For those with a background in general Asian studies, communications, science, or Thai studies.

Institution: Regional Centre in Bangkok, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)
Location: Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand
Application deadline: November 15, 2013
Education: none listed
Contract: Initially one year contract with 3 months probationary period and possible extension

Background:

The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Regional Centre based in Bangkok is seeking a dynamic person with strong interest and relevant experience in event planning and handling external affairs for the position of Regional Conference and Communications Coordinator.

The successful candidate will be primarily responsible for organizing large-scale, regional climate change events for the USAID funded Climate Change Adaptation Project Preparation Facility for Asia and the Pacific (ADAPT Asia-Pacific) project and coordinating and implementing knowledge management and communications activities. To some extent, he or she will also contribute to knowledge management activities for the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN).

The USAID-funded ADAPT Asia-Pacific project is an integrated knowledge transfer, capacity building and technical assistance program that links climate funding organizations with eligible Asia-Pacific countries and helps prepare projects that increase resilience to the negative impact of climate change. Knowledge management component consisting of strengthening a regional knowledge sharing platform (i.e. APAN) and convening an Annual Forum supports the activities of the ADAPT Asia-Pacific project.

APAN is a regional network of practitioners responding to the growing and urgent needs in climate change adaptation. The network was launched under an initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). APAN’s work is supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Japan, the Asian Development Bank, USAID through the ADAPT Asia-Pacific Project, and others.

The Regional Conference and Communications Coordinator will be primarily responsible for planning, organizing, and executing regional ADAPT Asia-Pacific annual forums, as well as convening a regular and robust climate change practitioners’ discussion (i.e. online community of practice) and producing the project’s knowledge products. The Regional Conference and Communications Coordinator is expected to contribute to the overall impact generation and sustainability of the ADAPT Asia-Pacific project through implementing the tasks above.

This position announcement is made in supplement to the formerly advertised Knowledge Management Coordinator position on August 27, and only one position is currently open.

Duties and responsibilities:

Under the supervision of the Team Leader of the Knowledge Management component of the ADAPT Asia-Pacific (Director of IGES Regional Centre) as well as the Knowledge and Outreach Manager, and working with the Website and Database Manager and Assistant Office Manager of IGES Regional Centre in the team. The Regional Conference and Communications Coordinator will be responsible for the following tasks:

Convening an Annual Forum/ (60-70% of the workload)

• Plan, organize and execute an annual forum that draws over 100 participants comprising government officials from ADAPT Asia-Pacific’s 27 eligible countries and fund managers from various development agencies and bilateral/multilateral donors.
• Coordinate all logistical aspect of the annual forum, including:
• Develop concept note, agenda, and participants list,
• Invite speakers and participants and prepare documents necessary for their traveling (invitation letter, visa, insurance, etc.),
• Maintain communication with forum participants before, during and after the Annual Forum
• Secure venue, plan layouts, and make necessary arrangements/negotiating with venue manager and contractors/vendors,
• Disburse DSA/Per Diem and other expenses to participants in accordance with the organization’s regulations,
• Develop and manage budgets, and
• Conduct other tasks required for the forum. Above tasks must be carried out in close communication with ADAPT Asia-Pacific team members and in compliance with USAID’s regulations.
• Coordinate the development of forum materials (concept note, agenda, participants list above and other handout materials), produce forum proceedings, conduct forum evaluation and prepare reports, promote project, and prepare other related pre- and post-forum materials.

Strengthening a Regional Knowledge Sharing Platform (30-40% of the workload)

• Maintain an online database of ADAPT Asia-Pacific project beneficiaries’ contact information and regularly communicate with them through the use of email marketing tools to create, track and send HTML-based emails.
• Assist in convening regular and robust climate change practitioners’ discussions by operating an online community of practice (CoP) – through a live chat and other mechanisms – among previous and current ADAPT Asia-Pacific forum participants and other project beneficiaries;
• Identify and plan topics of online CoP discussions with the ADAPT Asia-Pacific team, and
• Draft and circulate regular practitioners’ discussion (CoP) reports as knowledge products of the project to participants.
• Assist in writing web articles, newsletter stories, press releases and other outreach materials.
• Above tasks must be carried out in close communication with ADAPT Asia-Pacific team, USAID, and other key stakeholders.

In addition, the Regional Conference and Communications Coordinator is expected contribute to strengthening a regional knowledge sharing platform (i.e. APAN) as a team member of knowledge management and carry out any other additional tasks as may be assigned by the Team Leader of the Knowledge Management component (Director of IGES Regional Centre), Senior Policy Advisor of IGES, and Knowledge and Outreach Manager as necessary.

Requirements:

• Excellent command of the English language (writing and speaking) – native speaker of English preferred. A candidate must demonstrate strong writing and editing skills, as well as the ability to use appropriate writing styles to present information clearly to a variety of audiences.
• Demonstrated experience in planning, organizing and executing large-scale, regional events with minimum supervision and support – including finding and booking locations, managing contractors, and liaising with donor agencies, development agencies and government officials. Ability to pay attention to details in the preparation and execution of an event is a must. Understanding of USAID rules and regulations is a plus.
• A minimum of 2-3 years of relevant experience in similar regional projects, international/regional development institutions or in the private sector engaging in event management, communication, public relations and/or other related fields. Experience in living and working in Asia or the Pacific is a plus.
• Working knowledge of IT systems and tools – including using social media platforms, email marketing tools, and content management systems – to support knowledge management activities and implement online communities of practice is preferred.
• A first-level university degree (BA) in business/public administration, operations management, communication, social science, environment or related field is preferred. Good knowledge of, or familiarity with, climate change adaptation and development issues is a plus.
• Excellent interpersonal, project management and organizational skills, including the ability to efficiently take up multiple tasks under pressure and tight deadlines.
• Willingness and ability to travel under short notice for an extended period to organize the Annual Forum when necessary.

Reporting:

The Regional Conference and Communications Coordinator will report to the Team Leader of Knowledge Management Component of the ADAPT Asia-Pacific project (Director of IGES Regional Centre), the Knowledge and Outreach Manager, and ultimately to the Chief of Party of ADAPT Asia-Pacific.

About IGES and IGES Regional Centre:

Established in 1998, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) is an independent, non-profit environmental policy think-tank, with headquarters based in Japan that goes beyond research to provide practical ways to protect the earth’s environment and to realise greater sustainability and equity in the global community. While the outlook of IGES is global, the principal geographical scope of its activities is the Asia-Pacific region. IGES activities include strategic research, outreach, networking/multi-stakeholder dialogue, and capacity development (http://www.iges.or.jp/).

Since 2003, IGES has been operating a project office in cooperation with the Regional Resources Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRC.AP) of the Asian Institute for Technology (AIT), Pathumthani, Thailand. In 2011, the project office was upgraded to the IGES Regional Centre located in downtown Bangkok (Patumwan, Bangkok) to strengthen its functions and expand activities under the missions of IGES. IGES Regional Centre is a growing operation unit to respond to the needs of the institute as well as stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region.

The main role of the IGES Regional Centre is to manage three networks that IGES provides secretariat services for, including Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN), Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN), Network for Integrated Planning and Sustainable Development Strategies in Asia-Pacific Region (SDPlanNet-AP), conduct/implement various region-wide activities including those that each network above has planned and others (ADAPT Asia-Pacific project, etc.), and to coordinate collaborative research with international, regional and national organisations and research institutes in the Asia-Pacific region. (http://www.iges.or.jp/en/bangkok/index.html)

Full application details on Idealist.org.