Livelihood Specialist at Plan International

Location: Maiduguri, BO, NG

Role Purpose

• The purpose of this role is to have an experienced Livelihoods Specialist for the Plan International Nigeria emergency response program in Northeast Nigeria.
• The Specialist will be responsible for the technical designing of the livelihood, recovery, reintegration and youth- economic empowerment program and will ensure quality in implementation of the livelihood- sector.
• Additionally, the Livelihood Specialist will be the focal point for coordination with clusters, working groups, INGOs and other stakeholders in the livelihood sector.

Dimension of Role

• In 2009, the Islamist militant group, Boko Haram (BH) became active in the Lake Chad Basin. BH attacks in Cameroon’s Far North Region, Niger’s Diffa Region, and in Western Chad have killed over 20,000 people. Violent attacks on civilians by BH have left widespread devastation in the Northeast of Nigeria home to around 24.5 million people (13.5%) of the Nigerian population. As of August 2016, the BH-related violence has affected the lives of an estimated 14.8 million people across the Northeast, of which 7 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 2.6 million people have been displaced due to the BH insurgency and counterinsurgency operations, including over 230,000 people seeking refuge in neighbouring countries. The majority of IDPs are living in Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe states.  Many have been displaced for more than two years.
• The far-reaching nature of violence and unrest caused by BH has led Plan Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria to launch a sub-regional Lake Chad response. The project aims to respond to Nigeria’s most at-risk population - children and youth (in particular girls and young women) - affected by the armed conflict. To reach this objective, Plan International will respond in three programming areas: 1) Education in Emergencies, 2) Child Protection in Emergencies, and 3) Youth Economic Empowerment.
• The Livelihoods Specialist is responsible for the design and implementation of the Livelihoods component of the humanitarian response in Nigeria and will provide capacity building, technical expertise and oversight, and strategic vision to the program.

Key Roles/Responsibilities

• Conduct detailed assessments to understand/establish existing hindrances to adolescent and youth training and employment.
• Work closely with the Business Development Advisor to support the technical design of livelihoods programs during a call for proposal/ proposal development
• Attend donor meetings together with the ERM/ Deputy ERM if technical expertise is required during this meeting
• Lead local value chain and labour market analysis to establish marketable skills and potential products/services for youth training and employment.
• Coordinate the design and the implementation of youth focused skill development modalities including institutional training, job placement/apprentice, job shadowing among others.
• Design business development support (life skill training, market analysis, financial literacy etc.) and business start-up package to transition adolescents and youth from apprenticeship to entrepreneurship.
• Support design, implementation and monitoring of all cash and voucher components across the emergency response program
• Organize/facilitate adolescents and youth participation and link apprentice adolescents and youth with positional buyers, employers and business development service provides (MFI, input suppliers etc.).
• Conduct evaluation study to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the training and livelihoods support provided for adolescents and youth.
• Support M&E, organizational learning and documentation related to youth employment and livelihoods.
• Organize sensitization training for stakeholders including government and non-government employers on the national youth policy and youth rights, occupational safety and health, national labour law and ILO code of conduct and standards.
• Foster effective partnership, representation and outreach with key stakeholder bodies: federal government ministries, regional government bodies, relevant civic organizations and NGOs to advance the adolescent and youth agenda.
• Support the emergency response team in collecting lessons learnt, good practices, and any studies and evaluations that will contribute to improving the quality of livelihood programing for the emergency response.

Knowledge
Qualifications and Technical Competencies:

• Minimum of 4 years (of which at least 2 in the field) of progressively responsible professional experience in livelihoods in emergencies work.
• Good knowledge and understanding of humanitarian principles and established international standards (ex: CPMS, INEE, Sphere, etc.)
• Technical training and qualifications in life skills training, micro-lending, savings programs, micro-insurance/franchising, village savings and loan, adult’s literacy and numeracy, employment and alternative education and income generation, etc.
• Demonstrable technical expertise in implementation and understanding of child labour issues
• Experience in developing, methods, tools and programs/interventions in collaboration with government agencies, civil society, and private organizations/institutions.
• Knowledge and experience in M&E.
• Experience with participatory learning approaches.
• Experience of conducting assessments in emergency contexts.
• Experience of training on relevant technical areas with a variety of audiences.
• University Degree in Rural Development, Disaster Risk Management, Livelihood/Agriculture, Education, Social Sciences or related field.
• Fluency in English, written and spoken.

Skills & Knowledge:

• Ability to work independently and as a team player who demonstrates leadership and is able to support and train local and international staff and also able to work with disaster affected communities in a sensitive and participatory manner.
• Excellent negotiation, representation, skills and the ability to work comfortably with an ethnically diverse staff in a very sensitive environment.
• Strong organizational and work prioritization skills and attention to detail
• Demonstrated attention to detail, ability to follow procedures, meet deadlines and work cooperatively.
• Proven ability to solve problems independently without direct supervision.
• Good facilitation skills and ability to deliver induction briefing/training.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to communicate clearly and effectively at all levels, and to maintain this under pressure.
• Ability to work with limited supervision from line manager.