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| Market Linkage Officer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Afghanistan | Province | Herat, |
| Categories | Program, | Type | Full Time |
| Post Date | 2022-04-12 | Close Date | 2022-04-17 |
| Vacancy No | MCA035-2022 | Gender | Female |
| No Of Jobs | 1 | Contract Duration | 7 Months with possibility of extension |
| Education | Requires a university degree, preferably in business administration, education and economy | Experience | 2-3 years of experience overall, and between 1-2 years of relevant experience in a similar role |
| Organization | Opportunities for you | Salary | As per MCA Salary Scale |
About Company
About Mercy Corps Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future. Country Summary Mercy Corps works in places of transition, where conflict, disaster, political upheaval, or economic collapse present opportunities to build a more secure, productive, and just communities. Providing emergency relief in times of crisis, we move quickly to help communities recover and build resilience to future shocks, and promote sustainable change by supporting community-led and market-driven initiatives. Recognizing both the great potential and the complex challenges faced by Afghanistan, since 1986 Mercy Corps has been implementing a range of humanitarian assistance and development programs tailored to the specific needs of the country and of those communities where we work. Mercy Corps has been working in Afghanistan continuously since 1986 with a large portfolio of programs addressing the promotion of sustainable licit livelihoods, agriculture development, youth vocational training, Renewable Energy and natural resource management; it has helped more than 2.5 million Afghans through these wide-range of community–based agriculture and economic development programs. Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today. Equal Employment Opportunity Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, colour, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work. Safeguarding & Ethics Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct eLearning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
Job Description
Program/Department Summary
The Nova-INVEST (Introducing New Vocational Educational Skills’ Training) program is a vocational training and employment program to be implemented in the province of Kandahar and Herat in its fourth phase. INVEST is Mercy Corps’ flagship Technical Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) program running since 2011, focusing primarily on delivering technical vocational skills training for six months to vulnerable Afghans (IDPs, returnees and host community members from 15-40 years old, including youth and women) to increase their self or wage employment after training. The Nova-INVEST program will provide vocational training and an apprenticeship program to 4,000 participants in 2 provinces across 3 years, while working in close coordination with relevant government stakeholders, including the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MoLSA), Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MoRR), Ministry of Women’s Affair (MoWA), Ministry of Education (MoE), Governor’s Office, Community Development Councils (CDCs), District Development Councils (DDCs), Provincial Development Councils (PDCs), District Development Assemblies (DDAs), Shuras, community elders; partner INGOs/NGOs, private sector actors such as Chambers of Commerce and business/producer associations.
General Position Summary
The Market Linkage Officer is responsible for the day to day operation and management of the Employment Service Center (ESC) established in the vocational training center (VTC) as well as the smooth implementation of daily market linkage activities of the VTC’s program participants with external stakeholders under the guidance and supervision of the Senior Market Linkage Officer. The Employment Service Center is the information and communication hub between job seekers and potential employers. The position holder will be responsible for: follow-up on enrolled participants and or graduates, track progress, drop-outs (reasons for dropping out); keep updated employment data on graduates and job opportunities in the community; guidance and support to enrolled participants/graduates; specific tasks related to job placements, apprenticeships or internships of program participants after the completion (or near completion) of the 6-month vocational training (TVET) program or apprenticeship program); liaison between our program participants and the external stakeholders (community, private and public sector); active support to his/her supervisor on the multiple market linkage activities of the program (i.e., identification of producer/business associations and linking our graduates to them; organisation and realisation of job fairs, product exhibitions through bazaars, women’s markets or women’s gardens; awareness raising campaigns); any other market linkage activity determined necessary during the implementation of the program.
The position holder will be based inside the ESC in one of the vocational training centers, report directly to the Senior Market Linkage Officer and assist him/her on all required market linkage activities, which may include some field activities; however, these would not equal more than 40% of his/her time since the position holder must be ready to provide services to program participants through the Employment Service Center. When required, the Market Linkage Officer may work closely with the Program Coordinator, ensuring the Employment Service Centers are operating smoothly. He/she will work closely with other relevant departments in Mercy Corps’ provincial office, such as MEL, Finance, HR, Operations, Procurement, Security to ensure proper program implementation according to policies and procedures. He/she will liaise with program participants, the community and private/government stakeholders accordingly as required.
Essential Job Responsibilities
General
- Overall daily operation and management of the Employment Service Center, including, but not limited to: follow-up on enrolled participants and or graduates, track progress, drop-outs (reasons for dropping out), keep updated employment data on graduates, guidance and support to enrolled participants/graduates on business development strategies, marketing (how to reach customers), financial literacy (cost, losses, profit), short capacity building sessions, and other to be determined and guided by the Senior Market Linkage Officer.
- Daily management of market linkage activities of the program participants in the training center (job placements, apprenticeships or internships after completion (or near completion) of the 6-month vocational training (TVET) program or apprenticeship program); liaison between our program participants and the external stakeholders (community, private and public sector).
- Develop and maintain an updated Excel Data Base (soft copy) of all enrolled program participants, drop outs and successful graduates disaggregated per age, gender, residency status (returnee, IDP, host community), skill, location, type of program (vocational training or apprenticeship), start date, end date, contact information, plus all other required fields determined by the program.
