across multiple stakeholders in the natural resources sector. The ideal candidate will demonstrate knowledge, skills, personal characteristics, and referrals that attest to the following:
Knowledge, Experience and Skills
- Experience and understanding of responsible natural resource development,
- An understanding of the roles, challenges, and priorities of various stakeholder sectors
- Strategic planning, problem solving and analysis in a clear and effective manner across multiple stakeholder groups list
- Understanding of project management principles to coordinate engagement activities, with ability to balance many projects and priorities simultaneously, with high attention to detail,
- Knowledge of effective communication strategies and tools
- Developing presentations and writing, quickly, clearly and concisely
- Relationship and communication skills such as listening, building trust, empathizing, developing rapport, and both giving and receiving constructive criticism
- Proven ability to build and maintain positive relationships with diverse stakeholders
- Experience in organizing events such as meetings, workshops, or community forums.
While not required for this position, other valuable knowledge and skills include the following:
- Knowledge of human rights, Indigenous rights, local stakeholder engagement, social performance, environmental management specifically related to the preservation of biological diversity or landscape conservation approaches.
Personal Characteristics
We work collaboratively with multiple people and stakeholder groups. Teamwork and dynamics are critical to our success. It is essential that the candidate have the following personal characteristics:
- Empathetic and constructive, with ability to understand a number of views, interests, and needs and to offer strategic options or recommended paths forward
- Enjoys working as part of a team, sharing successes, and collaboratively owning and addressing challenges
- Energy, drive, and commitment to excellence
- Courage and confidence in communicating effectively and respectfully with a wide range of colleagues, clients, and partners—senior executives, government officials, community stakeholders, etc.
- Self-motivation, self-discipline, and capacity to organize, prioritize, and self-direct work
- Willingness to respond to a sometimes-irregular work schedule, due to the nature of RESOLVE’s projects and the time zones and needs of our partners.
Education and Experience
The consultant is expected to have relevant educational credentials.
- Undergraduate degree in a relevant field
- 1-2 years of related experience
- Previous experience as program coordinator
- Bilingual preferred, especially French or Spanish
Technical Competencies
- Strong writing and editing skills; ability to integrate policy, technical issues, and/or stakeholder views
- Ability to use Outlook, Zoom, Microsoft Suite, Slack, Adobe, Smartsheet and Dropbox
LOCATION
This is a remote position with preference for candidates who can work within the Eastern Time Zone (ET). The RESOLVE head office is in Washington, DC. The Consultant will work alongside the Sustainable Resources Team which operates both in-person and remotely in Washington, DC; Toronto, Canada; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Sierra Leone, as well as partners in the US and across Africa.
COMPENSATION
The consultant will be compensated at an hourly/daily rate commensurate with experience.
INCLUSION
Inclusion is fundamental to RESOLVE’s mission. In all our work, we strive to promote respectful engagement across diverse perspectives and backgrounds. Our 40+ year record demonstrates that diversity of voices – and inclusion of those who have often been excluded – drives innovation and development of lasting and equitable solutions to critical social, health, and environmental challenges.
RESOLVE takes a broad view of diversity, recognizing that our differences contribute to strength. We are resolute in our commitment to actively and intentionally cultivating an environment where equal opportunities for employment, advancement, and influence are available to all.
To Apply
Interested consultants are invited to submit their proposals, including a resume and cover letter, outlining their qualifications, relevant experience, and proposed hourly/daily rate. Proposals should be submitted via email to jobs@resolve.ngo by September 13, 2024. Please include the title "Consultant, Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator" in the subject line. All inquiries and proposals will be treated in confidence. Only shortlisted consultants will be contacted for further discussions.
We thank you for your application!
