GIZ- Internal/External Vacancy Announcement #142/2021

Sustainable Industrial Clusters 

The Ethiopian government has adopted an Industrial Development Policy to transform the currently agricultural-led economy into an industry-based one, aiming to lift the population out of poverty and becoming a middle-income country by 2025. The textile and garment industry are considered a priority sector on the path to industrialization. The sector is, however, often characterized by precarious working conditions, low wages, non-compliance with human rights, social and ecological standards and poor business linkages between companies operating in Industrial Parks (IPs), international and local suppliers.

In line with the Ethiopian transformation agenda, the United Kingdom and Germany are supporting the country’s pathway towards industrialisation through the implementation of a joint project named Sustainable Industrial Clusters (S.I.C.). The project is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under a co-financing agreement between the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

S.I.C. has the objective to address the current challenges in the IPs and focus on increasing job-effective growth and improving the social and environmental sustainability of Ethiopia’s textile and garment industry. It will contribute to closing the gap between results and aspirations of the parks by tackling issues such as: improving park operations; improved satisfaction of workers with services; creation of decent jobs; environmental and social regulatory framework and their enforcement; as well as business linkages into the wider textile and garment sector.

In this regard the project is looking for a Social Sustainability Advisor to support its Industrial Park Social Sustainability component. This position will be divided between Debre Birhan IP and Kombolcha IP which involves regular travel between the IPs. The person shall be located either in Debre Birhan or in Kombolcha.

 Duration of contract:   

Until September 31, 2025

Responsibilities and Tasks

• Provide technical support in the overall implementation of the project component focusing on Social Sustainability under consideration of gender dimensions, in close coordination with the project management and team
• Support in monitoring the components’ inputs, activities and outreach, according to the overall project planning and management tools
• Support and monitor the sustainable establishment of social platforms (e.g. worker’s café) in industrial parks
• Support the engagement with private sector actors (e.g. manufacturers and brands) on improvement of job quality for the factory workers
• Provide technical guidance in establishing of one or more multi-actor platforms for social dialogue at the community level
• Introduce, plan and monitor a sustainable training eco-system for workers and middle management of the companies in the cluster, including mapping of training needs and suitable training providers
• Introduce, plan and monitor the implementation of company grievance systems
• Coordinate assignments of national and international short-term experts as well as long term consultancy firms

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in international development/Social Studies/ Gender Studies/ Human Resources / International Labour Law, additional degree in Economics/ Business Administration is an asset
• Good knowledge of Amharic and English language both in speaking and writing, German language knowledge is an asset
• Good working knowledge of IT (E-mail, internet and computer applications such as MS Office)

Professional experience

• Minimum of 5 years of professional experience in one or more of the following areas: gender and development; international labour standards; HR management, preferably in an industrial park; community linkages; CSR for industry; social sustainability and/or social work;
• Experience in project management and coordination of various stakeholders
• Prior work experience in the private sector, preferably in the textile and garment sector or industrial parks management, is an advantage
• Prior experience working for GIZ or UKAid-funded projects is a plus

Other knowledge, additional competences

• Excellent presentation, oral and written communication skills
• Good organizational and time management skills to prioritize workloads
• Team player
• result-oriented