JOB VACANCY
DESIGNATION: EDUCATION SPECIALIST – SKY - (2 POSITIONS)
DUTY STATION: 1 BASED IN MBALE AND 1 BASED IN MBARARA
ORGANISATIONAL DESCRIPTION:
AVSI Foundation is an International NGO which has been operating in Uganda since 1984, implementing various programmes in several districts in the country in the sectors of Health, HIV/AIDS, Disability, Education, Food Security, Agriculture, Livelihoods and Nutrition.
PROGRAMME BACKGROUND:
AVSI is implementing a 5 year project titled “Skilling Youths for Employment in Agribusiness (SKY)”. The Goal of the proposed intervention is to enhance sustainable creation of employment of youths in the agribusiness sector. The programme intends to achieve this through the following four main objectives:
- Strengthen the capacities of the agri-skills providers in a sustainable way to provide marketable and employable skilling
- Provide pre and post-employment support to the skilled youths
- Create strategic linkages of agribusiness for enhanced capacity building through skilling and brokerage
- Facilitate Skilling Uganda Authority to be supportive to agri-skilling in the targeted areas.
Duties and Responsibilities.
Under the direct supervision of the Chief of Party (CoP) and Deputy CoP, the Business Development Specialist (BDS) based in Mbale or Mbarara respectively, will be responsible for implementation of all the objectives in in his/her area of operation (Eastern or Western Uganda) and shall carry out the following duties and responsibilities.
Key Functions:
- Work closely with the agro-institutions and learning firms to design and test work/entrepreneurship related activities and learning objectives that help young people to build their market relevant skills. Outcomes and approaches should draw on the findings of the market assessments and other existing resources related to livelihoods opportunities in the agriculture sector and its value chains;
- Lead the design of a guidelines and suggested work plans to support agro-institutions and learning firms in the implementation of activities that support youth work and entrepreneurship;
- Ensure strong alignment between market assessment results, learning pathways and youth employment throughout the project;
- Work closely with the agro-institutions and agribusinesses to facilitate internships and practical training approaches to enhance youth work readiness and entrepreneurship skilling.
- Support and build the capacity of agro-institutions and learning firms to implement the youth skilling activities both in relation to the learning component and, more specifically, in relation to the employment/entrepreneurship component.
- Provide ongoing technical assistance to the agro-institutions and learning firms and foster opportunities for actors to learn from each other.
- Identify additional technical assistance needs within the agro-institutions and learning firms and coordinate their capacity building.
- In consultation with the BDS, ensure that skilling approaches foster the participation of youth and the private sector as well as relevant actors.
- Create and support opportunities for shared learning between agro-institutions and learning firms activities, outcomes and approaches for this age group
- Assist in interim and final assessments of agro-institutions and learning firms approaches and other project evaluations
- Develop frameworks and support agro-institutions and learning firms to document case studies and success stories related to youth skilling and employment
- Represent and profile the project, its objectives and results, in publications and presentations
- Seek and leverage opportunities for partnership for youth and actors in the agricultural sector and its value chains and share these opportunities with other;
- Coordinate closely with the team from Edukans to ensure that institutional capacity building approaches is at the core of all project components and vision and are synchronized and adds value.
- Provide support in quality control of project activities, including assessing impact and effectiveness, tracking outputs and results, and ensure timely and efficient delivery of project through a client-satisfaction approach;
- Provide a strong leadership for the team in Eastern Uganda;
- Take leadership in managing and maintaining healthy relationships with partners in Eastern Uganda.
- Proactively engage in strategic thinking on how to make the program succeed.
COMPETENCIES
Experience:
- At least 8 years of professional experience in agribusiness, and/or value chain and market access related consultancy, and/or analysis/research of agribusiness and/or regional socio-economic development projects;
- Experience in working with the public sector, private sector and donor organizations on institutional development or similar projects will be an asset;
- Experience in monitoring and evaluation of performance of business units and/or regional/local or community socio-economic development projects is desirable.
- Experience in training, teaching or mentoring role
- Experience in marketing, market research and management
- Resourcefulness, strategic thinking, creative problem solving and basic financial management skills.
Corporate and Functional Competencies:
- Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.
- Shares knowledge and experience;
- Actively works towards continuing personal learning, acts on learning plan and applies newly acquired skills.
- Ability to perform a variety of specialized tasks related to Results Management, including support to design, planning and implementation of program, managing data, reporting;
- Focuses on result for the client and responses positively to feedback.
Education:
- University degree in Agribusiness, Economics, Marketing, Small Business Management or related field and experience with working in an entrepreneurial environment or as owner/manager of a small business
- Proven ability to follow through on objectives and produce timely results with little supervision
- Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
Desirable
- Experience of work in farming zones, social entrepreneurship, small business and/or private sector engagement.
- Experience in innovative product development
- Knowledge or experience in value chain development
- Knowledge of the local context and language is an asset
Application:
A convincing cover letter, accompanied with updated Curriculum Vitae (CV) indicating 3 work related referees, plus copies of relevant certificates, should be addressed to:
The Human Resource Manager, AVSI Foundation, P.O.Box 6785, Kampala, Uganda and sent to hr.kampala@avsi.org, indicating the e-mail subject as ‘Application for Education Specialist – Mbale or Mbarara’, respectively
THE CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATIONS IS 5.00 P.M, 11TH MARCH 2016
Note: Only short listed candidates will be contacted.
AVSI Foundation, Plot 1119, Ggaba Road, P.O. Box 6785 Kampala – Uganda. Tel: +256-414-501604/393-50160. http://uganda.avsi.org/.
Note:
Agasha Group Limited/Agribusiness Platform has been authorised to distribute the Job description. To get the original pdf job document, email: agribusinessplatform@gmail.com.
Note:
Agasha Group Limited/Agribusiness Platform has been authorised to distribute the Job description. To get the original pdf job document, email: agribusinessplatform@gmail.com.
