Vocational Education and Employment Specialist - Full time

Helvetas, founded in 1955, is the largest Swiss-based and a leading European development non-governmental organization. We work in developing, emerging and transition countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, partnering with poor and disadvantaged people to improve their livelihoods, strengthen local actors and create an institutional framework conducive to sustainable development. Helvetas has been operating in Vietnam since 1994 in the areas of agriculture, forestry, governance, water and sanitation, and rural development.

Helvetas Vietnam, in a consortium with WWF, IUCN and Fauna and Flora International (FFI), were recently selected to implement USAID’s Vietnam Biodiversity Conservation, a five-year project covering five provinces of central Vietnam. Helvetas Vietnam has the overall responsibility for the conservation-friendly enterprise development component, targeting forest-dependent communities bordering national parks in Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam and Lam Dong provinces.

We are looking for a Specialist, Vocational Education and Employment, 100%, based in one of the project provinces or Danang or Hanoi with frequent travel to project sites:

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

 The Specialist works as part of the Conservation Friendly Enterprise Development Team as part of the larger USAID Vietnam Biodiversity Conservation.  The Specialist is responsible for interventions that target (i) individuals involved in illegal hunting and logging; and (ii) individuals in forest-dependent communities who have limited opportunities to gain employment, and pose a potential risk to biodiversity. The interventions aim to allow those individuals to gain new employment or self-employment.  Interventions managed by the Specialist will include provision of vocational training, linking trainees with job-market intermediation services and support for micro-enterprise development for identified individuals and their spouses. 

Key responsibilities of the Specialist include:

  • Analyzing the employment and business opportunities available in target areas and in nearby urban areas.
  • Identifying known illegal hunters and loggers to target for diversion into alternative employment, in close collaboration with provincial implementation teams managed by WWF and Fauna and Flora International.
  • In collaboration with local authorities, identify vulnerable individuals and families within forest-dependent communities.
  • Developing and managing partnerships to support vocational training, job placement and micro-enterprise development by trainees and their spouses.
  • Contributing to planning, monitoring, review, learning and adaptation by the Enterprise Development Team and in coordination with provincial implementation teams in the target provinces.

 

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

  • The Specialist should have a minimum of 7 years of experience working in economic development, with at least four years of experience in vocational education, employment or micro-enterprise development.  The candidate will be familiar value chain development concepts, with experience with the Market Systems Development strategic framework strongly preferred. 
  • The Specialist should have excellent analytical skills, an open mind and the ability to identify creative and realistic solutions.  As a strong team player, they are able to work across institutional boundaries with patience and flexibility.  The candidate’s intrinsic motivation and commitment to quality allows them to deliver exceptional results with minimal external supervision.
  • The Specialist should have good written and verbal communication skills in both English and Vietnamese, high awareness of gender, social equity & conflict sensitivity, and willingness to travel.

APPLICATIONS:

Interest candidates please send updated CV and an Expression of Interest letter to Helvetas.vietnam@helvetas.org and trieu.tuanh@helvetas.org by August 5th, 2021. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.