Regional Employment Intensive Investment Specialist P4 (DC)

Large mixed migration movements continue to top the global political agenda, as reflected in the 2016 UN New York Declaration, and remain at the forefront of concerns, discussions and collaboration across the multilateral system and beyond. These movements create considerable challenges for countries of first asylum, transit and destination, as well as countries of origin, including through impact on socio-economic environments, such as labour markets of host countries, particularly where these may have already been under pressure and there is high unemployment. The majority of refugee populations are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. As displacement has become increasingly protracted, responses are becoming more focused on durable solutions to support more dignified, inclusive and comprehensive programmes for refugees and the communities that host them to facilitate self-reliance and empowerment and strengthen social cohesion. It is paralleled by regional and country-level efforts in several areas, including in the Middle East and North Africa region and in the Horn of Africa. 
In this context, the Government of the Netherlands has launched a new partnership initiative – the PROSPECTS Partnership Programme (hereafter referred to as the “programme”) – built on the combined strengths, experience and values of specific development and humanitarian organizations to develop a new paradigm in responding to forced displacement crises. The partners include: the Government of the Netherlands, the International Finance Corporation, the ILO, the UNHCR, UNICEF and the World Bank. The programme aims to help transform the way governments and other stakeholders, including the private sector, respond to forced displacement crises and in particular: (1) to enhance the enabling environment for the socio-economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons (to mitigate their plight during years of exile and to best prepare them for their return); (2) to enhance access to education and child protection for vulnerable children on the move; and (3) to strengthen the resilience of host communities through inclusive socio-economic development that also benefits forcibly displaced persons. The programme will be grounded on results-based and country-led approaches (“bottom up”) in two identified regions: MENA, including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, and the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan. It aims to accelerate efforts to find sustainable solutions for countries confronted with large influxes of refugees. It will also aim to develop and implement evidence-based solutions, tailored to each context – as well as to test, and learn from, innovative operational solutions, including improving the availability, collection and use of data and evidence.  

The overall ILO’s vision within the programme is to strengthen decent work in countries impacted by forced displacement to mitigate stress factors at all levels and support inclusive socio-economic enablers for access to labour markets and empowerment of host communities and of forcibly displaced populations.

The ILO will bring to the programme significant expertise and experience in supporting enabling environments to underpin inclusive socio-economic growth and decent work, strengthen labour markets and promote access to improved working conditions and fundamental rights at work, including through the involvement of its tripartite national constituents The ILO will stimulate labour market demand and immediate job creation through employment-intensive investment, local economic and business development and promotion of specific value chains and market systems.

The ILO will provide targeted support to labour market institutions, services and compliance and monitoring mechanisms that facilitate the integration of refugees into the labour market. It will also bring expertise on technical and vocational education and training and on the recognition of prior learning for certifying the skills of refugees to better ensure access to the labour market, and methods for assessing labour market demand to provide the right skills to refugees needed by employers.

The ILO’s Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) promotes, develops and implements interventions in the area of job creation through public investment. It supports countries in the design, formulation, implementation and evaluation of policies and programmes aiming to address unemployment and underemployment through public investment, typically in infrastructure development and environmental works. The EIIP approach is proposed to be implemented in the 4 countries in the Horn of Africa under this Partnership.

The Regional EIIP Specialist will be recruited to help the countries put into action the activities identified. More generally, s/he will promote, develop, backstop and evaluate employment intensive investment strategies within the Partnership in the Horn of Africa.

The incumbent will report directly to the Deputy Regional Director of the ILO Regional Office for Africa (ROAF) in Abidjan for operational and administrative issues and will be under the overall guidance of the Global Programme Manager in Geneva for all relevant outputs and overall implementation. S/he will coordinate closely with the EIIP Specialists in the Decent Work Team for Eastern and Southern Africa (ILO Pretoria) and in ILO Mogadishu and will receive technical guidance and advice from the EIIP Branch of the EMPLOYMENT Department at the ILO headquarters in Geneva.

