National Program Officer - NOA

THE POSITION IS OPEN TO ETHIOPIAN NATIONALS ONLY

Grade: NOA  

Vacancy no.: DC/ADDIS ABABA/GS/2022/03

Publication date: 23 February 2022

Application deadline (midnight local time): 22 March 2022

Job ID: 7745 

Department: RO-Africa 

Organization Unit: CO-Addis Ababa 

Location: Addis Ababa   

Contract type: Fixed Term 

The ILO is issuing a call for expression of interest for the above position. This is an assignment of a purely temporary nature, not expected to lead to a career in the ILO. 

The selection process is not subject to the rules and procedures defined in Annex I of the ILO Staff Regulations

The following are eligible to apply:

Internal candidates in accordance with paragraphs 31 and 32 of Annex I of the Staff Regulations. The Office will facilitate the temporary re-assignment of a selected internal candidate to this position.

External candidates. A selected external candidate will be issued with a 4.2 (e) contract.

 Staff members with at least five years of continuous service with the Office are encouraged to apply and will be given special consideration at the screening and evaluation stage.

 The ILO values diversity among its staff. We welcome applications from qualified women and men, including those with disabilities. If you are unable to complete our online application form due to a disability, please send an email to ilojobs@ilo.org.

Applications from qualified candidates from non- or under-represented member States, or from those member States which staffing forecasts indicate will become non- or under-represented in the near future, would be particularly welcome. A list of these countries can be found here: 

Introduction

The ILO is the UN Agency for the world of work and has a mandate to support members states develop employment policies and apply international labour standards.

The PROSPECTS Partnership brings together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR, the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF and the World Bank to help transform the way governments and other stakeholders, including the private sector, respond to forced displacement crises. The aim of the partnership is to unlock socio-economic opportunities for Forcibly Displaced Populations (FDPs) Refugees, and IDPs and that of their hosting communities; supporting the Federal government’s efforts to mitigate the challenges faced by displaced populations. The partnership is financially supported by the Government of the Netherlands.

ILO’s PROSPECTS contribution is on three pillars: 1) Education and training, 2) Employment and 3) Social protection.

1. On Pillar one, ILO focuses on strengthening the capacity of TVET institutions to improve and expand skills development access to young women and men from the host communities, refugee and IDP settlements. In addition, the project also provides opportunities for young people to access and attend vocational training.
2. On pillar two, the ILO focuses on creating employment and livelihood opportunities for hosting communities, IDPS and refugees by working with local institutions, organizations and communities to increase prospects for income generation. ILO supports entrepreneurship, financial education and livelihood programmes in formal and non-formal economic sectors. It works with local contractors and engineers to apply labour-based approaches that not only provides short term employment opportunities but also rehabilitate, construct and restore community assets.
3. On pillar three, ILO works with other UN PROSPECTS partners to deliver social protection safety nets to the poorest and most marginalized groups through programmes such cash transfer.

Intro cont'd

Initiatives

Increasingly, the ILO is called upon to assist countries develop strategies to address challenges in the digital platform economy, an issue area that spans across all of ILO technical areas as well as its regional and countries offices. Refugees, displaced populations and other vulnerable groups are key beneficiaries for the ILO, at the intersection of development and humanitarian actors.

In line with the objectives of the first and second pillars, and in collaboration with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), PROSPECTS recently undertook a review of the digital economy, the interlinkages with the renewable energy sector to support its connectivity infrastructure, skills building and job creation, and in this regard the inclusion of forcibly displaced persons and their host communities. The review provided an overview of the country’s development vision in this context and zooms in on potential areas of engagement by the two agencies in the Somali and Afar regional states.  

PROSPECTS Linkages

Linkages will be made with the global project namely the Promotion, Inclusion and Protection of Refugees in the Gig Economy: Realising rights at work and mitigating digital risk, an initiative under “Opportunity Funding” scheme of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of the larger PROSPECTS Partnership. Under the PROSPECTS umbrella, and joint coordination at the global level, the UNHCR and the ILO will implement a project at the country level in synergy with the ILO Country Office in Ethiopia and in line with PROSPECTS objectives. This project will be jointly coordinated by the STRATEGIES unit in the Employment Policies Department and UNHCR’s Innovation Service and Division of Resilience and Solutions. The immediate outcome of this project is to identify, mitigate, and operationalize risks for refugee and host community workers when engaging in the digital economy, with a specific focus on worker’s rights in digital labour platforms; and allow for policymakers in government and industry be equipped to address challenges through their respective areas of influence. This will be achieved through three main outcome areas:

• Outcome 1: Policy solutions developed to promote employment opportunities, improve rights at work and mitigate risks for digital workers;
• Outcome 2: Enhancing capacity through tool development and technical guidance;
• Outcome 3: New models for safe, secure refugee inclusive digital platform work or digital-enabled livelihoods are tested, documented, and put on a pathway to scale.

Cont'd 

Another initiative under Netherlands “Opportunity Funding” is the global support to “Advancing young people's engagement and meaningful participation” in collaboration with UNICEF and UNHCR. To respond to the need to advance young people’s meaningful participation across all pillars of the PROSPECTS partnership, a joint initiative among UNICEF, UNHCR and ILO will facilitate collective efforts across PROSPECTS partners to empower and meaningfully engage young people in forced displacement contexts, particularly adolescent girls and young women and those who are most marginalized, to influence learning-to-earning programming and decent work issues that matter to them and their communities. This project will make linkages with PROSPECTS work in Ethiopia around ILO support to school-to-work transitions through strengthened employment services, in line with the Ministry of Labour and Skills’ 10-year Development Plan. While approaches/activities will be tailored to agency and country specifics, the ILO portfolio will focus on supporting job intermediation and linking youth to opportunities in the labour market, including by leveraging young groups who serve their communities. A second component focuses on providing technical and financial assistance to young people and organizations led by young people in forced displacement contexts to enable them to develop and lead their own local initiatives though the Youth-to-Youth Fund.

