Private Sector Partnership Specialist, Uzbekistan

About Palladium

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 3,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

Project Overview and Role

The goal of the USAID Enterprises, Employment, and Enabling Environments (E4) Activity is to increase employment and jobs through increased private productivity and competitiveness. The theory of change is: “For the number of jobs to increase, businesses must grow; and for businesses to grow, constraints preventing growth must be removed.” Following this logic, Palladium will focus on removing obstacles to growth at the firm level and will work to develop skills identified by employers or develop entrepreneurial expertise. Additionally, Palladium will work to address legal and regulatory constraints if they are determined to be significant inhibitors of firm growth. These efforts will result in the creation of new firms and jobs and the growth of existing firms.

Work performed under the E4 IDIQ is divided into three components:

• Component 1: Enterprises – Fostering Competitive Industries
• Component 2: Employment – Developing a Capable Workforce and Entrepreneurship
• Component 3: Enabling Environments – Creating Conditions for Jobs and Investment

The E4 IDIQ regional office is located in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and country offices are located in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

This Opportunity

Over the last four years, Palladium has been successfully implementing the Future Growth Initiative (FGI) Task Order of the E4 Activity in all five Central Asian countries. This task order works to increase the competitiveness of high-growth industries to provide jobs and incomes for Central Asia’s growing workforce, propelling the region toward self-reliance. FGI is transforming market systems in ways that help high-potential firms and sectors grow, fostering market linkages to match the demand for workforce skills with training offered to youth and women, linking entrepreneurs to high-growth markets, and building more business- and worker-friendly policy environments and institutions to sustain private sector-driven growth.

The program has recently been extended until 2026 through the awarding of the FGI 2.0 Task Order. By building on FGI’s success and lessons learned, FGI 2.0 will work to increase the competitiveness of high-growth industries through a market systems approach that incentivizes private and public sector behavior change. The new task order will facilitate the regionalization of business advisory and enabling environment ecosystems, harmonize policies and regulations, foster trade and market linkages, and align the skills of women, youth, and vulnerable populations with private sector needs.

FGI 2.0 will take a partnerships-based approach, facilitating firm-level assistance, industry association capacity building, and regulatory reform under:

• Objective 1: Drive national-level, private sector-led economic growth and inclusivity in the five Central Asian Republics (CARs).
• Objective 2: Support competitiveness and job creation in each country, serving as the foundation for regional growth and integration.
• FGI 2.0 will also facilitate domestic and regional public private dialogue (PPD), policy reform and harmonization, and investment attraction efforts to support Central Asia’s integration into the global economy of the future.

Palladium seeks a Private Sector Partnership Specialist in Uzbekistan for the FGI and FGI 2.0 Task Orders under the USAID E4 Activity. The Specialist will be responsible for coordinating the implementation of Market Development Fund (MDF) projects in compliance with the company’s manuals and policies.

The Specialist will work in close cooperation with the Grants Manager, the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager, and the Uzbekistan Country Manager.

Location

This position will be located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Duration

The performance period of the USAID E4 IDIQ Activity will end on September 30, 2026.

Reporting and Supervision

The Private Sector Partnership Specialist, Uzbekistan will report to the Uzbekistan Country Manager and the Chief of Party (COP).

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Define the investment and advisory needs of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that fit the FGI 2.0 criteria and propose solutions to address them.
• Coordinate the implementation of MDF projects at all stages, including open call consultations, assistance in developing grant applications, guidance and overall support at the implementation phase, and facilitation of closeout papers.
• Source and identify initiatives aimed at supporting FGI 2.0 target groups (women entrepreneurs, youth, people with disabilities, business and economic associations, and organizations with green economy components).
• Manage partnership engagements and ensure successful implementation that contributes to the objectives of the MDF program.
• Facilitate market relationships via right-fit support by successfully implementing MDF projects.
• Identify and build productive relationships with local business development service providers; seek active participation in select sector development activities.
• Identify prospective start-ups and develop linkages among industry experts, buyers, and investors to connect them to the markets and capital needed to improve sector competitiveness.
• Identify business incubators and/or accelerators in the country to host sector-specific programming and scale the outreach necessary to achieve programmatic results.
• Serve as a facilitator, working with and through local partners, including enterprises, business advisory service providers (BASPs), associations, and training institutes, to support the strengthening of localized market systems.
• Seek initiatives aimed at supporting market systems that de-risk innovation and incentivize a robust and sustainable ecosystem for MSME growth.
• Develop concept papers for collaborations with partners and alliances within FGI 2.0.
• Build and maintain a strong pipeline and portfolio of firm partnerships and collaborative alliances.
• Cooperate with project technical teams on workforce development and social inclusion activities in the Central Asia region.
• Perform monitoring and evaluation activities in accordance with the manual and guidance provided by the MEL Manager.
• Liaise with other donor programs and private sector initiatives to accomplish Objective 1 and 2 goals and to expand market linkages.
• In partnership with incubators, accelerators, sector alliances, and MSMEs, identify innovation challenges and grant opportunities to address those challenges.
• Other duties as assigned by the Uzbekistan Country Manager.

Key Competencies Required

• Degree in relevant discipline (business, administration, finance, etc.)
• At least 5 years of experience working in the field of business development and partnership building.
• Demonstrated skills and understanding of private sector development.
• Experience developing public private partnerships with large firms and business associations.
• Experience working with women and youth programs.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet hard deadlines.
• Experience managing several activities at a time.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams with a focus on social inclusion.
• Experience reporting to multiple lines.
• Creativity, agility, and team spirit.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Fluent in verbal and written English, Russian, and Uzbek.

Competencies Preferred

• Demonstrated business/report writing skills.
• Knowledge of green economy.

Application Deadline

This application will close on November 27, 2023.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at [email protected] and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.