Indonesia: Project Coordinator Sumba Iconic Island

Hivos Southeast Asia is a Dutch non-governmental organization guided by humanist values. It aims at structural poverty alleviation with a strong focus on civil society building and sustainable economic development. Hivos Southeast Asia provides financial support for local NGOs, is active in networking, lobbying and exchanging knowledge and expertise. For its Hivos Southeast Asia seeks qualified Indonesian candidates for the position of:

Title : Project Coordinator Sumba Iconic Island
Duty Station : Jakarta, Indonesia
Duration : One year, with possibility of extension
Report to : Project Manager Green Energy (Sumba)

Functional context

The Hivos programmes focus on two main themes: Open and Green Society. The Project Coordinator SII will operate within the framework of the Green Energy team in the Jakarta office.

In 2010 Hivos started the Iconic Island initiative. The Indonesian island of Sumba was chosen as the ‘Iconic Island’. Hivos aims to provide access to reliable renewable forms of energy to the population of this island, and in doing so, ending their dependency on fossil fuels and support development and economic activities of the local population. With years of experience working with partner organizations to establish access to sustainable energy in developing countries, Hivos is convinced that converting to sustainable energy while combining poverty reduction, is possible on a large scale. The results of the Iconic Island initiative should become an example for other parts of the world.

In December 2015, Hivos Southeast Asia signed a partnership agreement with the Millennium Challenge Account-Indonesia (MCA-I) which allows Hivos Southeast Asia to rapidly scale up renewable energy access and income benefits by replicating the successful approaches and business models developed under our Indonesia Domestic Biogas Programme (IDBP) and Sumba Iconic Island (SII). The partnership agreement is working to achieve two outcomes, including:
1) Improvement of rural livelihoods through utilization of renewable energy in rural communities; and
2) Sustainable business models to create market (energy market and energy appliances market) of off-grid RE technologies adopted.

The Project Coordinator SII will provide senior leadership and be responsible for the day-to-day management including planning, implementing and monitoring of the project and will co-responsible for the coordination with the consortium partners. The position is Jakarta-based with frequent travel to implementation locations within Indonesia, in particular to Sumba Island, East Nusa Tenggara province.

Roles and responsibilities

1. Play a proactive role in the implementation of the multi stakeholders Sumba Iconic Island initiative which aims at realising 100% renewable energy at Sumba Island.


2. Supervise the day-to-day work of SII project staff, identify and resolve problems as needed and ensure that staff are performing according to their job descriptions, programme guidelines, budgets, implementation plans and other relevant instruction.


3. Support the recruitment of SII field staff in Sumba and assist in the preparation of Terms of References for consultants and programme activities.


4. Establish and foster good coordination among stakeholders and play a leading role in the communication and coordination with consortium partners.


5. Assist in research, studies and surveys and evaluation activities.


6. Liaise with stakeholders (government, NGOs, private sector, cooperatives) and maintain a network to support the development of renewable energy.


7. Together with Field Project Manager carry responsibility for delivering high quality and timely outputs as planned.


8. Together with the PM Green Energy (Sumba) be accountable for SII project deliverables to the donor(s).


9. Draft the quarterly project narrative reports based on the input from Field Project Manager and ME&L Officer in accordance with donor requirements and ensure the submission of the reports within agreed deadlines.


10. Responsibility to check financial reports before being submitted to donors.


11. Identify and assess problems/specific issues and work to resolve it together with PM and PDM (Program Development Manager) Green Energy.


12. Lead the technical work coordination of consortium project members (Winrock International, Village Infrastructure Angels and Yayasan Rumah Energi)


13. Support knowledge dissemination through training, mentoring and field visits and undertake clients’ feedback.


14. To roll out new innovative initiatives that are relevant to SII development.

Knowledge, experiences and competencies

1. A master degree in rural development, sustainable energy, environmental and natural resource management, economics of natural resources or other relevant field (or Bachelor degree with several years of relevant experience).


2. An excellent understanding of and experience in energy (related)project management


3. Profound understanding of the socio-economic aspects, including gender, of development projects.


4. Professional written and verbal communication skills including public speaking in English and Bahasa Indonesia.


5. Able to show successful track record working in and within multidisciplinary teams


6. Minimum 5-7 years of professional experience in program design, management and evaluation


7. Strong interpersonal communication and negotiation skills to effectively interact with donors, civil society organizations, government officials and community


8. Sound experience in managing partnerships and multi actor initiatives


9. Good understanding of technical aspects of renewable energy technologies


10. Previous working experience in an international environment/organization would be an advantage


11. Having respect for humanitarian and humanist principles and willing to work in a non- discriminating, neutral, impartial and gender equal environment.


12. Willing to travel and stay at Sumba (up to one quarter of the time) and other places in Indonesia for related meetings.

What do we offer?
An inspiring and dynamic working environment, dedicated colleagues and the possibility to work for an ambitious new international initiative.