 Within the policy and procedural requirements established by the ILO and the project (PROSPECTS), and guided by the ILO Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP ) 2020 – 2025, the National Programme Officer (NPO) will support the Project Manager (PM) both in Addis and in Geneva in the day-to-day management of the above-mentioned ‘opportunity fund’ project implementation. S/he will support, as required, ILO participation in and meaningful contributions to relevant bodies and forums for the implementation of PROSPECTS objectives along the lines of national/ regional priorities. S/he will provide support to ensure that the objectives stated in the Project document and relevant initiatives are attained within the stated time frame and budget and ensure compliance with the ILO and the project's financial and operating procedures.

Reporting lines:

• Under the overall responsibility of the Director of the ILO Addis Ababa Office, the National Programme Office will report directly to the Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) of the project. S/He will receive technical guidance from the ILO PROSPECTS global team and the OF Project Managers (technical departments) in Geneva. Additional support will be coordinated with PROSPECTS Regional Skills Specialist and the National Programme Officers based in Addis Ababa.

Description of Duties

• Support ILO constituents and other national and international partners in strengthening their capacities on issues relating to the access of refugees and host communities to economic opportunities in digital labour platforms and renewable energy sectors, as well as facilitating their engagement with youth organizations in labour markets and labour market intermediation mechanisms such as employment services centers.
• Support efforts to ensure the meaningful engagement of the ILO in areas of planning, implementation and follow-up to the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), including, as required by the PM, participation in and contribution to relevant committees, forums and networks relating to these initiatives.
• Plan and conduct capacity building activities which can include training and guidance material, training workshops and online training targeting constituents, platform operators and digital workers.
• Support effective implementation of the OF project through: the provision of inputs, the delivery of outputs, and the planning, monitoring and evaluation of activities. Support efforts for the effective management of funds/budgets allocated to the project.
• As required by and in close collaboration with the PM, provide technical advice and support to relevant government ministries, social partners, civil society organizations and other key national and international partners.
• Support efforts to explore and develop new project opportunities as these may arise through consultations and exchanges with national stakeholders and donor organisations and through close collaboration with ILO CO Addis Ababa and technical units as relevant.
• Support the PM in monitoring and evaluation of the project’s activities, in close collaboration with relevant national and international stakeholders, the ILO CO in Addis Ababa, the ILO Decent Work Team (DWT) and technical specialists in HQ, in conformity with ILO policies and project strategies, and in accordance with ILO country and action programmes.
• Identify and document lessons learned and contribute to knowledge management activities within the ILO to expand and enhance learning on supporting the access of refugees and host communities to decent work.
• Undertake additional activities as requested by the PM.

Required qualifications

Education

• First level university degree in economics, management, social science or a related field complemented with demonstrated expertise in international development, migration or forced displacement.

Experience

• A minimum of two years' experience in the management of technical cooperation activities in a mid or senior level position, which includes field experience in leadership role in implementation of projects, preferably in the Africa region.
• Familiarity with ILO policies, technical programmes and procedures, including experience working with officials of ministries of labour and/or education would be an advantage, as would experience of working in crisis settings.

Languages

• Excellent command of English and good knowledge of Amharic. Knowledge of an additional official language would be an asset.

Competencies

• Proven ability to take ownership of all responsibilities, to act with integrity and transparency by maintaining social, ethical and organizational norms, and to meet all commitments within the prescribed time, cost and quality standards;
• Ability to implement strategic goals;
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice;
• Ability to work effectively in a team and excellent interpersonal skills;
• Ability to synthesize research and reach empirically based conclusions on related subjects by understanding both the qualitative and quantitative approaches in social science research;
• Ability to develop and present alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy and procedural matters;
• Ability to promote knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write accurate reports and to build networks to obtain cooperation with partners;
• Should be open to and able to make changes to accommodate culture and gender differences in order to interact effectively with individuals;
• Proven capacity to support the implementation of technical co-operation programs and activities with ILO constituents and NGOs, including negotiation skills with governments, social partners and other national and international partners and to mobilize the support of international donor agencies and provide quality services;
• Ability to maintain effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work tasks or environment, and to adjust effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements, or cultures;
• Excellent computer/information application skills, including word processing, excel, power point etc.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behavior and attitudes.

How to Apply

Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application form. To apply, please visit CLICK HERE The system provides instructions for online application procedures.

Evaluation (which may include one or several written tests and a pre-interview competency-based assessment centre) and the interviews will tentatively take place during the 2 to 4 weeks following the application deadline. Candidates are requested to ensure their availability should they be short listed for further consideration.

Depending on the location and availability of candidates, assessors and interview panel members, the ILO may use communication technologies such as Skype, Video or teleconference, e-mail, etc for the assessment and evaluation of candidates at the different stages of the recruitment process, including assessment centres, technical tests or interviews.

Fraud warning

Note: The ILO does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process whether at the application, interview, processing or training stage. Messages originating from a non ILO e-mail account - @ilo.org - should be disregarded. In addition, the ILO does not require or need to know any information relating to the bank account details of applicants.