Malaysia: Project Development Officer

Background: DAI is an international consulting firm headquartered in the United States with a branch office recently opened in Malaysia. DAI is accepting applications from candidates for positions on the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Transitions Initiatives (OTI)-funded Malaysia Reform Initiative (MARI) project. The MARI project works closely with the Government of Malaysia and civil society counterparts toward three objectives:

· Support the Government’s implementation of priority reforms;

· Facilitate civic engagement in the reform process;

· Develop and strengthen media freedom.

DAI provides a competitive remuneration package including comprehensive staff benefits. We seek energetic, idealistic and ambitious Malaysians to join our team, willing to work at the highest levels of government and civil society and wanting to support Malaysia’s reform to a more democratic, inclusive and accepting home for all its people. Come and be a part of the effort – Let’s Go!

Position: The Project Development Officer will report to the Project Team Leader and work closely with the project’s Grants Officers, Procurement Officers, and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officers.

Responsibilities: The Project Development Officer will:

• Advise OTI and the Project Team Leader on the evolution of Malaysia’s political, legal, and economic situation.
• Critically assess the evolving country situation to identify needs and creatively design programs to respond to urgent needs and support reforms.
• Proactively identify grant opportunities and reactively respond to grant ideas from U.S. Embassy/OTI; then fully develop grant ideas.
• With the Grants Officers, Procurement Officers, and local partners, develop budgets and activity timelines.
• In consultation with the potential partner as well as with the Project Team Leader, develop a monitoring and evaluation process for each grant.
• Compile information and data on the programmatic and implementation progress of each grant, draft evaluations of completed grants for input to the activity database.
• Provide updates and analysis of key developments in targeted thematic areas (e.g. civic engagement in the reform process, independent media practices, etc.).
• Identify needs and opportunities and provide relevant information to facilitate the Project Team Leader’s ability to develop activity ideas.
• Develop and maintain relationships with organizations/actors in key target sectors (e.g. local NGOs, media, etc.).
• Meet with partner organizations and attend local grant activities.
• Analyze activity impact, including conducting final evaluations in collaboration with M&E staff.
• Work in a team environment to accomplish project objectives.
• Travel to remote areas and work independently to monitor activities, as required.
• Other duties as assigned by the Project Team Leader that are consistent with the overall focus of the assignment.

Qualifications:

• University degree in project management, social sciences, political science, business administration, or related field.
• Minimum three years of professional experience in a related field.
• Relevant experience in a related role working in/with government, in/with media (traditional and new media within Malaysia), in/with civil society, or in/with social impact/social enterprise organizations required. Additional training in specific processes and procedures will be provided.
• Critical thinking and analytical skills required.
• Strong computer skills (MS Office suite) required.
• Experience with grants or small grants-under-contract programs preferred.
• English language fluency required.
• Professional proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia.
• Ability to legally live and work in Malaysia.

To apply: Please email your CV with the position title specified in the subject line no later than Friday, March 22^nd, 2019 to malaysiarecruitment@dai.com. CVs should be no longer than three pages, New Roman font, size 12. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Candidates should demonstrate they have understood the requirements by respecting them.