Duties:

The MPP Manager will have the following specific duties:

• assist the CTA and the International Public Awareness Consultant, in consultation with the Programme Coordinator and CEP partners, in the design of a comprehensive Caspian oriented public environmental awareness campaign and a stakeholders involvement action plan, with special emphasis on local communities;
• manage and participate in the implementation and monitoring of the project public participation strategy, the awareness campaign and the stakeholders involvement action plan;
• establish and coordinate technical support and capacity building initiatives targeted at the local communities and authorities and Caspian NGOs including the effective implementation of micro grants under the public participation strategy;
• arrange for and participate in MSGP outreach to the potential beneficiaries; prepare materials and documentations including announcements, flyers, application package, evaluation criteria for MSGP and micro grants; arrange for and participate in evaluation and award of grants including technical review for pre-selection of proposals for consideration by the MSGP Evaluation Committee; closely monitor implementation of awarded grants;
• provide leadership, technical assistance, training and coordination support to the five MPP Advisors to be placed in the coastal areas; assist in identification of candidates for these positions
• closely cooperate with the DIME to share out information on CEP in general and on the project and MSGP in particular to the Caspian stakeholders and others;
• liaise with other CEP partners, in particular with the EU supported Sustainable Community Development Advisors, on the implementation of projects which support public participation/ public awareness in the Caspian region;
• fully cooperate with the World Bank MSGP team located in Baku towards arranging joint training events, sharing of knowledge, best practices and information and in monitoring of grants already awarded.

Skills and Experience Required:

Degree in environmental studies, economics, finance or a directly related field; at least two years direct experience with the establishment and management of NGOs; familiarity with the problems and opportunities of the Caspian; and full fluency (spoken and written) in English and Farsi. Knowledge of Russian is a major advantage