Jordan: Consultant on Marketing and Business Planning for Water Innovations Technology

Oct 23, 2018 | Mercy Corps
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Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities.

Background:

The Water Innovations Technologies (WIT) project is a 5-year $35 million USAID-funded program designed to increase water conservation in Jordan. Jordan has one of the lowest levels of water availability per capita in the world. Renewed action is required to make better use of existing water resources due to economic, population, and climate pressures. The WIT project will contribute to the overall objective of conserving water in Jordan, through the adoption of proven water-saving technologies and techniques, by achieving three integrated outcomes: 1) Water conserving technologies and behavior changes are adopted at the agricultural, community and household levels; 2) Access to financing for adoption of water conservation technology is improved; and 3) Institutions strengthened to support water saving technologies.

Purpose/Project Description:

Despite the clear advantages to improving water usage, private sector suppliers of water saving agriculture and household technologies are struggling to encourage their customers to adopt water saving technologies. WIT believes that by supporting the suppliers to develop stronger marketing plans for the advanced technologies, the customers can be shown the advantages of investing in these technologies to achieve mid to long-term goals.

The Marketing and Business Planning consultant will support WIT’s Marketing Support Specialist to develop and execute a plan to improve the marketing efforts of private sector agricultural technology suppliers with whom WIT is already working. It is expected that this will include development of a market/customer assessment and participatory development of a marketing plan for each supplier. If needed, the consultant may be asked to support the development of key business or strategic plans for new technologies identified by the suppliers and/or WIT.

Activities:

The Consultant will support WIT’s Marketing Support Specialist to:

  • Develop a Marketing Support Activity Plan.
  • Conduct market research using primary and secondary sources.
  • Present marketing information and guidance to private sector partners and other program partners in a workshop and/or one-on-one settings.
  • Oversee the facilitated development and implementation of customized marketing plans for private sector partners;
  • Support WIT staff in developing a strong understanding of business planning and develop tools for business planning of various private and private sector initiatives.
  • Support private sector in developing basic business plans for new ideas coming through investment fund
  • Support the WIT team in developing specific solicitations for investment fund from a business / marketing perspective
  • Coach and mentor WIT marketing specialist
  • Contribute as needed to program reports in coordination with Team Leaders, senior program leadership, and Mercy Corps HQ.

Deliverables:

The Consultant will submit:

  • WIT Marketing Support Activity Plan - for and HH
  • Market Research Findings report for Agricultural and household sectors
  • Final Consultancy report with recommendations.

Timeframe / Schedule:  

The anticipated length of this consultancy is approximately 60 working days. The consultancy should start the on November 1st, 2018 and finish by February 1, 2018. A final timeline will be developed in consultation with Mercy Corps/ WIT project at the beginning of the consultancy to establish deadlines for submission of deliverables.

The Consultant will report to:

    WIT Market System Development Advisor

The Consultant will work closely with:

ACOP, Marketing Support Specialist, Agriculture Team, HH Team, Operations Manager, M&E staff, Communications Team, and WIT partners

Required Experience and Skills:

  • Master’s degree in communications, international development, management or related field
  • At least 15 years of experience in marketing, with special emphasis on marketing plan development, product promotion, and business planning.
  • Experience working with private sector companies.
  • Experience working on donor funded grants preferred
  • Outstanding writing skills with proven capacity to produce high-quality briefs, reports and other communication pieces for internal and external stakeholders
  • Ability to work independently and take initiative
  • Strong communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills
  • Good computer skills including and proficiency with Microsoft Office
  • Native English speaker required; knowledge of Arabic beneficial