S/he will oversee the work of national officers based in the four countries and other international and local consultants hired during the course of the programme. The incumbent will work closely with other specialists supporting the programme as relevant.

1.    Develop, promote, technically support, monitor and evaluate all EIIP activities linked to the Partnership in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Uganda in close coordination with the Chief Technical Advisors (CTAs) leading country-level implementation, and ensure high quality delivery, knowledge sharing and complementarity of project components between countries. This involves field missions, progress review meetings to assess accomplishments and challenges, and reviewing/defining ways forward.
2.    Develop, design, implement, monitor and evaluate EIIP project components in the four countries and ensure a fit and linkage with other Partnership components/aspects and to broader forced displacement response objectives.
3.    Establish and maintain close working relations with Partnership agencies and key stakeholders of the programme at regional and country level, ensuring that approaches are complementary, synergies are sought and opportunities for joint delivery are leveraged.
4.    Define collaborative and joint initiatives with Partnership partners, and provide specific technical inputs into preparation of agreements between the ILO and these partners. Establish and maintain close working relations with Partnership agencies and key stakeholders of the programme at global, regional and country level, ensuring that approaches are complementary, synergies are sought and opportunities for joint delivery are leveraged.
5.    Develop EIIP promotional materials which target policy makers, programme managers, the general public and the programme beneficiaries.
6.    Provide technical support in each country to all relevant government ministries agencies at local, regional and national levels, including refugee authorities, to build local contracting capacity for EIIIP works, support demonstration works as relevant, support partnerships with national and donor-funded public investment programmes.
7.    Identify training needs and support the development of EIIP-related training materials for all categories of stakeholders. Coordinate and conduct training of public and private sector officials involved in implementing project measures.
8.    Identify in the course of implementation of the programme other entry points and partnerships for creating jobs through public investments in refugee-hosting areas in Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Uganda.
9.    Produce specific strategy and discussion documents on EIIP approaches to assist in the development and promotion of employment intensive infrastructure investment policies, strategies and programmes in the target countries. 
10.    Mobilize resources from within and outside the Partnership to replicate and scale-up EIIP activities in the selected countries. Prepare concept notes and project proposals, in close consultation with the relevant DWT specialists, programme CTAs and external partners if so required.
11.    Support the supervision of the EIIP national technical officers and consultants in the selected countries and provide assistance and technical guidance to ensure quality of work and timely delivery of technical inputs.
12.    Support CTAs and the Global Programme Manager in the preparation of progress reports as required by the donor, ensuring provision of comprehensive and detailed information, extracting lessons-learned and swift implementation of mitigation measures.
13.    Ensure, in collaboration with the Communications Officer in headquarters and programme countries, efficient and effective communication of the programme context and challenges and of the results achieved by the Partnership.
14.    Perform other duties as may be assigned.

• Advanced university degree in Civil Engineering or related field, such as construction or environmental engineering.

• At least eight years’ relevant professional experience at national level or at least five at the international level.
• 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.

• Excellent knowledge and command of English. Good working knowledge of an additional official would be an advantage.

• Proven ability to take ownership of all responsibilities, to act with integrity and transparency by maintaining social, ethical and organisational norms, and to meet all commitments within the prescribed time, cost and quality standards.
• Ability to develop clear strategic goals consistent with the Partnership’s objectives, and to design and synthesise strategies for EIIP programme development.
• Ability to advocate and provide policy advice.
• Excellent leadership skills, ability to work effectively in a team and excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to develop training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy, procedural matters and present them at high-level meetings.
• Ability to promote a knowledge-sharing and learning culture, and to focus and guide others to meet objectives at individual and group level.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write accurate reports and to build networks to obtain cooperation with partners.
• Excellent computer/information application skills, including word processing, excel, powerpoint, etc.
• 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.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.
• Strong results orientation.
• Effective problem-solver.