Technical Advisor – Policy Strategy and Dialogue at GIZ Nigeria

The project:

Skills Development for Youth Employment (SKYE) 

• The programme Skills Development for Youth Employment (SKYE II) is commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. SKYE II contributes to Nigeria’s implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by supporting employment and job creation that will end poverty (SDG 1), improving the quality of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system (SDG 4), ensuring gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in all its interventions (SDG 5), promoting decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), and reducing inequality (SDG 10). SKYE II started on January 01, 2024, and will run until December 30, 2026.

SKYE II will focus on five priority areas, including:

• Supporting the establishment of institutionalised dialogue between public and private sector at federal and state levels. Within the dialogue processes, policy recommendations for TVET and employment promotion are being developed.
• Support for capacity building in intermediary organisations, both within the government agencies and the private sector.
• Support for developing and improving national TVET standards in agriculture, construction, and manufacturing.
• Promoting the design and implementation of innovative pilot models in the field of formal and non-formal technical and vocational education and training.
• Support for employment promotion structures at federal and state levels by establishing proactive labour market measures. 

Responsibilities & tasks:

Responsibilities

The Technical Advisor is responsible for:

• Driving the policy and strategy development activities as well as dialogue coordination of the SKYE Programme in collaboration with the TAs in the different intervention states. 
• Joint development, designing, planning, and implementation of Output 1, of the SKYE II programme, both independently and in collaboration with other SKYE II colleagues in the states and under the supervision of the relevant team leader, and the performance of related underlying processes.
• Coordinating within the team and with TAs in the states of intervention, with the SEDEC cluster, and with government and donor partners to achieve the projects targets aims and objectives.
• Initiating, establishing and strengthening contact with policy stakeholders in TVET/Employment Promotion in all states of intervention as well as with donor organisations. 

Specifically, the Technical Advisor performs the following tasks: 

Tasks

• Writes official documents (Concept Notes, Terms of Reference, Contract Requests, Strategy Documents, Policy Document and other reports for internal and external activities). 
• Develops concepts and proposals for additional interventions that support policy and strategy development as well as dialogue platforms.  
• Prepares presentations, reports and technical-conceptual inputs as required by the Head of Component. 
• Drives the management processes for consultants contracted (e.g. organize consultant visits, monitor progress, check on deliverables, coordinate with partners).
• Organises project activities in coordination with the other TAs in other components and states.
• Coordinates and networks with other GIZ programmes, project partners and with other relevant stakeholders.
• Facilitates and moderates both internal and external workshops and events.
• Travels within the region and internationally as required and supports the coordination and monitoring of project activities in Abuja and other intervention states.
• Organises meetings with relevant stakeholders and all meetingrelated aspects including taking minutes of meetings. 
• Designs workplan to facilitate the implementation of activities and follows up with partners in the planning, implementation, and closure of activities.
• Undertakes other tasks as may be required.  

Knowledge management

• Ensures knowledge transfer of relevant information to the unit, programme and SEDEC. 
• Documents and adequately labels all relevant files for future use on the relevant servers
• Prepares appropriate input for various unit/ programme reports including annual reports, presentations and contributes to the other reports required by the programme
• Assesses and analysis existing interventions in the country to support strategic decision-making and advisory services for partners.  
• Assists in providing relevant data and other input into the Projects’ Monitoring and Evaluation systems.

General management

• Assists in preparing, conducting, and documenting internal meetings.
• Assists in preparing, conducting, and documenting meetings with partners.
• Assists in keeping track of processes and actions required. 
• May be assigned other tasks as require

Required qualifications, Competences and Experience

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Education, Economics, Social, Political & Management Sciences, or in a similar area. Masters is an advantage. 

      Professional experience

• Work experience in one of the fields mentioned in the following is an asset: education, vocational training, employment promotion, policy and strategy development, gender. 
• Work experience with GIZ processes is an asset. 
• International exposure and/ or work experience in an international organisation is an asset.

Other knowledge and competencies:

• Work experience in the context of donor-funded technical assistance projects or programmes in Nigeria or the region.
• Proven ability to engage in multiple stakeholder processes, especially those involving private and public sector collaborations in the skills development sector.
• Experience and strong knowledge of gender issues and gender transformative requirements and methods.
• Strong networking skills and social media experience. 
• Experience within the context of international development cooperation is an advantage.
• Strong project management skills, able to break up complex deliverables into manageable plans with realistic tasks.
• Ability to work as part of a team and independently in a structured, methodical manner.  
• Strong interpersonal, intercultural and communication skills.
• Self-driven, quick to learn, flexible and highly motivated. 
• Flexibility and mobility: if required, readiness to travel (national / international) and to have flexible working hours.
• Proficiency with MS Office programmes (including MS Team, Outlook, SharePoint).
• Willingness to strengthen skills and competencies as required by the task to be performed in line with measures agreed with the supervisor and management.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English language.
• Detail oriented and ability to work under minimal supervision and to show initiative and resourcefulness.
• Excellent communication skills  – both oral and written 
• A good team player who is willing to take on responsibility