International Expert at The United Nations Industrial Development Organization - UNIDO

The Position

• This position is located under the Competitiveness, Quality and Compliance Unit (TCS/SME/CQC) which builds national and regional production and quality infrastructure systems, with an emphasis on providing internationally recognized services, facilitating SME participation in regional and global value chains; strengthening institutional quality infrastructure capacities (i.e. standardization, metrology, and accreditation); building conformity assessment capacities (testing, inspection, certification, calibration, etc.); and supporting trade facilitation and quality awareness with the public sector, economic operators and consumers, placing a special emphasis on capacitating SMEs.

Project Context

• To facilitate industrialization in the region, the ECOWAS regional industrial strategy has identified strategic interventions to be implemented.
• To that end, the proposed actions intend to cover interventions pertaining to the development of sustainable value chains, MSMEs and facilitating a platform for dialogue on industrialization between public and private sector, including enhancing the capacity of Member States to develop and implement industrial development policies along value chains.
• The programme is putting an emphasis on value chains in line with priorities at regional and national levels, which have high potentials of industrialization and job creation such i.e., Cassava & derivatives, Mango, textile & garments, Information and Communication Technology (Cross cutting).
• The programme aims to support the selected value chains at national and regional levels to promote transformation, better access to regional and international markets, taking into account social and environmental issues.
• The support will also cover the implementation and operationalization of the regional policy framework for the development of the selected value chains.
• The overall objective is to strengthen the competitiveness of West Africa, enhance the countries’ integration into the regional and international trade system.

Specific Objectives

• Improve the performance, growth and contribution to industry, regional trade and exports of selected value chains and
• Improve the climate for business at national and regional levels.
• In the framework of the implementation of the WACOMP, UNIDO’s activities will specifically contribute to Output 1.4 “Regional quality infrastructure system is strengthened, with a view to promote environmental issues” under specific objective 1, and Output 2.2 “Regional policy and framework to improve industrial competitiveness harmonized, formulated and monitored” under specific objective

Roles and Responsibilities

• The roles and responsibilities of the international expert will contribute to the achievement of outcome 1.4 through the following activities:
  • 1.4.1: Consolidate ongoing support and improve regional quality infrastructure to develop and implement standards and regulations, particularly for targeted value chains.
  • 1.4.3: Promotion of quality and ECOWAS Certification Mark.
  • 1.4.4: Coordinating Quality Infrastructure of Member states as well as encourage networking of national quality units.
• The Senior Expert in Quality Promotion and Quality Infrastructure is responsible for:
  • Implementation of Quality Promotion activities related to the four regional value chains,
  • Support to the secretariats of the ECOWAS Community Committees for Standardization (ECOSHAM) and Technical Regulation (ECOREG)
  • Support the ECOWAS Quality Infrastructure governance meetings,
  • Any other ad hoc tasks required by the head.
• In this context, the expert will work under the overall supervision of the Project Manager in Vienna and the direct supervision of the Chief Technical Adviser of the Project in Abuja. To this end, the expert will carry out the main tasks indicated in the following list:

Main Duties
Implementation of Quality Promotion activities related to the four regional value chains (Activity 1.4.1, 1.4.3 & 1.4.4):

• Ensure the awareness and the training of the main actors (except those of the QI institutions) of the 4 RVC:
  • Ensure the recruitment of trainers;
  • Follow-up the preparation of training materials
  • Ensure selection of participants (main actors)
  • Provide logistical support to the organization of workshops and trainings.
  • Ensure the evaluation of the missions of the trainers.
• Follow-up the updating of the ECOWAS quality and industry database (ECOQUIB) (1.4.4) in collaboration with the national focal points (include those from the 4 RVC).
• Support the launch of the ECOWAS quality and industry database (ECOQUIB) (1.4.4)
• Provide technical support to the Communication expert for the promotion of ECOQUIB
• Ensure the finalization of the development and the handover of the Mauritania Quality and Industry database (MAUQUIB)
• Support the ECOWAS Commission Department in charge of Industry and Private Sector in the organization of the Quality Awards ceremony related to 2019 edition.
• Support the improvement of the QMS of selected enterprises through digital solutions.

Support to the secretariats of the ECOWAS Community Committees for Standardization (ECOSHAM) and Technical Regulation (ECOREG) (Activity 1.4.4):

• Support the preparation of the working documents of the meetings of ECOSHAM and ECOREG and their sub-committees;
• Support the preparation of the reports and final documents of the meetings;
• Support the follow-up of the recommendations from the meetings;
• Ensure the backup of the relevant documents related to the two committees (ECOSHAM and ECOREG);
• Support ECOWAS Commission in the organization of meetings for the official adoption of standards, technical regulations or any other documents.
• Provide technical and logistic support to facilitate the work of the THC and working groups as well the national institutions concerned.
• Follow up the mission of the regional experts in standardization and technical regulations recruited to develop draft standards and technical regulations.
• Support the improvement of the standardization and the technical regulation processes through digital solutions.

Support the ECOWAS Quality Infrastructure governance meetings (Activity 1.4.4):

• Support the organization of the meetings of the Community Council for Quality (CCQ) and the ECOWAS Agency for Quality (ECOWAQ):
• Prepare the working documents,
• Provide support for the preparation of the reports,
• Ensure the dissemination of the reports of the meetings and follow up the implementation of the recommendations

Support the development of a guideline relating to the "Quality approach” to be used in the framework of the competitiveness of value chains (activity 2.2.B.2):

• Ensure the recruitment of a regional expert and follow-up his mission
• Ensure the validation of the guideline proposed by the project team.

Any other ad hoc task related to the implementation and monitoring of the overall work plan of the programme and as specified by the CTA & the Programme Manager.

Submit a final mission report.

Minimum Organizational Requirements
Education:

• Advanced University Degree in Management, Engineering or any related field with good knowledge of quality in general, is required.

Technical and Functional Experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years practical experience in the field of quality, including experience in promoting quality at the regional level, is required;
• Experience in the agricultural products value chains is required;
• Good skills in IT domain (Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint, etc.) is required

Following experience would be an asset:

• Have knowledge of the quality issues at the regional level and the different actors of the National Quality Infrastructure in the Member States;
• Have practical experience in the following standards: ISO 9001, global gap, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, and good agricultural practices;
• Have experience in organizing national and regional quality awards;
• Multicultural project team experience in the region or internationally;
• Experience in conducting regional projects;

Languages:

• Fluency in written and spoken one of the three (3) official languages of ECOWAS (English, French, Portuguese) is required.
• Fluency and/or working knowledge of another official ECOWAS language, desirable.

Required Competencies:
Core Values:

• We Live And Act With Integrity: work honestly, openly and impartially.
• We Show Professionalism: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.
• We Respect Diversity: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Key Competencies:

• We Focus On People: cooperate to fully reach our potential –and this is true for our colleagues as well as our clients. Emotional intelligence and receptiveness are vital parts of our UNIDO identity.
• We Focus On Results And Responsibilities: focus on planning, organizing and managing our work effectively and efficiently. We are responsible and accountable for achieving our results and meeting our performance standards. This accountability does not end with our colleagues and supervisors, but we also owe it to those we serve and who have trusted us to contribute to a better, safer and healthier world.
• We Communicate And Earn Trust: communicate effectively with one another and build an environment of trust where we can all excel in our work.
• We Think Outside The Box And Innovate: To stay relevant, we continuously improve, support innovation, share our knowledge and skills, and learn from one another.