Institutional Clean Cooking Project Coordinator at DanChurchAid (DCA)

Key Responsibilities

Pilot coordination and delivery leadership

• Lead the operational coordination of the Mwangaza Kitchens pilot, ensuring timely, high-quality delivery across all participating early adopter schools.
• Working closely with team focal points within the respective counties/areas, drive the identification, engagement, and onboarding of faith-based early adopter schools, working   closely with diocesan leadership, school boards, principals, and kitchen staff.
• Coordinate the full school transition pathway, including:
  • Review and validation of existing and new energy audits
  • Support to system sizing and technology selection based on technical, financial, and operational suitability
  • Coordination of kitchen design and remodelling requirements
  • Oversight of installation, commissioning, and initial technical support
• Act as the central point of coordination between schools, technology providers, energy auditors, financial partners, and Mwangaza Light field teams.
• Proactively identify implementation bottlenecks and resolve them pragmatically to maintain momentum during the pilot phase.

 Blended finance, carbon, and commercial coordination

• Support the structuring and execution of blended finance arrangements for early adopter schools, including grants, concessional finance, and innovative repayment mechanisms.
• Coordinate closely with financial institutions, SACCOs, and church-linked financing mechanisms to ensure agreements are practical, understood, and implemented as designed.
• Support the operationalisation of carbon market components at pilot level, including data requirements, monitoring systems, and alignment with emerging dMRV approaches.
• Ensure that financial and carbon-related assumptions are grounded in real-world school cash flows and usage patterns, feeding learning back into model refinement.

Data, learning, and adaptive management

• Ensure that high-quality data on system usage, performance, costs, savings, and user experience are collected consistently across pilot schools.
• Work with technical partners to ensure that IoT, monitoring, and reporting systems are functional and fit for purpose.
• Working closely with data analysis and management focal points, compile, analyse, and synthesise pilot data to inform internal decision-making, adaptation of the model, and preparation for scale-up.
• Contribute to the development of evidence products, learning notes, and practical insights that strengthen the credibility of the Mwangaza Kitchens model.
• Working closely with the Mwangaza Light CEO and Communications Officer, document lessons learned, operational challenges, and best practices to support replication and scale of the Mwangaza Kitchens model.

Grant management and donor reporting

• Lead day-to-day grant management for the pilot phase, ensuring activities, expenditures, and reporting align with approved proposals and donor requirements.
• Prepare high-quality narrative and financial reports in close coordination with DCA and Mwangaza Light finance and programme teams.
• Track deliverables, milestones, and risks, proactively flagging issues and proposing mitigation measures.
• Support donor engagement, learning visits, and external communications related to the pilot phase.

Coordination, representation, and partnerships

• Represent the Mwangaza Kitchens pilot in relevant technical discussions, partner meetings, and sector forums as required.
•  Work in collaboration with Mwangaza Light team to maintain strong working relationships with church institutions, technology suppliers, financiers, auditors, and sector stakeholders. 
• Ensure close alignment between DCA and Mwangaza Light roles, responsibilities, and expectations throughout pilot delivery.

Risk Management

• Proactively identify and monitor technical, financial, and operational risks associated with project implementation, including infrastructure installations, financing mechanisms, and multi-stakeholder coordination.
• Develop and implement risk mitigation strategies and escalate critical issues where necessary to ensure successful delivery of the pilot.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as engineering, energy, environmental science, economics, development finance, or a related discipline. A Master’s degree is an added advantage.
• At least 5–7 years of progressively responsible experience in project coordination or management within clean energy, climate, infrastructure, or market-based development initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience working with blended finance, results-based financing, or commercially oriented development models.
• Practical knowledge of clean cooking, renewable energy systems, or institutional energy solutions.
• Experience using digital monitoring tools, data dashboards, or project management platforms.
• Strong familiarity with carbon markets, carbon project development, or dMRV systems is a significant advantage.
• Proven experience coordinating multiple technical and commercial actors, including private sector suppliers and financial institutions.
• Experience managing donor-funded grants and producing high-quality reports.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong implementation instincts and the ability to “get things done” in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
• High level of comfort engaging at both technical and institutional levels, from kitchen staff to senior school boards and donors.
• Solid analytical skills, with the ability to translate operational data into practical learning.
• Excellent organisational and coordination skills, with strong attention to detail.
• Clear, confident written and verbal communication.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining disciplined coordination with multiple partners.

Personal Qualities

• Pragmatic, solutions-oriented, and resilient under pressure.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and adapting approaches based on real-time learning.
• Credible and grounded, with the confidence to engage senior stakeholders without losing sight of operational realities.
• Strong alignment with the values and mission of DCA and Mwangaza Light.