Under the line management of EF Team Leader / Programme Co-Lead and the supervision and coordination of EF’s Technical Lead Outcome 1, the Knowledge Management and Awareness Raising Manager is responsible for coordination of knowledge production and dissemination, awareness raising and advocacy, and capitalisation activities.

The Knowledge Management and Awareness Raising Manager is part of the Project Management Unit (PMU), based in Lusaka, Zambia. The position will involve occasional travel in the ESA region.

He/she will work on a daily basis with the PMU Team (Programme Lead – GIZ; Programme Co-Lead – EF; Admin & Finance Manager – EF; Logistics Officer – EF; Project Assistant – EF; M&E Manager – EF; Value Chain Experts – GIZ) and relevant National Coordinators; will support both the Technical Lead Outcome 1 (EF) and the COMESA Coordinators in the implementation of the parts of Outcome 1 for which they are responsible; and will be in regular contact with the Project technical Officer – Circular Economy of EF HQ.

The position implies a high degree of autonomy and thoroughness, as well as interpersonal skills appropriate to working in a European, international and multicultural environment.

More specifically, his/her missions and responsibilities are as follows (non-exhaustive list):

Knowledge Production and dissemination

·       Knowledge production on CE: Develop and manage the production of CE knowledge products (e.g., studies, reports, tools, international best practices) to inform policymaking, with a focus on the plastics/packaging and electronics/e-waste value chains.

·       Knowledge dissemination: Coordinate regional dissemination of CE knowledge through ICT-based platforms and both virtual and physical events (e.g., webinars, workshops, peer-to-peer exchanges).

·       Lead capitalisation efforts: Document and analyse lessons learned from Outputs 1.2 and 1.3, in collaboration with research institutions, and prepare policy recommendations for regional uptake.

·       Setting up Knowledge Management System(s): Design and manage a knowledge-sharing infrastructure (digital or hybrid) to ensure long-term accessibility of CE policy resources for ESA policymakers.

Awareness Raising

·       Awareness raising strategy: Develop and implement an awareness and visibility strategy, targeting decision-makers, private sector actors, and the general public with customized CE messages

·       Awareness raising initiatives:

o   Create engaging communication materials to make CE concepts accessible to non-technical audiences, especially policymakers.

o   Organise and facilitate awareness-raising events to build shared understanding of CE principles and their practical application in the two PVCs.

o   Contribute to the establishment and facilitation of an EPR Community of Practice.

o   Support the visibility and promotion of the Policy-Support Facility.

·       Monitoring: Contribute to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) efforts, including tracking knowledge dissemination metrics, stakeholder engagement, and awareness levels.

Capacity building

•     Assessments: Conduct an awareness and capacity needs assessment of national and regional policymakers and map key influencers to inform the CE Awareness Raising Strategy.

• Facilitate capacity building of regional organisations: Support regional and international thematic organisations such as ACEA and CSOs through grants to enhance their capacity to generate and share CE-related knowledge.

·       Capacitate policy makers: Build capacities of regional policymakers in the RECs on CE principles and policy instruments for them to integrate into regional policy frameworks.

·       Capacitate advocacy actors: Design and deliver tailored CE capacity-building programmes for regional actors such as RECs and their Business Councils on advocacy techniques.

·       Capacitate RECs on awareness raising:  Build capacities of RECs on awareness raising approaches for them to raise awareness of their Member States on CE principles and policies.

Cross-cutting responsibilities

·       Support the overall design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the knowledge management and capitalisation systems and processes at the programme level

o   Coordinating with technical leads and implementing partners to identify, collect, and structure knowledge generated from all programme components (activities, outputs, lessons learned, case studies, tools, success stories).

o   Ensuring systematic documentation, classification, and storage of knowledge products in accessible and user-friendly formats.

o   Supporting the organisation of internal learning exchanges, knowledge-sharing events, and programme-wide capitalisation workshops.

o   Facilitating the consolidation and analysis of learnings to produce high-quality capitalisation outputs (e.g., synthesis reports, policy briefs, learning papers).

o   Ensuring alignment between programme-level KM efforts and those undertaken at output or partner level.

o   Contributing to regular reporting and communication of capitalised knowledge to internal and external stakeholders.

o   Contribute to strategic planning processes, including annual work planning, risk management, and stakeholder mapping, particularly for the CE communications and knowledge functions.

o   Support the MEAL Manager with tracking knowledge dissemination metrics, stakeholder engagement, and awareness levels.

·       Stay Updated on CE Trends and Developments: Monitor emerging CE policies, tools, and international debates (e.g., UN treaty on plastics, EU CE regulations) to ensure that KM products and communication messages are timely and relevant

·       Perform any other related tasks and responsibilities as required by the Programme Co Lead, in line with project priorities and evolving needs.