International Staff, Advisory Focal Point at GIZ Nigeria

Vacancy No. 45

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).

Programme

• GIZ Country offices are the central element of GIZ’s field structure. They ensure consistent overall representation of the company and its successful positioning as a service provider in the international cooperation market. They are headed by a country director. The country directors represent GIZ as a whole in the country or countries they service. The country director is responsible for shaping the GIZ country portfolio and assuring its quality, and in particular ensures that GIZ activities in all business sectors are coherent.
• The country directors generally have management responsibility for the officers responsible for commissions in the public-benefit TC measures in their area.
• The GIZ Offices provide human resources and commercial support services for programmes and projects in their areas. These services must be contracted as set out individually in the respective processes and rules sections. Furthermore, the GIZ Offices perform internal audits of the project administrations in the public-benefit sector, and by agreement for International Services projects and offices too.
• As part of the implementation of activities on the ground, GIZ Nigeria & ECOWAS employs international staff under different modalities: 1) seconded staff (AMA), 2) Development Advisors (Entwicklungshelfer*innen – EH) and 3) Integrated Experters (Integrierte Fachkraft - IF). As part of the support to be offered to these colleagues, GIZ has established the obligation to establish a so-called MAP Desk in all GIZ Country Offices around the world.
• Although the term MAP refers explicitly to the Accompanying Partners of the international staff, the country office of GIZ Nigeria & ECOWAS has decided to expand the scope of the MAP Desk to a functional position that would cover the support and advisory services to all international staff deployed to Nigeria.
• The Support Programme for Accompanying Partners envisioned by GIZ provides reliable information and guidance on issues related to the stay abroad, GIZ benefits and employment opportunities for MAP. It thus contributes to better job placement abroad as well as to GIZ's overarching goals such as gender equality and diversity, work-life balance, flexibility and security.
• Additional to this, GIZ Nigeria & ECOWAS has decided to extend the services, especially the HR-related support, to the employees hired under the modalities of EH and IF to ensure a comprehensive advisory support strategy to colleagues coming to Nigeria.
• A central component of the International Staff Advisory Focal Point, an advisory unit in the human resources department of the Country Office of GIZ Nigeria & ECOWAS, will be the continuous exchange of information with the MAP Focal Points unit in Headquarters, the HR colleagues, and the Travel and Logistics Unit in the Country Office.

Roles & Responsibilities

The Internal Staff Advisory Focal Point will focus on the tasks described below, which include the following categories:

• Accompaniment and support of the MAPs travelling to Nigeria.
• Accompaniment of the EHs travelling and settling in Nigeria.
• Accompaniment of the IFs travelling and settling in Nigeria.
• These activities include, but are not limited to, the overall HR-related support and the visa / residence process.

Tasks:

Accompaniment of the MAPs:

• Supporting MAPs in the visa process for arriving to Nigeria.
• Gathering and preparing relevant information for the MAP and publicising and distributing of MAP support offers internally and externally (e.g., courses offered by AIZ).
• Conceptual development of the MAP support structure (onboarding, individual counselling, training on MAP topics, community management, integration of MAPs into the onboarding process where appropriate - e.g. risk management, what GIZ is doing in the country, etc..
• Capacity building among and cooperation with relevant units in-house, including advising managers on MAP employment opportunities.
• Networking with relevant actors outside GIZ.
• Entry portal for enquiries from (potential) AMA and their partners (internal and external) and their individual counselling.
• Participate in exchange rounds and offers of the MAP Desk team.
• Systematic and as early as possible registration of (new) MAP, creation of distribution list with contact details, active contacting (e.g. welcome email with available information material and service offers for MAP).
• Establish database for MAP expertise and promote it in the portfolio and active support in finding a job in individual cases (e.g. advice on GIZ-internal possibilities such as job sharing), and support in job search outside GIZ (e.g. sending out interesting job advertisements, using contacts in the field, passing on CVs).
• Offer activities for better arrival and getting to know each other, e.g. buddy systems.
• Organise activities for MAP (e.g. on employment and/or private exchange).
• Encourage/ promote/ mediate exchange among MAP, e.g. include new MAPs in privately organised MAP Messenger Groups.

Accompaniment of the Development Advisors:

• (EHs) and Integrated Experts (IFs).
• Supporting EHs and IFs in the visa process for arriving to Nigeria and the arrival process in Nigeria.
• Overall support and accompaniment of EHs in HR, travel, security and logistical topics for EHs.
• Gathering and preparing relevant information for the EHs and IFs and publicising and distributing it among the colleagues (e.g., courses offered by AIZ, regulations regarding holidays, tickets, housing allowance, etc.).

Tracking of information:

• Develop and maintain a system for tracking inward and outward movement of AMA, MAP, EH, IF and provide information on country statistics as required.
• Develop and maintain a system for tracking visa expiry and notify staff within adequate processing time for renewal or exit

Required Qualifications, Competences, and Experience

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in International Relations, Political Science, Business Administration, Economics, Human Resources, or similar.

Professional Experience (field and minimum duration):

• Minimum of 4 years of professional experience.
• Experience in project management, ideally with personnel responsibilities.

Other knowledge, additional competences:

• Own experience of living abroad (expat perspective).
• Knowledge of local conditions, especially with regard to entry, residence and work permits.
• Fluent written and oral knowledge of English.
• Knowledge of German is strongly desirable.
• Proficiency in other languages is an asset.

Key Personal Character:

• Resourceful and innovative mindset.
• Team player with positive disposition.
• Ability to complete tasks with minimal supervision.
• Ability to work as part of a multicultural team.
• Ability to show initiative, good judgment, and resourcefulness.

Salary
According to GIZ salary scale for Band 4.