About Job

The Vocational Training and Labor Market Advisor for Skills Development in the Agro-industry – Regional Coordinator for Oromia is responsible for the implementation of all the project activities and the reaching of the project’s targets at the regional level; he/she also ensures coordination of regional activities under the Component Manager/Team Leader and the National Project Coordinator. Her/his main task is to liaise with all stakeholders and partners in the region while coordinating with the SAP team as well as with colleagues from the other STEP teams, regions, components, and partnering projects/programs, to ensure the project is successfully implemented and that all targets and outcome are successfully met in a quality and sustainable manner within the timeline and budget. The Advisor will act as a key person for the project in Oromia, acting as a focal point for all governmental and local regional actors and partners, to foster a harmonized approach, so that colleagues, partners, beneficiaries, relevant public and private sector organizations, companies, service, and training providers as well as other involved public and private entities work together to assure high-quality long-term (Cooperative Training) and short-term training is delivered for the enhancement of skills of youth and women in the agro-industrial sector, increasing their employability, and the partnering companies are satisfied with the outcome. He/she also contributes and assure that lessons learned are transferred within the program and knowledge is captured and shared. Furthermore, he/she will support the implementation of Decent Job awareness activities under Output 2, by supporting the National Project Coordinator in steering the implementation of such activities at the federal level.

Main Duties and Tasks:

• Leads skills enhancement of youth and women in catchments areas of the Integrated Agro-Industrial Park in Oromia (Bulbula IAIP):
• Provide policy advice on skills development measures for the agro-industrial sector at a regional level and supports the development of measures to improve the quality and relevancy of training to ensure the successful achievement of the project’s overall outcomes.
• Identify the training needs of local, and regional authorities and counterparts for the capacity building of partnering institutions.
• Support in the identification of employment potentials, availability of private sector associations and chambers as well as interested companies, training providers, and other relevant bodies in the selected locations.
• Supervise and ensure the quality of stakeholders-tailored relevant training materials and guidelines (e.g., TTLM revision, TOT, training methodologies and rollout quality supervision and evaluation, incentives for CT programs implementation, etc.) with particular attention to gender-sensitive and inclusive approaches.
• Ensure integration of the project activities in the counterparts’ plans to ensure achievement of the project’s goals and targets and long-term sustainability in the regions.
• Support in the identification of influential companies within the selected sectors and collaborate in drawing-up concepts of how to engage and support these companies in becoming active in TVET with a special focus on Cooperative Training.
• Support in the identification, evaluation, and selection of relevant local beneficiary and partnering institutions and suggest changes because of performance and/or context.
• Implement project activities at the regional level under the supervision of the Team leader and in consultation with the Senior Project Coordinator, and coordinate with the other team members in the other regions of intervention (Amhara, Sidama, and SNNPR) for the implementation of short and long-term training and the establishment of training and career services centers and for rising awareness on decent job opportunities in the parks:
• Responsible for the geographical roll-out in the region in cooperation with the team, and regional partners, both as regards implementation and preparing organizational aspects.
• Advises the Regional Counterparts (RIPDCs, TVET Bureaus…) and other implementing partners on project clarification, identifying needs, developing concepts and strategies, and providing technical inputs.
• Supports the team and other STEP teams in the establishment of relevant platforms, in which the sector-relevant companies, private sector organizations, and training providers are represented.
• Supports the National Project Coordinator in facilitating the conduction of multi-stakeholder platforms such as the Agro-Industry Consultation Days (A-ICDs) and for achieving their institutionalization in Oromia.
• Supports the relevant enterprises, associations, chambers, and training providers in the selected sector to establish a coordination framework for planning and delivering cooperative training in line with the Ethiopian TVET Qualifications Framework.
• Monitors the development and implementation processes in the region, and suggests necessary changes, improvements, and initiatives as appropriate.
• Lead the implementation of Output 2 “Decent Job awareness” at the regional and federal level
• Steer and supervise the implementation of Output 2 “Decent Job awareness” at regional and federal level
• Ensure mainstreaming of decent job agenda in all activities and relationships with the implementing public and private partners.
• Plan and ensure the successful conduction of activities, including organization of meetings and workshops with representatives of partners and beneficiaries and their records (minutes, reports, etc.).
• Support overall project management activities such as:
• Liaise with other regional GIZ advisors to harmonize implementation and share good practices.
• Plan and ensure the successful conduction of activities, including organization of meetings and workshops with representatives of partners and beneficiaries and their proper record (minutes, reports, etc.).
• Monitors and steers implementation by external consultants, service providers and sub-contractors as assigned by the team leader (ToR, monitoring, reporting, quality…).
• Actively participate and contribute to programme and project meetings to share experiences and update the Component Manager on project activities.
• Work in close coordination with / supervise implementation by the pool of local and international experts
• (co)Organize and (co)conduct training discussed and selected with the team as needed
• Draft ToR, reports, documents, and presentation as requested, including operational planning and documents of the activities
• Prepare concepts, strategies, reports, and operational plans for current and follow-on phases of the project
• Represent the project in meetings and workshops as assigned by the Manager
• Support the team and implement Communication and Visibility activities in the region
• Communicate local interests and efforts, forwards these, and encourage sharing ideas and information for the benefit of the project/program.
• Support monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities and processes by ensuring internal and external (consultants, partners, etc.) the proper collection of data in the region
• Facilitate learning and contribute to knowledge management.
• Implement tasks under the technical and disciplinary supervision of the Component Manager

