Strategic Planning Development Consultant
Resume:
ORKHAN ALIYEV
International professional and manager with 17+ years of experience managing
humanitarian and development programmes in a challenging environment
+380********* ******.******@*****.***
SUMMARY
A certified project manager & seasoned humanitarian professional with over 17 years of comprehensive experience managing multi-sectoral humanitarian and development programmes in a fragile & complex environment in Eastern Europe, Middle East, South Caucasus & Central Asia. My areas of expertise include agile programme management, strategic leadership, resource mobilisation, technical advisory, team management & stakeholder engagement in developing or war-affected countries. Having a multitude of experiences at the international level in system strengthening, safe programming, quality design, business operations and sectoral programme development, I am comfortable with ambiguity & thrive in a fast-paced & challenging environment. I am a fast learner & adapt to new challenges quickly to meet strategic goals with a solid leadership ability to translate strategic vision into action. Fluent in English, Russian, Azerbaijani, and Turkish PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Int. Country Director, Ukraine Crisis Response
Caritas Switzerland
01/2024 - Present Ukraine
Caritas Switzerland (CACH) is one of the leading Swiss NGOs in the field of poverty reduction and humanitarian aid. Strategic Planning and Implementation: Leads the development and execution of strategic plans to align with the CACH’s goals in Ukraine, focusing on emergency response and development projects Program Management: Oversees planning, implementation, evaluation, and reporting of projects across various sectors, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness, and alignment with both donor requirements and community needs Team Leadership: Directs diverse team of professionals, technical advisors, fostering a collaborative environment, facilitating professional development, and ensuring high performance and morale Stakeholder Engagement: Cultivates and maintains relationships with government entities, local and international NGOs, donors, and community leaders to enhance program impact and secure support for initiatives. Financial Oversight: Manages the country office’s budget, ensuring financial sustainability, accountability, and compliance with both internal policies and external regulatory requirements
Resource Mobilization: Identifies opportunities and leads the development of proposals to secure funding from various sources, including international donors and private foundations
Risk Management: Implements comprehensive risk management policies to address operational, security, and financial risks, ensuring the safety of staff and beneficiaries
Advocacy and Representation: Acted as the primary representative of CACH in Ukraine, advocating for vulnerable populations and raising awareness of humanitarian and development issues at national and international forums Budget: CHF 25 mln/Donors: SwS, SDC, IF! Foundation, Caritas Network Head of Programme, Ukraine Crisis Response
Caritas Switzerland
08/2023 Ukraine
Caritas Switzerland (CACH) is one of the leading Swiss NGOs in the field of poverty reduction and humanitarian aid. Led the development of programme portfolios for implementation, especially in food security, livelihoods and income generation, Cash assistance, WASH, Shelter and protection
Provided technical oversight and programme management of ongoing projects funded by donors and CACH Ensured effective Project Cycle Management system through engagement of national partners, including the elaboration of intermediary/final reports and situation updates towards external donors and stakeholders Ensured quality control and supervision in terms of humanitarian and technical standards, including overall financial monitoring, quality check of programmatic and financial reporting, ensuring implementation of Caritas Switzerland standards Supervised international and national staff in support of the Director UCR, development of UCR strategy and HR management (recruitment and supervision of locally employed staff)
Ensured with the project managers that the capacity of national staff and partners to changing context and subsequent changes in management arrangements was built and monitored
Budget: CHF 12 mln/Donors: SwS, SDC, Caritas Network Programme Lead, Programme Management Unit (PMU), Ukraine Crisis Response Oxfam Great Britain [Poland, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine] 11/2022 - 07/2023 Poland and Ukraine
Oxfam is a global movement of people fighting poverty and inequality Led and supervised the response programme and ensured close collaboration in programming, providing technical content for proposals in close collaboration between Operations and Programmes in the countries Ensured programme quality were measured, beneficiary feedback collected, acted upon and fed back, and Oxfam’s interventions were properly documented and projects were evaluated against donor requirements and accountability indicators Ensured implementation of the response strategy through piloting and rolling out innovative approaches (e.g. in WASH, Protection, Cash, Livelihoods, Gender and consortia coordination), making an overarching impact on people's economic livelihoods and secure environment Provided overall strategic and technical leadership in the design, development, planning, budgeting, and implementation of the projects, delivering results to be capable of high level advocacy representation Budget: GBP 62 mln/Donors: 12 Oxfam Affiliates
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
International Consultant on Public-Private Partnership and Investment Case in Public Health UNICEF
09/2022 - 09/2023 Central Asia and Afghanistan
UNICEF is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide Identified businesses that import, produce, or provide WASH services and analyzed the impact of current policy, tax structures, and legal structures on these business in Central Asia Determined the best partnership models with private sector actors which are currently being supported by WASH sector actors, to define if they can be sustainable without external financial support in Central Asian countries Assessed the costs of inaction on investment in WASH service and operations & maintenance in Central Asian countries Developed an investment plant that focused on the current budgets and expenditure to be allocated to WASH in health care facilities, and potential financing mechanisms/sources
