POSITION TITLE: Project Manager
PROJECT OR DIVISION: AIR-C3
REPORTS TO: Project Director/ Country Director
LOCATION: Based in Phnom Penh, with travel to Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces.
iDE BACKGROUND
iDE is a non-profit international organization with over 40 years of experience in delivering market-based programs in 11 countries, dedicated to powering entrepreneurs to end poverty. iDE believes that the market is a powerful force to lift people out of poverty. We catalyze change in markets by incentivizing low-income people to establish locally-led scalable solutions that are passed down through generations and founded on mutually beneficial partnerships.
iDE has been active in Cambodia since 1994 with a focus on agriculture, climate and resilience, food security and nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). iDE Cambodia supports entrepreneurs and social enterprises, while facilitating the inclusive and resilient development of value chains and business models for affordable products and services in our target sectors. We have also introduced successful research and pilots on clean cookstoves and solid waste management, with a focus on plastic waste recycling and circularity. With a market driven approach, iDE Cambodia has reached about 1.2 million households, approximately 6 million people.
PROGRAM BACKGROUND
In Cambodia, a significant portion of households still use traditional biomass fuels, such as firewood, for cooking. This contributes to indoor air pollution, which may pose health risks to many individuals. Additionally, reliance on these fuels can impact the environment, including deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Recognizing these challenges, the Cambodian government has prioritized the promotion of clean energy solutions as part of its national development agenda. The National Council for Sustainable Development (NCSD) has also emphasized the importance of transitioning to cleaner cooking technologies to improve public health, reduce environmental degradation, and support the country’s climate change mitigation efforts.
There is recent, compelling evidence that switching to near-exclusive use of cleaner fuels such as liquified petroleum gas dramatically reduces household air pollution (HAP) exposures. However, successful, at-scale implementation of clean cooking interventions has been limited, and few studies have evaluated the impacts of electric induction cooking, arguably the cleanest, most efficient household cooking solution. We will address these gaps by conducting the first large-scale implementation and effectiveness evaluation of induction-based cooking interventions among low-income households in peri-urban Cambodia. We will adapt and use implementation science methods and frameworks to refine, develop, and test evidence-based clean cooking interventions to establish a rigorous, transferable, and reproducible evidence base. By providing evidence of successful implementation strategies and their effects on exposure to household air pollution, this study will serve as a model and motivation for adoption and scale-up of similar programs across South and Southeast Asia and beyond.
The goal of this study—Applied Implementation Research for Clean Cooking in Cambodia (AIR-C3)—is to design and demonstrate the effectiveness of a scalable strategy for achieving equitable access to and sustaining an exclusive use of induction-based clean cooking in low- and middle-income settings."
POSITION PURPOSE
With direct reporting to the AIR-C3 Project Director, and coordination with other internal and external stakeholders, the Project Manager (PM) is responsible for ensuring high-quality, effective project implementation, operations, and stakeholder management.
RELATIONSHIPS
- Reports directly AIR-C3 Project Director
- Coordinates with other stakeholders as necessary, particularly representatives of Emory and Berkeley Universities, representatives of ATEC, our private sector partner, and colleagues from the iDE Innovation Lab and the iDE Cambodia Communications Team.
Please note: reporting, collaboration, and supervision relationships may change over time with the addition or departure of staff or changes in organizational structure.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Management Responsibilities
- Manage the project budget, including financial oversight, distribution across intervention areas, monitoring utilization rates, and revising budgets as needed.
- Coordinate technical implementation across strategy design, global research teams, and field operations to ensure high quality, effective delivery.
- Lead technical units in planning, implementing, monitoring, and adjusting project interventions and activities.
- Maintain relationships and coordinate efforts with consortium partners (e.g., Emory and Berkeley Universities), private partners (e.g., ATEC), consultants, and various internal stakeholders (e.g., the iDE Innovation Lab and iDE Cambodia Communications Team) as required.
Operational Management Responsibilities
- Manage all operational and contractual aspects of the program, including contracts, partnership mechanisms, and consultancy administration.
- Lead troubleshooting for operational challenges by coordinating with the project team to identify optimal solutions and improve operational efficiency.
- Support the program team in identifying and resolving operational and administrative challenges through participatory and collaborative approaches.
- Facilitate adaptive management processes across technical and operational units, and with relevant stakeholders.
