Livelihoods & Economic Opportunities Specialist

Position Title Livelihoods & Economic Opportunities Specialist

Requisition Number 15-0109

Post Date 6/17/2015

City Flexible

Description

Department Overview

Pact exists to help create a world where those who are poor and marginalized exercise their voice, build their own solutions, and take ownership of their future. The Program Advancement (PA) Team, contributes to realizing this purpose by:

• Feeding, integrating and replicating Pact’s technical expertise across the organization;

• Setting standards for quality programming;

• Representing and marketing Pact’s technical competencies externally;

• Supporting new business development and program design;

• Planning and overseeing the implementation of core competency capacity building investments in Pact’s global program teams;

• Contributing to the organization’s ability to think and act strategically at all times;

• Working collaboratively on cross-cutting technical issues.

Position Purpose:

The location is flexible, and reporting to the Senior Livelihoods Director, the Livelihoods Specialist is responsible for providing support and leadership for Pact’s global Livelihoods & Economic Opportunities portfolio within an integrated development approach. S/he provides key input into existing and proposed Pact projects in Livelihoods & Economic Opportunities related work and supports a global “community of practice” made up of professionals from within and outside Pact to help advance the state of Livelihoods at Pact.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical and strategic support to Pact’s work in Livelihoods & Economic Opportunities including financial inclusion, savings groups, digital finance, market access, economic strengthening for OVC and youth to ensure quality and program standards in line with globally-recognized best practices.

• Facilitate access through partner and stakeholder organizations to a full range of economic strengthening options depending on the needs and resources available to households (i.e. market opportunities, group savings, financial literacy and access, income generation, micro-enterprise development training, farming-as-a-business, employability, etc.),

• Support a dynamic community of practice of staff worldwide that serves to ensure continuous learning across Pact;

• Support department-wide initiatives and strategic vision for department;

• Coordinate efforts to identify and document Pact’s best practices;

• Provide technical assistance to field offices so that they better understand and are better able to meet industry standards and expectations of donors and keep Pact’s promise;

• Ensure proposals submitted and programs led by Pact involving livelihoods/economic development work are technically sound, capitalize upon learning from other parts of Pact and the wider world, are gender-sensitive and promote equitable programming;

• Monitor and maintain relevant manuals, training materials and reports;

• Contribute to work plans, quarterly and annual reports, financial reports, and other reports and papers summarizing project results and evidence;

• Provide ongoing and project start-up technical support to country offices by helping to develop work plans and technical solicitations; share tools and materials from other similar projects within and outside of Pact; orient and train new program staff, and assist field teams to implement initial project activities;

• Play a representational role for Pact in relevant fora and working with field offices to increase their representation in global, regional, and local events;

• Work closely with Senior Livelihoods Director and other PA team members to ensure integration across sectors and core competencies;

• Other tasks as assigned.

Basic Requirements

• BA + 8 years of experience or MA + 5 years of experience in economics, international development or a related field;

• At least 5 years of experience working on livelihoods/economic development related projects in a variety of settings;

• Willingness and proven ability to contribute to livelihoods/economic development related proposals and ongoing business development opportunities;

• Ability to contribute to livelihoods/economic development capacity building, training, and increased technical depth;

• Knowledge of varied savings-group approaches, direct implementation experience in at least one model; ability to lead training and launch endeavors of same;

• Experience in leveraging private sector partnerships and resources for creation of business opportunities, business mentorship and skills training, market access, strategies to strengthen household resilience, etc.

• Experience in effective design, M&E and implementation of livelihoods/economic development programs;

• Understanding of major donor’s policies, procedures, or regulations for program implementation;

• Demonstrated facilitation and program development skills and upholding of Pact’s behavioral competencies;

• Demonstrated ability to create and maintain effective working relations with country teams, stakeholders, NGO partners, and international donor agencies;

• Demonstrated leadership qualities, depth and breadth of technical and management expertise and experience, and strong interpersonal, writing, and oral presentation skills.

• Ability to travel frequently, sometimes at short notice;

• Ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks;

• Proficiency in word processing, spreadsheets and database skills.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Please view Equal Employment Opportunity Posters provided by OFCCP here.

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply for this position, please visit our website at www.pactworld.org