Country Director
Oxfam Great Britain
01/2021 - 10/2022 Tajikistan
Oxfam is a global movement of people fighting poverty and inequality. Ensured open and trust-based dialogue through regular coordination meetings to ensure alignment with overall strategy Was responsible for the overall management of the business operations, budget, logistics, security and programme execution Provided strategic direction to the quality, accountability and agility of the programmes and helped establish realistic business milestones Demonstrated a thought leadership and maintained excellent relations with all key stakeholders, especially clients, end users, local authorities, government, and international donors
Co-chaired international platforms during Afghan refugee influx to Tajikistan through Interministerial Working Group, WASH Cluster Meetings and Ministerial Coordination Council on DRR
Budget: GBP 12 mln/Donors: SDC, Islamic Development Bank International Consultant, Programme Development and Quality Design Welthungerhilfe (WHH)
02/2022 - 04/2022 Tajikistan
Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. is a German non-denominational and politically independent non-profit and non-governmental aid agency working in the fields of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance. Provided technical support to WHH and its partners in WASH feasibility study and set business operations for project implementation Estimated approximate cost for WASH infrastructures, facilities and services for rural communities Supervised collaboration between military and civic service units on a wide range of security and military issues in the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East regions
International Consultant on Emergency WASH Response and Recovery UNICEF
09/2021 - 12/2021 Tajikistan
UNICEF is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide Delivered a training course for more than 50 government representatives on emergency WASH response and mobilisation plan Consulted government stakeholders in Tajikistan on emergency planning methods and principles in case of Afghan refugee influx and built provisional AP for emergency WASH response in acute phase Benchmarked international best-practices in emergency response based on regional context with recommendations to the government International Consultant on Emergency WASH Response and Preparedness International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) 07/2021 - 09/2021 Central Asian countries and Afghanistan The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is a worldwide humanitarian aid organisation that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. Provided IFRC and UNICEF country offices staff, partnership and government counterparts in Central Asia with WASH emergency response plans adjusted to their country strategies
Delivered 6 training sessions for more than 70 IFRC, UNICEF and government representatives on emergency WASH response and preparedness planning, country strategy development and key requirements in developing country resources Supported the development of 5 country strategies on WASH in emergencies and consulted each country offices Senior Business Development Consultant
Equidev International Public Union [Board Member]
04/2021 - Present Central Asia countries and Afghanistan Equidev is Oxfam's spin-off consulting organisation with a mission to foster agile, holistic and innovative development solutions to hunger, poverty and inequality
Advised the team about organisational and management effectiveness for achieving business goals in WASH and Food Security Trained and coached the team on project management, processes, systems and communication tools to gain a competitive advantage in the market, especially in market-based WASH, Food security and service quality improvement Facilitated and led the transition efforts in various parts of the organisation to ensure stability in the management team Provides expert knowledge on proposal development in WASH, public health, DRR, livelihoods, food security and enterprise management
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Programme Manager, WASH Department
Oxfam Great Britain
01/2017 - 12/2020 Tajikistan
Oxfam is a global movement of people fighting poverty and inequality. Managed multi-stakeholder programme portfolio in market-based WASH, DRR, Climate Change and Water Governance with private sector Coordinated water sector reform and national strategy development in close partnership with the government and UNDP Led on government and industry relations and provide advisory services to public and private service providers Curated strategic partnerships and advocacy with government agencies to advocate policy reforms in line with SDG6 Budget: $ 32 mln/Donors: SDC, EU, GiZ, World Bank, IsDB Senior Business Development Manager
DEVELOR International
12/2015 - 12/2021 Azerbaijan and Georgia
DEVELOR is one of the fastest-growing international learning & development organisations, with a 25-year history. Led coaching and training sessions on business portfolio development and management, project management and technical know-how in a competitive and complex environment
Developed agile team work and stakeholder engagement indicators worth of $5 million to improve customer satisfaction Developed 25+ business proposals for private entities ranging from banking to production sector on performance improvements and operational effectiveness
Adjunct Instructor
Social & Humanitarian Sciences Department, Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (ADA) 09/2015 - 12/2017 Azerbaijan
ADA is a state higher education institution founded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Delivered undergraduate and graduate courses on leadership and business communication strategies Coached and supervised 100+ students in research methodology design, writing, social project development and execution Researched the course delivery quality and optimized the course delivery through roadmap design in the faculty of Education Programme Manager, Governance and Public Policy Unit Oxfam Great Britain
11/2012 - 10/2015 Azerbaijan and Georgia
Oxfam is a global movement of people fighting poverty and inequality. Developed, implemented and monitored 10+ projects in market-based service delivery in WASH, food security and public finance in conflict- driven areas near the Nagorno-Karabakh contact line Managed transboundary water projects alongside the Azerbaijani-Georgian border that initiated cross-border cooperation between municipalities and communities for responsive use of rivers Led a multi-stakeholder CSO platform (100+ members) that improved laws recognizing municipalities' authority in local water resource management and service delivery