Job Requirement

Qualifications: Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, Business Development, Engineering, Management, Social Sciences, Technical Education, or other relevant fields.

Professional experience

• At least 10 years of professional experience in a comparable position, coordinating complex projects/programs at regional level
• At least 5 years of experience working in/with the Ethiopian educational sector, implementing institutional capacity-building projects
• Experience as a project manager/coordinator an asset
• Experience in development cooperation and advisory approaches and working for or cooperating with international development cooperation organizations.
• Experience in skills development programs and TVET system in Ethiopia is an asset
• Good network with private sector companies, industries, and Agribusinesses in Oromia; Experience in working with industrial parks is an asset.
• Experience working in/with private businesses and industries in the field of Agri-business or other relevant industrial areas an asset
• Proven professional experience in organizing and steering complex processes that involve a variety of stakeholders and require a high degree of coordination
• Knowledge and ideally experience with Ethiopian government actors in the field of employment creation such as industry bureaus, IPDC, and Regional TVET bureaus, etc.
• Experience in cooperating with or working in Ethiopian government offices, agencies, NGOs, and ideally international organizations.

Other knowledge, additional competences

• Knowledge of employment-oriented education for skills development and formal/informal training;
• Good knowledge of TVET and Cooperative Training, employment promotion, and capacity-building approaches. Added value: Training/teaching experience
• Excellent understanding of the private sector, its representation, and the needs of companies in terms of labour market and skills demand, particularly in the agricultural/agro-industry
• Good interpersonal skills and willingness to cooperate with various stakeholders from the public and the private sector
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work in a team and build team spirit
• Excellent ability to build and maintain good working relations with local actors on different levels and different organizations
• Willingness to improve existing skills and gain new skills as required by the tasks to be performed
• Travel to project locations in Oromia, Amhara, and SNNPR/Sidama will be required.
• Solution-oriented and proactive
• Experience in conflict resolution, coordination, and mediation Version:
• Flexibility and preparedness to perform a changing array of duties according to the needs of the project component
• Very good working knowledge of Information and Communication Technologies (related software, phone, email, internet) and computer applications (MS Office)
• Fluent (written and oral) knowledge of English, Amharic, and Oromifa languages is required; knowledge of additional local languages is an asset.
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.

Place of Work:    Addis Ababa