Junior Technical Advisor (Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship) 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: Junior Technical Advisor (Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship)

Job ID: 025
Location: Lagos
Organization: GIZ Nigeria, Digital Transformation Center Programme (DTC)

Background
GIZ. Solutions that work:

• 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. Our approximately 23,500 employees, almost 70 percent of whom are national personnel, work in a round 120 countries (July 2020)
• GIZ has worked in Nigeria since 1974. From 2004, GIZ has maintained a country office in the capital city Abuja. Currently 361 national and 66 international employees, 19 regional staff, 4 integrated specialists and 3 development workers are working in the country (June 2020).

The Project
Digital Transformation Center (DTC) Programme:

• The Digital Transformation Centre Nigeria (DTC Nigeria) is co-funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the European Union (EU) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The project focuses primarily on digitalisation and entrepreneurship. The aim of the project ‘is to improve the capacities of the innovation ecosystem for the growth of the digital economy in the following areas - policy implementation, performance improvement of organisations and networks service providers of the digital economy, scalable digital solutions, and digital skills

The project will focus on the following outputs:

• Output 1 - Cooperation between political actors and actors in national and international innovation ecosystems is improved: By promoting innovation-friendly framework conditions for the digital economy by improving cooperation between policy actors and actors in the innovation ecosystem from the private sector, science, and research as well as civil society.
• Output 2 - Innovation support organisations are developed and supported to offer a range of services to MSMEs to implement digital innovations leading to digital transformation of MSMEs.
• Output 3 - Validated digital solutions are available to the Nigerian economy: Promoting the production and validation of new and existing innovative digital solutions for use by MSMEs in Nigeria.
• Output 4 - The skills of women and young people to use digital solutions for their economic activities are improved through the harmonization of digital and entrepreneurial skills.

Responsibilities

• The Junior Technical Advisor for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship will work in close cooperation and with the guidance of the Technical Advisor Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship to support the digital transformation of non-Tech MSMEs and cooperate with the Project Team on other related activities.

Tasks
The Junior Technical Advisor performs the following tasks:

• Set-up of a national matchmaking platform aggregating available digital solutions for MSMEs (including gender-responsive solutions for Clean-tech, Agriculture and Circular Economy) and tools for the implementation of digital solutions:
  • Support in the selection and acceleration of digital solutions
  • Assist in the facilitation of strategic partnerships for the further development of digital solutions
  • Support the development of matchmaking platform to facilitate transactional relationship between MSMEs and digital solutions.
• Develop a digital service provider market/pool supporting the implementation and adoption of digital solutions in MSMEs:
  • Support the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria to set-up Digitalisation Service Points to increase access of MSMEs to innovation support organisations and service providers.
  • Assist in the establishment of a network of digital transformation service providers that support the digital transformation of MSMEs.
  • Support the development of go.digital vouchers to subsidise expert services and adoption of digital solutions by MSMEs.
• Promote the long-term successful adoption of digital business solutions by MSMEs for growth:
  • Implement measures to increase awareness of digitalisation and digital solutions for MSMEs in Nigeria.
  • Support with the implementation of capacity building measures to enable MSMEs to acquire and use digital solutions.
  • Support the implementation of “After care” measures for MSMEs adopting digital solutions.
  • Monitor the impact of the measures on the growth of MSMEs and Startups.
• Identify and process success stories of digital transformation of MSMEs and implement awareness-raising activities to generate interest in MSMEs, in collaboration with the Communication Advisor and other Team Members:
  • Develop concepts to capitalise and disseminate project intervention successes.
  • Capitalise success stories using diverse media.
  • Facilitate the effective dissemination of the success stories using appropriate channels.
• Knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation, in collaboration with project Team:
  • Manage knowledge transfer and sharing within the project, and with other project/programmes working on similar topics.
  • Develop and contribute to the development of ready-to-use strategies and technical concepts, and capitalisation documents.
  • Monitoring and evaluation of implemented measures in line with metrics of performance and project indicators.
• Support in project workplan development and implementation
• Provide technical input and implement project/programme activities in the field:
  • Provide technical advisory services to beneficiaries and project partners.
  • Develop technical documents e.g., concept notes and Terms of References in his/her domain
  • Oversee consultant objectives and ensure that deliverables are submitted in accordance with contract timelines and requirements included in the Terms of References (ToR)
  • Contribute to technical documents’ creation and use by other team members and in other project domains
  • Work with administration and finance team to ensure the smooth implementation of project activities pertaining to the defined area of responsibility
  • Is responsible for quality assurance of project activities within assigned areas with respect to of GIZ quality standards.
• Executing other tasks as required by the Project Lead

Required Qualifications, Competences and Experience
Qualifications:

• University Degree (B.Sc./BA & M.Sc./ MBA) in Political Science, Public Policy, Public Relations, Social Sciences, Digital Transformation Regulation, Digital Innovation, Economics, Business Informatics or a similar subject.

Professional Experience:

• One to three years of general work experience
• One-year professional experience in the field of digital innovation/technologies, support of tech start-ups and MSMEs, and entrepreneurship, business management, and content development.
• Working experience with digital business service provider is desirable
• Knowledge of innovation and digital transformation in Nigeria.
• Knowledge of organizational development and networking

Desired Additional Qualifications, Competencies, and Experiences:

• Very good technical understanding of digital technologies
• Excellent organizational and coordination skills
• Ability to work independently and in teams, structure tasks, familiarize with new topics quickly and comprehensively
• High social competence and ability to work in an international team
• Open minded and ability to engage partners and stakeholders
• Business fluency in English is vital. Knowledge of local languages would be an advantage.
• Previous experience in working with Government entities and/or international development organisations is an advantage.

Salary
According to GIZ salary scale for Band 3.

Application Closing Date
17th March, 2023.