CLOSED – Strategy, Marketing and Sales Consultant in the field, summer internship

Description :

 

Candidates: 2

 

Organization: ICU NGO

 

Duty station: first option: Amman (Jordan) and/or Beirut (Lebanon)

 

          second option: Lima (Perù) and/or Nabeul (Tunisia)

 

Duration: 2 months

 

Website: www.icu.it

 

 

 

ICU at a glance

 

The Institute for the University Co-operation (ICU) is an Italian NGO working in development co-operation; since 1966, we have realized 482 projects in 44 countries around the globe, with a cumulative budget of over 180 M Euros.

 

ICU’s fundamental driver is the attention to human dignity: each person is considered as an individual capable of learning and shaping his/her future. Our Mission is to promote self-development in order to assure beneficiaries’ positive impact on their communities. In other words, we help people doing better what they already do. We promote capacity building by focusing on technology, expertise and capabilities transfer. ICU’s main sectors of intervention are education and professional training, hygiene and sanitation, agriculture and rural development, renewable energy, fishery, social entrepreneurship, fair trade market, social development, emergency and relief; we are currently running projects in the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America. Our global sponsors include the European Union, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNIDO, the Opec Fund for International Development plus several institutions, governments, foundations and private citizens.

 

 

 

Why ICU?

 

We will give you the opportunity

 

–          to make the difference

 

–          to work for people, with people

 

–          to give social impact

 

–          to do something different from what you usually do

 

–          to “get your hands dirty”

 

–          to go from planning to execution

 

–          to be exposed in the field

 

 

 

Background and purpose of the position

 

ICU started 4 projects at the end of 2015 in Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and Peru; they are all funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The aim is to support sustainable innovations promoted by small entrepreneurs/businesses in order to accelerate the development and deployment of clean energy solutions or to increase agriculture productivity and/or value in developing countries. The support to innovations covers all areas from product development to marketing, pricing, distribution, sales, technical and financial assistance, staff training etc.

 

The goal of the internship is to help the project managers and the entrepreneurs to make a business assessment of the first year’s results and to plan an operative strategy for the second year of operations, in order to improve the innovative products for the local markets and to increase their sales. The candidate will act as a consultant in answering questions like: is this product really useful and how can it be improved? How can we improve the business model? Will the famers buy the product? What financial solutions do they have? Is it a viable investment for farmers? What distribution channels should we use? How can we create a successful marketing campaign? How can we increase sales? What’s the best pricing?…

 

The candidate will spend most of the time with ICU’s project managers in the field (Jordan and/or Lebanon for option 1, Peru and/or Tunisia for option 2), talking to people, collecting and analyzing data, visiting projects’ sites, using and promoting the innovative technologies, understanding farmers’ way of thinking, collaborating with local partners, elaborating strategies; eventually, the candidate will be directly involved in putting the strategy into practice.

 

 

 

In Lebanon and Jordan, ICU proposes a clean energy solution package for small to medium farmers composed by a photovoltaic unit, an efficient irrigation system with fertilizer injection, and the support to farmers in accessing credit opportunities.

 

In Tunisia, ICU sponsors a Buried Diffuser (BD), a worldwide awarded patented invention produced by Chahbani Technologies; the BD is a new underground irrigation technique for trees, shrubs, vegetables in fields and greenhouses allowing savings in water and energy.

 

In Jordan, ICU introduces the Groasis Waterboxx, an integrated planting technology that allows to plant fruit, fodder trees and shrubs in degraded farmland and rangelands, thus covering eroded soils and building up organic matter while providing valuable nutrient sources of fruits and feed for both humans and animals.

 

In Peru, ICU develops an irrigation scheduling system that provides farmers with direct indications on when and how much to irrigate; data collected from a weather station is processed in a GIS platform that gives recommendations directly to farmers through texts, e-mails or a tablet, thus switching from turn-driven to demand-driven irrigation.

 

 

 

Qualifications, skills & competencies required

 

Successful candidates will be willing to work in the field, sometimes in an autonomous and independent way; be prepared for information uncertainty, lack of a baseline, struggles in data collection, unstructured working environment; be proactive: there is no right or wrong way, there is only the way we decide to follow together.

 

Previous experience in the agriculture business or in developing countries is not required.

 

Language requirements: fluency in English in Lebanon and Jordan; French or English in Tunisia; Spanish or English in Peru. Knowledge of local language and/or Italian will be an asset but it’s not mandatory.

 

 

 

Salary/Payment/Insurance/VISA

 

ICU will cover for international flight tickets, travel and medical insurance, local transportation; ICU will also refund expenses for lodging and meals up to 1,000.00 US$ per month per person.

 

Each candidate is responsible for obtaining VISAs if required; ICU will make its best to facilitate this task.