The USAID-funded Clean Cities Blue Ocean (CCBO) which operates globally and is implemented by Tetra Tech International Development  is currently accepting expressions of interest for a Consultant Grant Technical Writer. This position will be completed remotely.

Position Description/Summary: The CCBO activity is a five-year initiative of USAID which will serve as USAID's flagship program to target ocean plastics directly at their source in cities and towns. The project works to prevent ocean plastic pollution by building capacity and commitment for Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling (3Rs) and solid waste management (SWM) in urban and peri-urban settings, particularly in riverine and coastal areas. CCBO works with multiple USAID missions on country-specific implementation of national and local activities, and with USAID/Washington on global-level activities.

CCBO provides significant support to grant applicants in the design of their programs to ensure the signed grants align with the projects objectives, are programmatically-sound (appropriate staff, time, resources), and incorporate various considerations into the design such as environmental and gender impacts, and how the grant activity contributes to or supports the local governments own 3R/SWM mandates or policies, as well as the solid waste value chain. Moreover, CCBO supports grant applicants in developing programs that are intended to be or become self-sustaining after the life of the grant by working with the organization to develop financial forecasts, business models, and/or avenues through which local governments can adopt, finance and scale grant activities. All of these considerations are incorporated into the Project Description which serves as the scope of work that is reviewed and approved by USAID and incorporated into the final signed grant agreement between CCBO and the grantee.

As CCBO begins Year 3 of a five-year program, there is a need to significantly increase the quantity of grants and the speed at which they are negotiated, reviewed, and approved.

Therefore, CCBO seeks to hire a short-term consultant (approximately six months with the possibility to extend) to provide support in the negotiation and design of grants and the drafting of the Project Descriptions for Tetra Tech and USAID review and approval. The Grant Technical Writer will mainly be focused on supporting the design of grants in CCBOs Asian countries including the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Vietnam, and Indonesia but in select instances may be asked to support with grants in Peru or the Dominican Republic as well. The Grant Technical Writer does not have to be well-versed in 3R/SWM issues but is expected to be experienced in program or project design, technical writing, and collaborative management to support in the development of the grant Project Description (scope of work) that establishes the framework for how the grantee will implement. The Grant Technical Writer will work very closely with a range of stakeholders including the grant applicants, the CCBO country and US teams (including members of the grants, monitoring and evaluation, environmental, and technical teams). The consultant is not expected to write highly technical aspects of the Project Description but is expected to review grant applications with a critical eye and identify areas for clarification or negotiation with the CCBO team, and then serve as the main facilitator in editing and finalizing the Project Description with the various parties.

Currently, CCBO has several grant applications that are in different stages of negotiation that the consultant would support as well as new grant applications that will require review and negotiation over the course of the consultancy. When possible, the consultant will participate in pre-Application workshops to provide applying grantees with guidance on how to develop their Full Applications that help reduce the amount of time spent negotiating and editing the Project Description if the applicants are selected to proceed; but most of the consultant’s time will be spent supporting grants that have been selected by CCBO for an award (the CCBO grant pipeline). Once successful applicants have been selected for grant awards based on their full application, the Technical Writer would be expected to start working closely with the technical subject matter experts both in our Arlington Headquarters and in our country offices to negotiate and fine-tune the elements of the application and package it as a Project Description for submission to USAID.

CCBO anticipates that the Grant Technical Writer will support in the negotiation of 10 or more grants over the course of six months. The support provided to each grant will vary depending on the quality of the original application, alignment with CCBOs objectives and priorities, and the breadth of programmatic negotiations needed. The final grant Project Description, as approved by USAID, represents the final deliverable for each grant. The consultant will work closely with the CCBO Grant Manager and Regional Grant Manager to establish more detailed timelines and due dates for each grant.

Qualifications:

* Bachelor’s Degree required. Master’s degree preferred.

* 10+ years of professional work experience; At least three (3) years of which is experience developing programs and producing technical documents (grant proposals, scopes of work, project descriptions, etc.).

* Experience editing and writing on international development issues and a deep understanding of a donor-funded grant project lifecycle and USAID processes is highly desired.

* Mastery of English grammar, punctuation. Familiarity with at least one professional style guide such as AP or University of Chicago.

* Experience in implementing and managing programs desired

* Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and switch between tasks quickly; working in a USAID or other government agency environment required.

* Ability to communicate effectively with clients, colleagues, and vendors, both verbally and in writing.

*Ability to work with Asia-based CCBO team and grantees during normal business hours to the extent possible, and ability to hold calls in evenings or mornings with US-based team or vis-versa.

* This is a local hire or a US citizen position. CCBO will not sponsor visas for this role. Foreign national applicants must have valid work authorization in one of our project activity sites.