Supervised the regional food security project in the South Caucasus as a project manager that promoted cross-border agricultural trade Budget: $ 24 mln/Donors: EU, SDC, GiZ
Project Consultant on Final Evaluation
Oxfam in Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel (OPTI) 07/2012 - 12/2012 Gaza strip
Oxfam is a global movement of people fighting poverty and inequality. Developed the project impact evaluation plan in cooperation with the donor and stakeholders Developed a final evaluation methodology and implementation plan which was funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR)
Produced a final project quality review on civil societies' role in promotion of freedom of thought, association and movement in Gaza Produced recommendation for the second phase of the project with scoping plan on livelihoods and human rights Designed and coordinated more than 10 workshops for Oxfam's partners and stakeholders related to project impact in territorial unities Programme Coordinator, Governance and Public Policy Unit Oxfam Great Britain
11/2010 - 10/2012 Azerbaijan
Oxfam is a global movement of people fighting poverty and inequality. Coordinated more than 5 projects on emergency WASH and water supply with the focus on building the local municipality's capacity in service delivery and quality control over the infrastructure Facilitated the NGO Alliance for Municipality Development (NAMD) that influenced the government on the transfer of additional authorities to municipalities in local resource management Established a tariff-based water management system in 50 villages for more than 80,000 families & increased local budget by 40% Budget: $ 17 mln/Donors: EU, GiZ and SDC
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Executive Director (Civil-Military Coordination)
NATO International School of Azerbaijan (NISA)
2008 Azerbaijan
NISA is a Baku-based NGO promoting public awareness about security and peace issues in the region under the auspices of the MFA of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Coordinated the arrangement of the capacity-building training for national defence, security and police forces in the country Led projects on civil society awareness of NATO Public Diplomacy Division in Baku and the regions Supervised collaboration between military and civic service units on a wide range of security and military issues in the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East regions
Managed 3 key ongoing projects, handling internal inter-department coordination and external partner communication Partner Business Manager
DELTA Engineering Co.
2006 - 2007 Azerbaijan and Ukraine
Delta Engineering is a Turkish engineering company specialized in engineering, construction and supply chain Developed data collection tools that assisted in product development, identifying potential market gaps and improving operational efficiency Produced reports on operation and maintenance of installed telecommunication stations in Azerbaijan and Ukraine Worked with clients to submit the highest quality content, and improved our processes to reduce production time Performed unit testing, system integration testing & user acceptance testing for vendors Established a system for tracking 500 field employees and their performance assessment Engaged with business partners (Bakcell & Vodafone) to develop a business plan to reduce attrition EDUCATION
Executive Master, Development Policies and Practices The Graduate Institute of International Development Studies (IHEID) 2019 - 2020 Geneva, Switzerland
MA, Non-Proliferation and International Security
King's College London
2009 - 2010 London, UK
Post-Graduate Diploma, International Politics
Université Libre de Bruxelles
2008 - 2009 Brussels, Belgium
BA, International Relations
Azerbaijan University of Languages
2003 - 2007 Baku, Azerbaijan
CERTIFICATES
Safe Programming Training of Trainer, Oxfam, 2023 HEAT Certificate, Poland, 2022 PRINCE2 Certificate in Agile Project Management, by AXELOS
(UK) in 2020
Master's Certificate in Project Management, by George Washington University (2014)
WASH Trainer Certification by German WASH Network (2021) LANGUAGES
Azerbaijani
Native
English
Proficient
Russian
Proficient
Turkish
Advanced
Tatar
Advanced
Iraqi Turkmen
Advanced
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Scrum Kanban Tableau JIRA/Atlassian Canvas Design Power BI Lean Design Microsoft Office Docs Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Team Google Workspace Wrike PM
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INDUSTRY EXPERTISE
Programme Cycle Management
[from planning to implementation,
evaluation & sustainable exit]
Market-based service delivery
setting and KPI development for
operations tracking
Safe Programming and Risk
Assessment
Strategic planning and
implementation
Resource Mobilisation and Financing Sustainable Development Goals and Livelihoods building
Integrated Multi-sectoral
Programming + Triple Nexus
Approach (Development, Peace and
Humanitarian Action)
Technical advisory, coaching,
mentoring and private sector
partnership building
Stakeholder coordination &
Influencing
AWARDS
Outstanding performance
award by Oxfam in 2012 in
Azerbaijan
Outstanding performance
award by Oxfam in Tajikistan in
2018
The Highest Net Promoter
Score (98%) award by
DEVELOR International for
excellence in training delivery
& quality assurance
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
Business generation
Increased economic resilience of local water utilities and municipalities through a full-cost recovery tariff system that generated income and accountability
Civic Participation
Led and facilitated a CSO Alliance for Municipality Development in Azerbaijan and Tajikistan Water Supply and Sanitation Network that triggered active civic participation in policy advocacy
Policy Influencing
Facilitated policy reforms in
access to water supply and sanitation services in line with SDG 6 principles and built the capacity of state agencies in Tajikistan as a senior consultant
Scaling and replication
Managed to establish accountability mechanisms in urban water service delivery for state bodies to report and engage population in local decision-making and financing through enactment of legislative acts and replication in wider geographies in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. HOBBIES
Mountain climbing and hiking Travelling Cooking
Training and coaching Beekeeping
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