Business Development Specialist for PA3B at The nature Conservancy (ONG)

Job Description:

expert or experts in the field of business skills development to provide technical support and specialized training, to local community associations based in Fort Liberte, Limonade, Jakzil, Phaeton and Derac, to enable them to develop sustainable community-based enterprises (i.e. kayaking/canoeing and honey packaging, marketing and sales) around the Three Bays National Park

Purpose of Contract
To provide technical support and specialized training to 6 local community associations in the development of 2 viable and sustainable community-based enterprises: kayaking/canoeing and honey packaging and marketing around the Three Bays National Park.
Specific purposes of the consultancy are to:
 Assess current association’s business capacity, needs and build a customized training program for the association members. This program will include but not limited to administrative, financial management, and marketing aspects of business development;
 Carry out a series of business development trainings with the associations (this includes but not limited to: proposal development, selling skills (e.g., sales pitch and closing a sale), objections handling, general customer care, the art of negotiating, professionalism and merchandizing;
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 Develop product concept and branding for honey and kayaking activities;
 Strengthen the value chain and marketing;
 Carry out relevant brief pilot projects for the marketing and sale of branded products (honey and kayaking activities in 3BNP area);
 Report on lessons learned;
 Arrange and coordinate official launch of 3BNP honey and kayaking activities in Northern Haiti;
 Support the establishment of management structures and procedures (bank accounts, basic accounting books and financial reports, activities calendar, enterprise personnel, inventory/stock management); and whatever other processes to be implemented to ensure efficient business operations.
 Identify potential clients or opportunities for business relationship to be established;
 Identify possible threats to the long-term success of this business initiative and suggesting ways forward if threats arise, ensuring business continuity.
3. Approach and Scope
A three-pronged approach will be used to carry out this assignment:
 Consultation- involves assessing needs (skillsets in each association) of the community-based association i.e. conducting a GAP analysis, offering real world solutions on how to solve issues and maximize return on investment in a sustainable way for the two income generating activities. Solution implementation will also be spearheaded by the consultant. This will also incorporate some actions to strengthen the business capacities of the associations and their members.
 Training- involves teaching a set of relevant skills to the association members who have gaps in these areas. The training material and program will be proposed by the contractor following his/her consultation with selected associations. Once approved by TNC, materials will be delivered to the associations.
 Mentoring- involves a developmental relationship between the expert/s with direct experience in business development and management and, the association members who may or may not be new to the field and who wish to acquire more knowledge and wisdom about that subject area.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
 Lead the implementation of activities under result area three that relate specifically to alternative livelihoods and, advise the associations and project management on the most effective ways to achieve sustainable results:
- Based on the critical assessment of the available project reports, and the associations capacity assessment recommend a strategy to achieve the expected outcomes for the Result.
 Advise the Project Manager during the planning and implementation of activities aimed at achieving the expected outputs for Result 3 relative to establishing viable alternative livelihood options. The business aspects of sustainable Natural Resource Use (NRU) by targeting key users, transformers and traders along NR product value chains with training and capacity building is the primary focus. A key aspect of the capacity building in this result is
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improving access to capital and financial situation for beneficiaries, as well as enhancing their entrepreneurial skills. Conduct on-going research into business and market opportunities for selected natural resource products and;
 Work in collaboration with FOBROPIM to ensure proper coordination and business continuity. Increasing FOPROBIM’s involvement will allow them to help oversee and mediate if issues arise.
 Capacity building of service providers and chain actors:
- Lead a rapid organizational and training needs assessment in relation to business and management skills for Community Based Organizations (CBOs);
- Provide relevant training on business development, and business skills to the associations along natural resource product value chains based on assessment;
- Conduct the assessment of value chain actors /beneficiaries in the field and focus on the assessment of their capacity to deliver products responding to the needs of the targeted markets (and new market opportunities) and translate them into coaching needs and plans;
- Provide training on Prioritization & Task Management and;
- Any other aspect of the business that may need optimization for maximum efficiency and optimal return on investment (ROI)
 Hands-on support to chain actors and service providers:
- Provide hands-on support to the community organizations in analyzing the best fitting opportunities to increase their income from sustainable use of supplemental/alternative activities and developing their marketing strategies, coach the beneficiaries, and follow-up on implementation;
- Assist CBOs involved in product value chains, with coaching on business skills;
- Develop innovative and practical business development tools to guide the commercialization of products;
- Conduct Workshops on business, marketing and sale techniques;
- Conduct pilot sales run of branded products (honey and kayak tour services) and provide report on goals achieved and lessons learned;
- Initiate, facilitate and accompany (or implement if proper service providers haven’t been found) market linkage and matchmaking activities;
- Facilitate official launch of products and services being offered;
- Advise the associations regarding business opportunities & challenges;
- Help find tools that increase productivity and can realistically be implemented and;
- Identify possible future hindrances to business continuity, based on experience and provide recommendations on how to combat these.

Job Qualifications:

Qualifications or Specialized Knowledge/Experience Required
 A graduate of a higher Business School and/or degree in business administration, economics, management, sciences, strategic marketing, and/or equivalent through experience.
 At least 5 years of practical commercial experience in small enterprise development.
Technical expertise:
 Relevant professional experience in working with small enterprises, cooperatives, processors and traders. Experience in natural resources related business enterprises would be an advantage.
 Experience in developing business linkages across the product value chain
 Demonstrated experience in developing partnerships between small, community based
 enterprises with larger private sector players.
 Demonstrated capacity for innovation and ‘thinking out of the box’
 Proven track record in developing gender sensitive businesses/business models
 Capable of writing high quality reports in both English and Creole/French
 Willing and able to spend large amounts of time in the project landscape over the period of the contract throughout the northeast region to coach community based organizations.

Expressions of interest
If interested in this contract, please submit your proposal no later than May 9, 2017 to Maxene Atis at matis@tnc.org .The proposal should include at a minimum the following:
 A cover letter outlining relevant experience
 Curriculum Vitae of the participating consultant/s
 A brief (3 pages max.) describing preliminary ideas, and recommendations about the approach and process for execution of this consultancy and anticipated outcomes
 Include detailed budget to fully execute the work.
 In the email subject refer to “Business Development Specialist for PA3B”