- Coordinate with directors of technical units and their teams in planning, implementing, monitoring, and adjusting project interventions and activities.
- Promote cross-intervention learning, foster synergistic coordination, and leverage emerging opportunities during project implementation.
- Ensure high-quality and timely project implementation across all participating technical teams.
Technical Responsibilities
- Protocol Fidelity and Scientific Frameworks: The AIR-C3 implementation manual heavily emphasizes strict adherence to behavioral science (COM-B) and implementation science (RE-AIM) frameworks. The PM must ensure field teams deliver the intervention as designed to protect the study's validity.
- Government and Stakeholder Authority: The PM must lead - or effectively delegate and monitor - the "Sensitization and Authorization Meetings" with commune authorities as outlined in the project implementation manual. The PM is the public face of the project when securing local buy-in and presenting official approval documents.
- Training and Capacity Building: The PM must oversee the "Training of the Trainers" to ensure sales managers, sales agents and post-sale & delivery agent understand the protocol and can deliver it effectively..
- Digital Community Engagement: The PM is involved in managing and overseeing the group-level peer learning exchanges via Telegram and Facebook with support from the iDE Cambodia Communications Team.
Other Responsibilities
- Provide backstopping support to intervention managers and represent interventions in internal and external meetings as needed.
- Attend external events and workshops, representing the project and iDE.
- Perform other duties related to the project and iDE’s wider operations as assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities
The Project Manager will supervise a small Sales and Supply Chain Team, coordinate with various internal stakeholders, and manage external consultants.
Requirements
Qualifications and Essential Skills
- Graduated from university with a degree in global health and development, environmental health, international studies or any other related disciplines;
- Minimum five years’ experience in project management, budget management, mixed-method research and field work management, ideally within the development sector - private and public sector experience is a strong asset;
- Strong coordination experience, including internal and external team coordination;
- Experience with market systems development projects, private sector engagement, and/or rural technology sales and commercialization strongly preferred;
- Experience working on research focused projects and/or partnering with foreign universities strongly preferred;
- Familiar with NIH or USG-related funding rules and regulations and development landscape and initiatives preferred;
- Knowledge of clean cooking initiatives is a plus, but not essential;
- Comfortable and capable working with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures; and
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills and strong English and Khmer language skills, both written and spoken. Comfort with academic writing and vocabulary in English preferred.
- Be tech-savvy and comfortable using task management platforms like Asana, as well as collaborative or design tools such as Mural and Canva.
Leadership and Management Skills
- Strong people management skills to develop, motivate, and hold accountable a diverse team, while being comfortable with delegation.
- Sound organizational judgment to prioritize across competing demands and make pragmatic decisions under uncertainty.
- Strong communication and facilitation skills across diverse audiences (field staff to senior leadership), with the ability to navigate organizational complexity and build buy-in for team models.
Personal Attributes
- Creativity, impact orientation, and an entrepreneurial spirit, paired with a high level of commitment to iDE’s mission, vision, culture, and values.
- Curious and actively nurtures a culture of learning (including openness about failure), and is excited by and open to new ideas and innovative ways of working.
- Collaborative, thrives in a team environment, works effectively in a multicultural team, and high levels of empathy, care, respect, and patience.
- Demonstrates honesty, integrity, and a strong work ethic, effective time management, and an ability to work under pressure, with a willingness to take on additional relevant responsibilities.
Benefits
DIVERSITY
iDE takes pride in our talented and diverse workforce. Minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Hiring, promotion, and compensation of employees are conducted without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, or age.
FAMILY FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT
iDE is more than just a workplace; we are a family. We respect, support, and appreciate one another. We aim to balance our mission with the health and wellbeing of our team, and we strive to create a work environment that values and supports your personal and family life.
COMPENSATION AND CONTRACT LENGTH
The salary for this position is subject to negotiation based on experience and capacity. Final salary must fit within the iDE Cambodia salary matrix for this position. Additional benefits are based on iDE policy.
There are three years remaining in the five-year AIR-C3 project. The position is expected to continue for the duration of the project, subject to annual renewal based on donor funding and performance.
HOW-TO APPLY
Applications should be submitted via iDE’s online application portal: Workable, with the deadline on 24 April 2026. The application will be assessed on a rolling basis. iDE may close the application early should the candidate has been identified.
