Economic Development and Digital Solutions Advisor at the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

The Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (German Agency for International Cooperation) is an international enterprise owned by the German Federal government, operating in many fields across more than 130 countries.

In Nigeria, GIZ's portfolio includes among others, a programme to support the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in its regional integration goals. The programme aims to strengthen sector-specific capacities in the areas of Peace and Security, Customs and Trade as weir as Strategic Management and Organizational Development in the ECOWAS Commission.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Economic Development and Digital Solutions Advisor

VA No: 032
Location: Abuja
Organization: GIZ Nigeria, SEDIN Programme

Background
As a service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education work, we are dedicated to shaping a future worth living around the world. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment promotion, energy and the environment, and peace and security. The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe – from the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector and governments of other countries.

We work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity. Our main commissioning party is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The registered offices of GIZ are in Bonn and Eschborn. In 2019, we generated a business volume of around EUR 3.1 billion. Our 22,199 employees, almost 70 per cent of whom are national staff, work in around 120 countries.

As a recognised development service provider, we currently have 556 development workers in action in partner countries. Furthermore, in 2019, the Centre for International Migration and Development (CIM), which is run jointly by GIZ and the German Federal Employment Agency, placed 262 integrated experts and 515 returning experts with local employers in our partner countries, or provided them with financial support, advice or other services.

Program

• The Pro-poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria (SEDIN) Programme.
• SEDIN is implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-financed by the European Community.
• SEDIN aims at improving the employment and income situation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) through three components: policy support, local economic development and entrepreneurship empowerment. All components work at the national level as well as in the focal states.
• The “Nigeria Competitiveness Project”, NICOP, is an EUfinanced component of SEDIN that focuses on increasing the competitiveness of the selected value chains of tomato / chilli, ginger, leather and garment in Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Ogun, Oyo, Lagos and Abia states. NICOP increases competitiveness through three major pillars of support.
• The technical pillar provides entrepreneurship, innovation and market linkages.
• The policy pillar focuses on improving the business enabling environment and the access to finance pillar aims to provide the appropriate and affordable funding to the different actors in the value chains.

Responsibilities & Tasks
Responsibilities:

• The Economic Development and Digital Solutions expert will be responsible for the support to the implementation and coordination of economic development interventions with special focus on support to the e-commerce value chain.
  In addition, the expert will be responsible for the supervision of the implementation of existing eLearning platforms developed by the programme.
• Coordinate the planning and monitoring of interventions with public and private partners
• Supporting local organisations in developing their organisational and service capacities.
• Organising capacity building measures and managing the implementation of activities through service providers and consultants
• Oversee the advancement of the existing eLearning platform(s) to ensure continuous support and quality standards
• Cooperating with other staff members in SEDIN`s head and field offices and headquarters and sharing of information where needed.

Tasks:
The technical expert performs the following tasks:

• In exchange with the Local Economic Development (LED) and Value Chain (VC) team, the technical expert
• Coordinates LED and VC activities, especially in the area of ecommerce support, in cooperation with SEDIN team members, colleagues in Germany and with identified public and private partners
• Recommends adjustments of these approaches to increase employment and income effects where necessary
• Supports the management of the relationship with both public and private partners and supports communication between stakeholders and to or from SEDIN
• Supports the capacity development of organisations and linking them to services and markets
• Supervises external short- and long-term experts contracted for VC support
• Supports increasing access to business development services
• Fosters the promotion of youth employment in agriculture and other sectors
• Liaises with in-house technical teams, programme partners, third party vendors, and technical experts working to develop ideas and deploy eLearning platform(s)
• Supports increasing the access, uptake, and usage of digital solutions through various public, private and civil society partners as well as end beneficiaries
• Liaises with other technical experts of the programme
• In cooperation with the M&E advisors, monitors and evaluates the results of activities
• In cooperation with the communication and migration advisors,
• contributes to knowledge management and prepares materials for disseminating information
• Participates in team meetings and other project event

Required Qualifications, Competences and Experience
Qualifications:

• MBA or other relevant degree

Professional Experience:

• At least 4 years professional experience in areas relevant for economic development
• At least 4 years professional experience participating in the digital space, preferably in an eLearning project supervisory role
• Experience in working with and building the capacity of local organisations, cooperatives, and advocacy groups
• Experience with digital marketing campaign for eLearning business operations, interactive and digital environments and familiar with Moodle solution framework
• Autonomous management of digital solutions projects that require the collaboration of multiple stakeholders
• Experience in supporting change processes
• Experience in developing business, agricultural development services
• Experience in working with the public sector for promoting local economic development
• Experience in working with the private sector for developing business and market linkages
• Experience in the area of MSME development and e-commerce is an advantage

Other Knowledge, Additional Competences:

• Ability to work independently and with little supervision
• Ability to work in teams and experience with working with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to manage project timelines, processes, and tasks effectively
• Good working knowledge of virtual communication and computer applications (e.g. MS Office, MS Teams)
• Self-motivated, pro-actives approach in identifying and promoting innovative approaches
• Impeccable presentation, verbal, and written communication skills in English
• Willingness to upskill as required by the tasks to be performed – corresponding measures are agreed with management

Salary

• According to GIZ Nigeria Salary scale for Band 4.

Application Closing Date
5th April, 2022.