Country Manager

Country Manager

Cowater International

Philippines

SUMMARY OF THE POSITION

The Country Manager for the Philippines will lead Cowater’s Philippines Office, part of Cowater’s Asia-Pacific practice, and contribute to Cowater’s portfolio through both program delivery and business development. In Business Development, they will lead on Cowater’s ADB pipeline and work to identify opportunities, develop proposals, and contribute to strategic initiatives. In Program Delivery, they will oversee the Philippines Office portfolio and ensure the successful delivery of complex programming for Cowater’s clients.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Philippines Office Leadership:

• Lead the Cowater Office in the Philippines, with responsibility for operations and team management, business development, and project delivery;
• Act as the direct line manager for the Philippines team, managing human resources and recruiting as needed;
• Oversee the preparation of annual business plans, targets, and objectives (both financial and non-financial) for the office;
• Oversee and report on financial tracking of operations and projects;
• Participate in Cowater Asia-Pacific management and strategy discussions and workshops;
• Collaborate, liaise with, and support other Cowater teams and offices as needed;
• Develop and utilize networks of regional and local partners and consultants
• Represent and promote Cowater with key stakeholders, partners, and clients;
• Contribute to development of Cowater’s internal processes and collaboration, building synergies between country units and competence areas;

Business Development:

• Responsible for leading on Cowater’s Asian Development Bank pipeline of opportunities;
• Responsible for Expressions of Interest/Proposals including assembling and managing bid teams, developing proposal bid planners, technical writing, organising bid check-ins and issues sessions, monitoring proposal progress and deadlines, as well as quality assurance to ensure full compliance and integration of donor requirements, priorities, strategies;
• Carrying out pre-positioning work including market intelligence (donors, competitors, partners), development of partnerships/consortium/networks, tailoring of references, and compliance documents;
• Engaging in proposal drafting including technical sections, staffing, experience, and compliance;
• Developing budgets and commercial strategies for proposals;
• Overseeing expert recruitment and engagement, including negotiating commercial terms;
• Undertaking and overseeing scoping missions as required for proposals including leveraging in-country program teams and local partnerships to develop proposals;
• Coaching, mentoring and training other team members on how to develop high-quality proposals;

Program Delivery:

• Exercise oversight of project portfolio, ensuring projects are within scope and on schedule and budget;
• Oversee a team of project management staff responsible for planning and managing project activities;
• Provide support and advisory to project management team including general trouble-shooting and problem-solving assistance; guidance on project HR issues; monitoring project schedules, reporting, and contract management; monitoring project cash and income flows; and ensuring that corporate standards and policies are followed.
• Be the primary point of contact for all contract-related issues;
• Undertake project management/delivery of projects within the portfolio as needed;

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Minimum Experience:

• 10 or more years of international development experience, including experience leading a unit, office or team;
• Experience leading the development of opportunities and proposals for the Asian Development Bank (other donor experience is considered an asset);
• Proven track record in participating in successful ADB proposals and positioning;
• Business development experience across as range of sectors and countries/geographies.

Essential Skills:

• Ability to lead office operations, including managing Human Resources and hiring, operations, budgeting, and corporate reporting;
• Ability to oversee a proposal team, manage inputs and timelines, and deliver high quality proposals;
• Ability to work collaboratively with implementation teams to ensure coherence of implementation approach;
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, flexible and team-focused work environment;
• Ability to represent Cowater with partners, stakeholders, and clients, including developing and presenting relevant supporting materials;
• Entrepreneurial mindset;
• Specialist knowledge in a technical area relevant to Cowater (Gender, Equality, Disability and Inclusion; Governance; Economic Reform/Trade; Human Development; Climate Change; Monitoring & Evaluation and others);
• Ability to work with remote teams, including in proposal development;
• Ability and willingness to travel to undertake business development and scoping activities;
• Experience in South-East Asia and/or the Pacific.

Education:

• A University degree in a relevant discipline

Language Proficiency:

• Professional proficiency in English. Other language proficiencies are considered an asset.

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