Partnerships Assistant, Uzbekistan

About Palladium

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 3,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities. 

Project Overview and Role

The goal of the USAID Enterprises, Employment, and Enabling Environments (E4) Activity is to increase employment and jobs through increased private productivity and competitiveness. The theory of change is: “For the number of jobs to increase, businesses must grow; and for businesses to grow, constraints preventing growth must be removed.” Following this logic, Palladium will focus on removing obstacles to growth at the firm level and will work to develop skills identified by employers or develop entrepreneurial expertise. Additionally, Palladium will work to address legal and regulatory constraints if they are determined to be significant inhibitors of firm growth. These efforts will result in the creation of new firms and jobs and the growth of existing firms.

Work performed under the E4 IDIQ is divided into three components:

Component 1: Enterprises – Fostering Competitive Industries
Component 2: Employment – Developing a Capable Workforce and Entrepreneurship
Component 3: Enabling Environments – Creating Conditions for Jobs and Investment

The E4 IDIQ regional office is located in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and country offices are located in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

This Opportunity

Over the last four years, Palladium has been successfully implementing the Future Growth Initiative (FGI) Task Order of the E4 Activity in all five Central Asian countries. This task order works to increase the competitiveness of high-growth industries to provide jobs and incomes for Central Asia’s growing workforce, propelling the region toward self-reliance. FGI is transforming market systems in ways that help high-potential firms and sectors grow, fostering market linkages to match the demand for workforce skills with training offered to youth and women, linking entrepreneurs to high-growth markets, and building more business- and worker-friendly policy environments and institutions to sustain private sector-driven growth.

The program has recently been extended until 2026 through the awarding of the FGI 2.0 Task Order. By building on FGI’s success and lessons learned, FGI 2.0 will work to increase the competitiveness of high-growth industries through a market systems approach that incentivizes private and public sector behavior change. The new task order will facilitate the regionalization of business advisory and enabling environment ecosystems, harmonize policies and regulations, foster trade and market linkages, and align the skills of women, youth, and vulnerable populations with private sector needs.

FGI 2.0 will take a partnerships-based approach, facilitating firm-level assistance, industry association capacity building, and regulatory reform under:

Objective 1: Drive national-level, private sector-led economic growth and inclusivity in the five Central Asian Republics (CARs).
Objective 2: Support competitiveness and job creation in each country, serving as the foundation for regional growth and integration.
FGI 2.0 will also facilitate domestic and regional public private dialogue (PPD), policy reform and harmonization, and investment attraction efforts to support Central Asia’s integration into the global economy of the future.

Palladium seeks a Partnerships Assistant in Uzbekistan for FGI 2.0 Task Order under the USAID E4 Activity. The Partnerships Assistant will be responsible in supporting Private Sector Partnership Specialist in coordinating the implementation of Grants and Non-Grants projects in compliance with the company’s manuals and policies.

Location

This position will be located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

 

Duration

 
The performance period of the USAID E4 IDIQ Activity will end on September 30, 2026.

Reporting and Supervision


The Partnerships Assistant will work under the supervision of the Private Sector Partnership Specialist and reports to the Uzbekistan Country Manager.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities


       Partnership Support

Support the coordination and implementation of Grants projects, including consultations, grant application assistance, and closeout documentation. Help maintain and update a database of partnerships, alliances, and initiatives. Assist in drafting and editing reports, concept notes, and other project-related documentation. Managing partners and events databases. Supporting partners in the correct use of branding. Assisting with the planning and execution of events, including promotion, and post-event reporting. Drafting and editing press releases, bi-weekly updates, success stories, blog posts, newsletters, and social media posts.
Develop charts that clearly visualize data in Excel, PowerPoint, and/or Power BI.
Other duties as assigned by the Uzbekistan Country Manager.

       Monitoring and Evaluation Support

Perform monitoring and evaluation activities in accordance with the manual and guidance provided by the MEL Team. Assist in tracking and documenting the progress of partnerships and Grants and Non-Grants projects in alignment with the project’s MEL framework.
Collect data and contribute to preparing weekly, quarterly, and annual progress reports.
Support the monitoring of project indicators and contribute to the preparation of success stories.
Coordinate the MEL close-out process, ensuring availability of all documents.
Support systematic data collection from the project partners.
 

 Key Competencies Required

 Strong organizational skills with attention to detail and ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.Proficiency in MS Office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
Fluency in English, Russian, and Uzbek.
Ability to work under pressure and meet hard deadlines.
Experience working with multidisciplinary teams with a focus on social inclusion. 
Experience reporting to multiple lines.
Creativity, agility, and team spirit.
Excellent communication skills.


Competencies Preferred 
Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Business Administration, Economics, or International Development).
Experience in donor-funded projects, preferably in partnership or monitoring & evaluation roles.
Demonstrated business/report writing skills.
Experience working with private sector partners, including MSMEs and industry associations.
Familiarity with programs focused on women, youth, and vulnerable groups.

Application Deadline

This application will close on January 24, 2025.


Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status. 

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.