Wine Industry Business Development and Project Manager for the USAID Moldova Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Activity (RCRA)

Chemonics International Inc. seeks highly qualified candidates for the position of Wine Industry Business Development and Project Manager for the USAID Moldova Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Activity (RCRA). Chemonics International Inc. (www.chemonics.com) is a U.S.-based international consulting firm providing expertise in developing and emerging-market countries since 1975.

Background:

The USAID Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Activity (RCRA). The goal of RCRA is to stimulate a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the regional crisis brought on by the latest Russian invasion of Ukraine and accelerate an inclusive, climate-resilient economic development of rural Moldova by protecting the development gains made with USAID support over the past decade and further stimulate the competitiveness of key economic sectors, including the wine industry, high-value agriculture, and tourism.

The objectives of the activity are:

1. Accelerated export diversification and Western market integration in targeted sectors
2. Enhanced economic resilience of small and medium enterprises in targeted sectors
3. Improved sector-enabling environment to facilitate resilience and Western integration

 Position Description: 

The Wine Industry Business Development and Project Manager will focus on business development in the wine industry and oversee RCRA project management activities in the wine industry. This role involves working closely with the wine small and medium-size (SMEs) to enhance their development; market functions development; investment attraction; and engaging with country-level programs and international partners.

 Principal Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions):

Principal duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Organizes activities within the wine industry related to Moldovan wine business development.
• Manages activities and programs related to wine industry business development, at a micro-economic and macro-economic level.
• Contribute to RCRA’s wine team results, impact, and upcoming events for inclusion in RCRA’s weekly, bi-weekly, quarterly, and annual reports, as well as other deliverables.
• Proactively establish and maintain positive working relationships with all members of the RCRA team and international and local wine sector stakeholders.
• Provide recommendations for wine sector activities for inclusion in RCRA’s annual work plans that directly address the RCRA contract’s objectives, outcomes, and performance indicators including:
  • Increased competitiveness and resilience of the wine businesses.
  • Increased sales, productivity and exports of Moldovan bottled wine by value and volume.
  • New practices, processes and technologies implemented by wine businesses.
  • Increased adoption of certification systems, management systems, as well as best business development practices in wine industry.
  • Increased access to finance, investment attraction and partnerships in wine industry.
  • Improved public-private wine sector governance to jointly design and implement wine sector reforms and sustain growth.
• Contribute to successful implementation of all wine sector activities included in annual work plans.
• Contribute to successful implementation of all strategic activities fund (SAF) and grant activities in the wine sector.
• Contribute and develop requests for applications (RFAs), collects information and data from shortlisted grant applicants, and provides the grants team with requested data and information to complete negotiation memos and grant agreements within the prescribed deadlines.
• Contribute regularly to reports related to the MEL, grants, communications, and environmental compliance teams quantifiable and qualifiable results, compliance, and progress of grants and grantees.
• Provide assistance to grantees and capacity building to ensure grant activities’ success.
• Provide assistance to enhance the capacity of staff of the National Office of Vine and Wine (ONVV), Association of Small Winemakers (ASW), PGI associations, and other wine sector actors to address the needs of members and stakeholders on a sustainable basis and wean them from donor dependence.
• Provide support and empower ONVV, ASW, and other wine sector actors to lead the design and implementation of wine sector activities.
• Contribute to the effective implementation of the RCRA-supported wine sector activities.
• Proactively collaborate with other RCRA teams (high value agriculture, business enabling environment, tourism, communications, MEL, grants, procurement, and finance) and other donor programs to jointly design and implement activities to benefit RCRA’s wine, tourism, and high value agriculture sectors.
• Closely coordinate with RCRA’s communications team and provide the communications team with advance notice of upcoming events, communication needs for the events, and co-develop and co-implement communication strategies for all wine sector events.
• Work collaboratively with the communications team to expand outreach and communication with the wine sector.
• Provide inputs and work on identification of beneficiaries and submits to the communications team success stories about wine sector beneficiaries that clearly describe the problems/issues, RCRA’s interventions to address the problems/issues, and the results and impacts of RCRA’s interventions.
• Identify consultants and subcontractors, develop scopes of work for local and international short-term technical assistance (STTA) consultants and subcontractors, supervise consultants and subcontractors, and ensure quality deliverables (presentations, training activities, reports, etc.) from consultants and subcontractors.
• Collaborate closely with RCRA’s business enabling environment team to jointly design and implement workforce development activities to support the wine sector.
• Collaborate with the business enabling environment team to identify, diagnose, and propose opportunities to address business enabling environment constraints to the growth and development of the wine sector.
• Collect information and data from wine sector beneficiaries and provide MEL team with information and data within the deadlines set by the MEL team.
• Provide assistance to the RCRA’s environmental compliance specialist in collecting information for pre-award environmental screenings, pre-award environmental assessments, environmental review checklists, environmental monitoring and mitigation plans, and simplified environmental reviews.
• Provide assistance to the RCRA’s environmental compliance specialist in monitoring environmental compliance by wine sector grantees.
• Regularly contribute to weekly, bi-weekly, quarterly, and annual reports.
• Draft concept notes, briefers, agendas, talking points, and other documents for internal and external use.
• Successfully represent RCRA at all wine sector activities.
• Conduct other activities as directed by the chief of party and deputy chiefs of party.
• Respect and abide by all internal regulations of the Representative Office, as expressed in the Chemonics International Field Office Policy Manual.

 Qualifications

• University degree in business, economics, law, or related field.
• Minimum of 5 (five) years of professional experience in project or business management, international partnerships, corporate affairs. Experience related to the wine sector will be an asset.
• Proven capacity to interact effectively with a wide range of counterparts including government, local businesses, non-governmental organizations, sector associations, etc.
• Excellent communication skills, written and spoken, in Romanian and English. Knowledge of Russian would be a strong asset.
• Excellent time-, team-, meeting- and conflict-management skills.
• Strong self-organization, self-motivation, and planning skills.
• Proven ability to work professionally and constructively as part of team, meet deadlines, communicate effectively, and deal with diverse partners in challenging environments.
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity.

Reporting 

The Wine Industry Business Development and Project Manager will report to the Wine Industry Director.

Application instructions

Please send an email with your CV and cover letter in English attached and “RCRA Wine Industry Business Development and Project Manager” in the subject line to       

MDA-RCRA-Recruit@chemonics.md by October 7^th, 2024. No telephone inquiries, please. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Only finalists will be contacted.

Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.

Chemonics values the protection of your personal data. If you are in the European Union, please read our EU Recruiting Data Privacy Notice to learn how we process personal data. You may access the notice via the following link: https://chemonics.com/eu-recruiting-data-privacy-notice/.