- Develop and maintain a Directory (hard copy/book/binder) of all enrolled program participants, drop outs and successful graduates disaggregated per age, gender, residency status (returnee, IDP, host community), skill, location, type of program (vocational training or apprenticeship), start date, end date, contact information, plus all other required fields determined by the program for community, private and public sector stakeholders to consult, copy information of required skilled laborer/technician to then call or contact for a service to be provided in their home, office, government building or to place an order.
- Develop and maintain a Community Announcement Board outside the vocational training center which will show: the total number of labored skilled technicians (including gender) available in the community and location and the types of skill (enrolled participants and graduated participants). No personal information or contact information of program participants will be placed in the Community Announcement Board.
- Develop and maintain a Job Announcement Board inside the vocational training center outside the ESC showing: the job opportunities from the private sector (businesses and industries) and public sector for program participants to consult. Develop and distribute flyers outside the ESC with job opportunities.
- Develop and maintain a Product Exhibition Area inside the ESC where program graduates will have a space to showcase the products they have produced (samples, physical or photograph with contact details for potential buyers to contact them). The Market Linkage Officer may sell the products with authorization from the program participant and with the price set by the producer.
- Maintain and update national TVET (AVI) platform with all pertinent information of graduates based on the requirements from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) and/or TVETA.
- Active support to his/her supervisor in: design of the program’s market linkage strategy; identification of the particularities of the labour market of his/her province; identification of the micro, small and medium businesses in the community offering or willing to offer apprenticeship opportunities for the NOVA-INVEST participants and relationship management between the businesses and Mercy Corps for the apprenticeship opportunities; monitoring the apprenticeship program; post-graduation/apprenticeship support activities after participants complete their 6-month vocational training program or apprenticeship program; identification of producer/business associations and/or creation of producer/business associations; organisation and realisation of job fairs, product exhibitions through bazaars, women’s markets or women’s gardens; organisation and realisation of awareness raising campaigns in the communities of the importance of the TVET sector.
- Any other market linkage activity determined necessary by the Senior Market Linkage Officer, Program Coordinator or Senior Program Manager during the implementation of the program (i.e., use of social media, radio, TV, other).
- Review and verify transactions based on a refined understanding of a subject(s) applied to a specialised area of work or in supporting a unit.
- Acknowledge/clarify instructions related to manual tasks designed by the supervisor.
- Communicate needs to effectively carry out manual tasks.
- Sequence and prioritise deliverables ensuring established delivery timeframes.
- Representation of the program within communities and government and private stakeholders.
- Build/ maintain community rapport and acceptance of Mercy Corps and the program.
Job Requirement
Hard Skills
- Requires a university degree, preferably in business administration, education, economy, international development, social sciences, or a discipline with a strong socio-economic development background.
- Required: Professional certification, licence or technical coursework and/or university degree (or currently enrolled in the university), preferably in marketing, business administration, psychology, economy, finance, international development, social sciences, education, or a discipline with a strong socio-economic development background.
- 2-3 years of experience overall, and between 1-2 years of relevant experience in a similar role in the education/TVET sector or in the formal education sector. a plus if it has been in market linkage activities particular to graduates of the non-formal education/TVET sector or in the formal education sector.
- Ability to learn quickly and adhere to MC policies/procedures is crucial.
- Responsible for analysing data and summarising information with recommendations to the supervisor. This may involve programmatic strategies and/or administrative policies.
- Follows routine guidance from supervisor on donor guidelines.
- Assists supervisor and/or seniors in program or support operations.
- Responsible for coordinating multiple support functions from the ESC, such as translation, reception of documents.
- May provide direct services to program participants in a "skills or activity transfer" capacity.
- Strong organisational, data collection, report writing, written data collection and summary, analysis, on-the-ground-thinking and strategic decision making skills required. Ability to work independently.
- May conduct professional representation of the agency as assigned, guided and approved by management, with public officials, private sector and other I/NGOs
- Requires good judgment and strong adherence to MC policies.
- Advanced knowledge of spoken and written English.
- Advanced computer skills in basic office programs (Word, Excel, Power Point).
Soft Skills
- Takes initiative; is proactive and highly organized.
- Possesses strong leadership, communication (verbal and written), time management, problem solving, decision making, critical thinking and interpersonal skills (team player).
- Requires minimal supervision.
- Teachable spirit. High work ethic, high attention to detail.
- Good sense of urgency to accomplish tasks and responsibilities.
- Ability to work under pressure, multi-task and deliver high quality results with a positive attitude.
- Leads by example and motivates his/her team to achieve the program’s objectives and goals.
- Promotes a healthy and professional environment within the team.
- High commitment to the program and Mercy Corps’ values and policies, high passion for humanitarian and development work.
- Conducting him/herself in a professional, ethical and respectful manner at all times, bringing credit to Mercy Corps and not jeopardizing its humanitarian mission inside or outside the workplace.
Submission Guideline
While sending your CV & Cover letter, please mention the vacancy number and position in the subject line, application received after the closing date and without subject line will not be given consideration. .
Only short listed candidates whose application responds to the above criteria will be contacted for interview.