Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion Specialist-Iraq At Norwegian Refugee Council

This is a readvertisement: candidates who had applied need not apply again

Role and responsibilities:

The purpose of the Livelihoods and Economic Inclusion (LEI) Specialist position is technical development, strategic direction and quality assurance of the core competency (CC). This position will also contribute towards the Self-Reliance and Durable Solutions programming through promotion of integrated approaches within the CC. The Specialist is responsible for mentoring, training, and building the capacity of the relevant programme staff.

Generic responsibilities:

Develop CC strategy, technical guidance and Macro Log-frames that are aligned with regional and global strategies and priorities
Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
Contribute to fundraising, develop and revise funding proposal, budgets and donor reports
Identify trends technical standards and donor priorities
Follow up on compliance with contractual commitments within CC, ensure high technical quality and synergies in project implementation
Provide technical direction and project implementation support
Ensure that key learnings are extracted from CC implementation, and incorporate them in CC and staff development processes
Provide systematic training and build capacity of technical staff, in approaches including cash-based interventions and market based programme
Represent NRC in relevant forums/clusters, including with national authorities and donors
Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy

Specific responsibilities:

Overall technical lead of the CC portfolio in Iraq including the country CC strategy development in line with regional and global strategies.
Lead the process of developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), technical tools and guidance notes related to the LEI program ensuring standardization of approaches across NRC.
Ensure program quality within the LEI program in line with global technical standards.
Lead on country assessments including market analysis, needs assessments, agriculture value chains analysis, climate change related assessment, Seed System Security Assessment (SSSA) in coordination with Area Programme Managers to inform LEI programming.
Regular analysis of LEI funding opportunities/donor priorities and lead high quality technical proposal development.
Ensure timely and quality donor reporting, and provide regular inputs to country level reports in line with NRC and donor procedures and guidelines.
Engage with project teams at CO and AO levels to monitor progress and revise project’s approaches and implementation strategies.
Support the process of recruitment and capacity building of LEI staff across area offices in approaches including cash based intervention, market system development (MSD) and financial inclusion and provide technical guidance regularly.
Document and disseminate key learnings from LEI projects implementation in coordination with M&E department across AOs and among regional specialists and support to replicate such learnings including piloting innovation in other project locations.
Lead the establishment of strategic partnerships at national level (ministries, universities, UN, INGOs, private sector actors) in line with core competency global and regional priorities.
Ensure the development of integrated LEI approaches securing the inclusion of IDPs, returnees, refugees and other vulnerable to displacement affected communities.
Lead CC quality assessment and external evaluations in line with NRC global guidelines and revise/adopt CC strategy, Micro-log-frame and SOPs.
Represent NRC in relevant coordination fora at national level including Area Based Coordination on water and agriculture and establish a good working relationship with UN, INGOs, ministries and technical focal points of donor representatives.
Take the lead in Identifying potential market actors and business development service providers at national level, and connect with farmers’ groups/alliances for creation of market linkages.

Critical interfaces:

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

Programme and Proposal development: Area Managers, Project Managers, Grants, M&E, Finance, Head of Programmes, CC section (RO/HO)
Quality control/ support: Area Managers, Project Managers, Head of Programmes, M&E, Grants Manager, CC section (RO/HO)
Capacity development: Project staff, Area Managers, Area Programme Managers
Programme implementation: Programme staff, Area Managers, Area Programme Manager and Support staff

Scale and scope of position

Staff: No direct line reports, 6 matrix management lines to the Area Offices

Stakeholders: Donors, Academic institutions, UN Agencies, Local Partners, National Ministries, INGOs

Budgets: Not a budget holding position

Information: GORS, Agresso, NRC People, Intranet, Cycles

Competencies

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following three categories:

1. Professional competencies

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance

Generic professional competencies for this position

Minimum 4 years of international experience within technical expertise area in a humanitarian/ development context
Experience from working in complex and volatile contexts
Knowledge and skills in market analysis, cash-based interventions and market based programmes
Fluency in English, both written and verbal

Context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:

Experience across both Humanitarian and Development work
Experience working in Economic Security and Recovery programming
Experience in the design and implementation of climate change adaption program, agriculture value chain, market linkages, or agricultural recovery programmes and seed system development.
Sound understanding of global agricultural standards including LEGs, SEADS, agriculture research & development, climate smart agriculture, greenhouse and hydroponic system and extension systems/approaches (e.g. FFS, APFS, farmer-to-farmer extension)
Experience in designing and implementing innovative market-driven income-generation activities in both urban and rural contexts
Experience working with the private sector, business associations (i.e. Chamber of Commerce), financial service providers, development actors, local governments and building the capacity of these partners
Experience establishing innovative partnerships with external actors.
Experience working with “community driven recovery and development” methodologies
Experience with private sector development approaches.
Knowledge of the context in Iraq, advantageous
Knowledge of Arabic is advantageous

2. Behavioral competencies

Strategic thinking
Empowering and building trust
Influencing
Initiate action and change
Analysing
Handling insecure environments

Performance Management

The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews: