PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
Mercy Corps is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization operating in the sectors of Sustainable Rural and Urban Development, Health and Nutrition, Emergency Response, Water and Sanitation, Economic and Market Development. Mercy Corps currently has programs in the regions of Somali, Oromiya, SNNPR, Dire Dawa and Addis Ababa and works through the principles of Accountability, Participation and Peaceful Change. Mercy Corps employs a community-led, market-driven approach as it works with partners at the community, government, private, and research institution levels.
Mercy Corps Ethiopia invites motivated and qualified candidates to apply for the following vacant position.
Position Title: Employment and Market Systems advisor
Duty Station: Addis Ababa
Open Position: 1
Mercy Corps is one of three partners in a five-year program led by SNV Netherlands Development Organization and funded by the Swedish International Development Organization (SIDA). Entitled Livelihoods Improvement for Women and Youth in Addis Ababa (LI-WAY), the program utilizes a making Markets work for the Poor (M4P) approach to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and social stability in Addis Ababa. LI-WAY will work to mobilize, catalyze and enable market-based solutions to create jobs and increase income for women and youth. Mercy Corps will lead financial and market systems development, including the management of a challenge fund.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Employment and Market Information advisor will lead the Employment/labor market systems and market information component of the program, ensuring that interventions designed are based on labor market system analysis and contributing to the overall objective of project. She/he will also be responsible to facilitate research to be undertaken under the labor market and interrelated sectors, engage of stakeholder analysis and identification, and monitor, follow up, share findings and compile timely reports to be shared internally, consortium members and stakeholders. He/she will also ensure that consortium members are in harmony with the overall approach and direction of employment/labor market systems and market information.
The Employment and Market Information advisor will also be a member of the MC Economic and Markets Development (EMD) Team, which uses market systems development to stimulate economic growth to create wealth and jobs for the poorest while maximizing investment from the private and public sectors. As a member of the EMD team, the Employment and market information Advisor will contribute analytical thinking and innovative approaches and will support integration and harmony of approaches across all Mercy Corps Ethiopia market-driven programming. The EMD team is also expected to contribute up to 20% of its collective time towards new program development.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:
The Employment and Market Information Advisor is responsible for management and implementation of MC’s thematic areas of employment and labor market systems development and ensure harmonization with 1)MC’s broader leadership in Li-WAY; 2) other partners within the overall approach and direction of the LI-WAY program; and 3) strategy of Mercy Corps Ethiopia.
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Key job functions include the following:
· Develop, implement, monitor progress of work plans within the selected market systems that can be adaptively managed
· Support learning initiative of the program within the employment and market information for policy change
· Ensure employment and market information sector captures and responds to up-to-date information about market developments within respective market systems and global best practices for Economic & Markets Development.
· Develops key monitoring and measuring indicators, milestones and plans; monitor and reporting all output, outcome and impact indicators for selected market system(s) specifically related to employment & market information market systems,
Functions Specific to Inception Phase
· Conduct analysis of market system functions in Addis Ababa across the selected feasible sectors; assess specific underlying root causes for women and youth to inclusiveness, productivity and efficiency
· Coordinate and closely collaborate with consortium members to conduct assessment across selected sectors/market systems and of employment related and market information in Addis Ababa, including understanding constraints related to unemployment, technology to enhance employment and related functions
· Work with the Financial Services Advisor, Innovation Fund Advisor and other team members of Mercy Corps and the consortium partners to identify areas in which the different areas are integrated and have the most potential for growth
· Propose strategies for improving market system performance, including making business strategies more inclusive and beneficial to enterprise productivity
· Support development of learning platform related to Employment and Market information, to be utilized throughout life of program
· Compile and document list of potential stakeholders, partners and respective roles of institutions who are service providers across recommended intervention areas
Functions Specific to Implementation Phase
· Manage implementation of strategies to facilitate access to employment and market information opportunities amongst women and youth in Addis Ababa. Facilitate activities to connect women and youth to start and/or continue employment/entrepreneurship opportunities by facilitating linkage with employers through system actors.
· Strengthens private sector development in the employment and market information sector by bringing new ideas and initiatives to Mercy Corps in general and overall project;
· Manage implementation of strategies to strengthen and create linkage between technology providers and employer’s that can expand outreach of employment information to create better access and sharing mechanism
· Manage relationship with partners to track performance, ensure activities are in line to address systemic problem, identify potential areas for scale up
· Continuously ensure integration of activities of employment and labor market with other intervention areas for Li-WAY and over all of Mercy Corps’ leadership.
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
· Deep understanding of Making markets work for the poor and Economic & Markets Development facilitation including coaching, relationship building, communicating, entrepreneurialism/business understanding and innovating.
· Familiar with all aspects of the relevant market systems including key actors like producers, traders, employers, technology platform providers, employment agencies, information service providers, inputs suppliers, transporters, financial service providers, intermediary and terminal markets); governance frameworks (formal and informal); and all support markets and functions;
· Bachelor’s degree in economics, Communication, development studies, business administration, agribusiness, or other related field, or commensurate private sector or field experience is required
· Minimum of 3 years’ experience in International/Local NGO, private sector or working with other agencies in market systems facilitation, labor market/employment, market information, agribusiness or financial services
SUCCESS FACTORS:
· Fluent in English and Amharic
· Business minded, entrepreneurial, adaptive, curious, great problem solving skills, unafraid to ask questions, and results motivated.
· Excellent communication, facilitation and networking skills with a wide range of private, partner and NGO-sector actors
· Computer literate especially in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)