Senior Stakeholder Engagement And Partnerships Officer (Code: 009-NZMATES-SEPO)

General Position Summary 

The Senior Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships Officer (SEPO) will be part of the NZMATES Team, based at Mercy Corps Indonesia’s office in Ambon, and travel occasionally within Indonesia. The SEPO will lead, build, and maintain positive relationships with stakeholders in Ambon, Jakarta, elsewhere in Indonesia and internationally, communicating the work of NZMATES. He/she will provide guidance on local context, cultural norms, political dynamics, and regulatory requirements, and will lead the development of training partnerships and the implementation of NZMATES’ training activities. The SEPO will have an understanding of and carry out research on the energy sector institutional framework.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Continue to identify key players and lead engagement with provincial and national government entities, such as EBTKE, ESDM Dinas Ambon, PLN Pusat and PLN Ambon, BAPPENAS, BAPPEDA, and other ministries and entities from Ambon, Jakarta, and other locations, involved in renewable energy projects or similar initiatives;

• Maintain the TORs for the PSG and TCs, and help to identify and uphold the proper channels, procedures, and processes for working together with government partners;

• Proactively assist the PSG Secretariat and TC management including arranging meetings, ensuring participation from partners, taking minutes, providing inputs, and managing both activities; Ensure that key partners staff is engaged and maintains participation in PSG and TCs;

• Proactively seek ways to improve PSG, TCs, and other engagements; 

• Proactively generate new relationships at the international, national and provincial levels that can benefit the programme through funding, contributions, and/or other collaborations; 

• Lead engagement with local provincial government and support the Field Coordinator in engagement with regency and district level governments;

• Develop and update political economic analysis and map relations, processes, and understanding of project partners and key stakeholders’ activities; 

• Build, foster, and maintain positive relations with project partners PLN, EBTKE, and ESDM Dinas formally and informally; 

• Identify champions within key partner institutions (PLN, EBTKE, and ESDM Dinas) and other key stakeholders that can support NZMATES delivery of activities; 

• Liaise with electricity and renewable energy private sector actors, associations, cooperatives, and other actors from Maluku or active/interested in Maluku from other provinces;

• Liaise with universities, technical institutes, and other educations entities, as well with NGOs, CSOs, and other relevant civil society key players;

• Identify, engage, and liaise with Indonesian financing institutions or other potential sources of funding such as PT SMI, other state-owned enterprises, public entities, private sector, foundations, or others; 

• Build relationships with key international stakeholders.

• Liaise between Indonesian and international stakeholders (including New Zealand stakeholders), proactively seeking engagement and support from international institutions to be involved in NZMATES through opportunities for volunteers, training, research, exchanges of resources, funding or others.

• Support skills gap analysis and planning of training and mentoring activities with key stakeholders.

• Lead the organization of stakeholder meetings, training and workshops at the national and international level.

• Create training/learning materials as needed.

• Assist in the identification of grants, financing or other support opportunities for potential projects, and support coordination between funding bodies and potential project stakeholders.

• Assist the development of a stakeholder and communications plan and strategy;

• Proactively build a network of local stakeholders, sustain communications, and foster good and positive relationships;

• Ensure good communications are maintaining with project partners and key stakeholders;

• Advise NZMATES and carry out research on political dynamics and regulatory frameworks, including permits, policies, formal and customary laws related/relevant to electricity, renewable energy, and/or community development projects;

• Provide guidance on local context and cultural sensitivities, and lead the development of in-country briefings and guidance for international visitors;

• Proactively research on new potential stakeholders and keep abreast of relevant energy-related events;

• Arrange meetings with local stakeholders including the development of agendas, taking notes, and translating during meetings;

• Provide linguistic support to NZMATES through translation of documents and interpretation during meetings when required (English - Bahasa Indonesia and Ambonese Malay). 

• Other duties as required to support NZMATES programme objectives.

Knowledge and Experience

• University Degree (or equivalent experience) in social sciences, law, business, public/international relations, management or similar field; 

• Minimum 8 years’ experience in socio-economic development, public relations, communications and/or related fields;

• Strong communications skills, networking, and experience working as part of a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team;

• Experience with engaging, networking, collaborating, working together, and communicating with government officials, in particular with PLN, ESDM, and BAPPEDA in Ambon and at national level; 

• Experience engaging and communicating with civil society, educational institutions, and private sector stakeholders in the energy sector;

• Experience defining and managing Project Steering Groups, technical committees, task force working groups, and/other different level engagement fora as part of a cooperation and collaboration programme

• Experience with researching and understanding of (electricity) sector regulatory/institutional/legal framework;

• Experience in the planning and implementation of capacity building activities;

• Ability to foster positive and effective working relationships with variety of energy stakeholders;

• Experience working in Maluku province and understanding of local context;

• Excellent fluency in English verbal and written communication; 

• Ability to anticipate and solve problems; meet deadlines, work under pressure, work independently on multiple tasks with limited supervision, work cooperatively with team members and partners;

• Ability to be flexible, open-minded and creative;

• Proactive and able to take initiative; 

• Strong familiarity with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, database management;

• Willingness to travel occasionally to Jakarta, Seram and other locations within Indonesia;

• Experience in establishing PSGs an TCs is desirable; 

• Experience working in socio-economic development, energy access or environment sector preferred;

• This role is open to all applicants. Women and people from Maluku are especially encouraged to apply.

Success Factors

The successful Senior Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships Officer candidate will deliver quality work, have strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to create and maintain effective working relationships with the NZMATES team and external stakeholders. The SEPO needs to be creative, a self-starter, a team player showing flexibility and open-mindedness yet focussed on achieving objectives and disciplined about following regulations and meeting organizational standards. The SEPO will be highly motivated and motivate others to make the NZMATES program a great success. 

Living Conditions / Environmental Conditions

The position is based in Ambon, Maluku and requires up to 30 % travel to Jakarta, project locations in Maluku Province and possibly other locations in Indonesia.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Mercy Corps Indonesia is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics

Mercy Corps Indonesia is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct elearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders

Mercy Corps Indonesia team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.

How to Apply

Click, Apply for this position button below to complete the application form and fill in the position code: 009-NZMATES-SEPO

The vacancy will be closed on 20 December 2023 and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview. We look forward to hearing from those who are interested in taking this opportunity to grow and develop with us.

Thank You,

Human Resources Department 

Mercy Corps Indonesia