Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Advisor

SNV - Netherlands Development Organisation is a Non-Governmental Organisation working in Vietnam since 1995. Within its general objective to contribute to poverty alleviation through capacity enhancement of local organisations, SNV is in the process to focus its activities more on the improvement of basic service delivery within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). One of the specific MDGs SNV has chosen is MDG 7: sustainable provision of water and sanitation.

In Vietnam, within the context of National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Strategy (RWSS) – 2020 and National Targeted Programme on RWSS, 2006-2010 which is coordinated by the Ministry of Agricultural & Rural Development, SNV supports the provincial and district stakeholders in Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Lao Cai provinces in the areas of operation, maintenance management of rural water supply and sanitation facilities.

Development and strengthening of market based solutions facilitate the access of households and also their movement up the sanitation ladder. Without it, practical barriers for long term Open Defecation Free (ODF) are simply too high. Emphasis in this component is on providing different technological options and services, as identified in the review of consumer needs and preferences. Needs and preferences of special needs groups (disabled, elderly, HIV-AIDS), poorer households and women will be given particular attention. Access to finance for the poorest of the poor households will be linked to pro-poor support mechanisms implemented through the sanitation governance component. Almost without exception, the rural sanitation market is very poorly developed and outreach is limited. This component will therefore work on local enterprise development, quality improvement and innovative outreach mechanisms.
SNV is looking for a dynamic and creative Vietnamese candidate to fill in the post of:

Small Medium Enterprise (SME) Advisor for Rural Water Supply & Sanitation (WASH) Program

Responsibilities:
- Under the supervision of the project manager, the SME advisor will develop the component 2 of the programme: “Strengthening market-based supply chains for Sanitation”. In that role, he/she will be responsible for the following activities:
- Conduct a sanitation hardware value chain analysis, including exploring the potential of private sector in promotion.
- Business development for micro enterprises (training and TA)
- Design the modality and procedures for providing seed money for sanitation micro enterprises or Sani centres
- Development &print of user friendly designs and standards for special needs groups (the gender & governance advisor and Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) should be actively involved in this)
- Developing an information handbook on rural technology choices for different consumer demands

Furthermore the SME should work together with the gender and governance advisor in the WASH governance component to:
- Identify governance related barriers and opportunities for sanitation business development
- Design pro-poor support mechanisms for sanitation

Capacities
- Background in business development of micro-enterprises and/or rural micro-finance.
- Knowledge of the WASH sector context
- At least 3-5 years of relevant experience
- Good advisory, facilitation skills
- Capacity to conduct value chain analysis
- Knowledge or willingness to learn about sanitation marketting approaches.
- Good communication skills in English and Vietnamese
- Good computer skills in MS-applications (Word, Excel, Internet, Email)

Contract:
SNV offers one–year associate consultancy contract for all those positions (July 2010-June 2011)

Application:
Interested persons should submit their letter of motivation, recent curriculum vitae in English to:
SNV Netherlands Development Organization; 6th Floor, Building B, La Thanh Hotel, 218 Doi Can, Hanoi, Vietnam or by E-mail to: [email protected] by 30th July 2010.

Job Details
Organisation Name: 
SNV
Location: 
Ha Noi
Application Deadline: 
Fri, 2010-07-30