Requirements

Additional Requirements

• Female candidates are encouraged to apply.

• Candidates who identify as Indigenous People are encouraged to apply.

• Master’s degree in a relevant field such as: Urban Planning, Urban Resilience, Environmental Studies, Civil or Environmental Engineering

Experience & Knowledge:

• At least 15 years of work experience in urban resilience in the industry.

• Familiar and experienced in engagement for developing/updating National Policies, Strategies, Guidelines, Acts on Waste Management, Sanitation, Urban and Energy Sector and biggest stakeholders and their large-scale projects/programs.       

• Regional and International Experience in the sector is not mandatory but will carry an extra value.       

• Ability to design large scale, long term and cross sectoral program for fundraising.      

• Ability to represent the organization and Practical Action’s work.     

• Excellent report writing, analytical and communication skills.      

• Excellent oral presentation skills and in-depth knowledge and experience in major donor reporting requirements.     

• Excellent ability to work with a cross-functional/cultural team.      

• Ability to work independently, manage multiple tasks and set priorities.     

• Commitment to development principles and Practical Action’s vision, mission and ambition.      

• Experience working with technology and innovation will be an added advantage. 

Responsibilities & Context

The Lead - Urban Resilience will be based in Dhaka, will play a pivotal role in advancing Practical Action’s Change Ambition on Urban Resilience, supporting people living in urban slums and low-income communities to survive, adapt, and thrive in the face of chronic stresses and acute shocks. The role will primarily support the Bangladesh Country Office and Practical Action Consulting(PAC) while also strengthening the Cities portfolio across the country focusing on partnerships, strategic development, and external engagement. Based on satisfactory performance and the evolving needs of the organization, this role has the potential to expand into a regional position, providing broader leadership across multiple country offices within the region.

The Urban Resilience Lead will coordinate global learning and innovation efforts, gathering evidence of impact and driving organizational influence through strategic campaigns and fundraising initiatives. Additionally, the role will ensure that gender equality and social inclusion are integrated across all activities and will contribute to internal capacity building efforts by collaborating with teams across regions to enhance skills, knowledge, and programmatic approaches. The role demands strong leadership, external networking, and strategic thinking to translate Practical Action’s vision into measurable, lasting change across Bangladesh.   

Strengthening Organizational Profile

• Develop strategic business plans for achieving change ambitions considering national, regional and global context and priorities, and analyzing cultural, political and economic factors - using a system thinking approach.

• Provide thematic thought leadership to the regional programmer, including country offices in the region focusing on Urban Resilience.

• Participate and contribute to the national and regional discourse on policy and practice in the field of urban resilience for transforming the lives of the poor.

• Represent Practical Action internally and externally on strategic matters related to the change ambition.

• Actively contribute to the development of our brand essence and positioning.

• Provide leadership on innovation, business modelling, gender and social inclusion, community and stakeholders engagement.

• Ensure that a transformative gender approach is integrated in all of our work.

• Lead Advocacy and Knowledge Management strategies and initiatives to leverage change in line with Practical Action’s ambitions, linking national and global change ambitions for achieving maximum impact.

• Drive for evidence and internal/external learning to support the change ambition, widen our impacts in line with the Practical Action Framework for Change.

• Provide leadership for compelling storytelling that demonstrates impact.

• Report on progress towards change ambition and our contribution / impact.

• Develop and nurture strategic relationships and partnerships with ministries, departments and their large-scale programmes/portfolios, research and academic organizations, network/alliances/societies to advance the change ambition. Also include relevant strategic partners including UN organizations, development banks, research and academic institutes, network/alliance/cluster as relevant.          

Business Development

• Provide technical leadership to innovate technologies, business models and systems, developing strategic relationship with partners, contribute to proposal writing, review and comments aligning the Strategic Business Plan.

• Support the development of quality proposals by contributing relevant thematic leadership and innovation to inform programme design.

• Manage effective strategic relationships with large scale donors, governments, and relevant groups.

• Guide and influence marketing and business development of Country Offices and Practical Action Consulting.

• Delivering Performance as One Practical Action

• Provide technical assistance to the programme/ projects and Practical Action Consulting (PAC) under respective goal/ sub-goals.

• Provide feedback to ensure quality and integration of technical approaches in delivery.

• Design and organize capacity building training for Programme Staff in the COs in relation to urban resilience.

• Donor relationships for large scale and/or complex projects. 

Leadership, Management and People

• Promote an organizational culture for learning and achieve change at scale, beyond our work.

• Serve as a key member of the Regional Management Team providing strategic input into organizational direction.

• Manage, support and lead subject matter specialists to achieve change ambitions, encouraging consolidated ways of working with other units in the COs – especially programme delivery and business development.

• Take time to build team capacities related to systems thinking, gender and the Framework for Change.

• Demonstrate and actively enable team Learning & Development including approaches such as coaching, mentoring, peer learning and reflection activities.

• Proactively support the professional growth of team members/others by offering quality feedback and opportunities to progress and grow.

• Foster a culture of collaboration and common ambition as One Practical.      

Organizational Policies, Safeguarding and Code of Conduct

• Ensure that the role is delivered in compliance with organizational policies on Safeguarding, Diversity and Dignity at work and the code of conduct.

• Responsible for gender responsive behavior in all actions and decisions.

• Ensure non-discriminative behavior based on gender, age, sex, race, ethnic background, culture, disability, nationality, religion and marital status.

• Be sensitive and adaptable to gender and social inclusion.