Regional Economic Development Advisor - WUSC

Job Description

• Position: Regional Economic Development Advisor
• Position location: Ghana (Accra), Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou) or Guinea (Conakry)
• Reports to: WAGES Strategic Advisor (Canada)
• Duration: 2 years contract with possibility of extension
• Project: West Africa Governance & Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas (WAGES)

Background

CECI is an established Canadian international development organization whose mission is to combat poverty and exclusion. CECI’s Canadian and in-country teams have 15 years of experience in governance and inclusive development in extractive areas of West Africa WUSC and

CECI are jointly implementing the West Africa Governance & Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas (WAGES) in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Guinea. Working in partnership with communities, local government, mining companies, and other stakeholders, WAGES will enable communities, particularly women and youth, to maximize the socio-economic benefits from extractive resource investment in West Africa. The project’s principal areas of focus include local governance, sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and regional knowledge-sharing on development best practices in mining areas.

Nature and Scope

The WAGES Regional Economic Development Advisor will support country teams in the design and implementation of their activities, in particular the economic empowering of women and youth, ensure coordination and oversight of the quality of activities in economic development (ED) to achieve project results. The Regional Economic Development Advisor reports directly to the Project's Senior Strategic Advisor. This position may require up to 50% of international travel in the West Africa region.

Specifically, the Regional Economic Development Advisor’s responsibilities are to:

• Coordinate the updating of the project's overall economic development strategy, taking into account the results obtained to date and the results expected at the end of the project;
• Support country teams to implement the strategy for the economic development component, ensuring the optimization of planned initiatives;
• Contribute to the development of the economic development component of the Annual Work Plans (AWPs) and monitor the implementation in relation with the Gender Equality and Youth Inclusion (GEYI) strategy with indicators and other measures (sensitive to GEYI) and suggest adjustments;
• Strengthen the knowledge and skills of country teams in applying the principles and strategies for women and youth economic empowerment in a logic of shared learning;
• Ensure consistency and sharing of information on initiatives in the three countries and ensure good coordination and collaboration on the economic development component of the project;
• In collaboration with the Regional Learning Specialist, documents approaches, good practices and lessons learned in sustainable and inclusive local economic development that are specifically aimed at strengthening the economic empowerment of women and youth;
• Support country teams in the establishment of operational partnerships that will contribute to economic empowerment of women and youth;
• Supporting country teams to develop strategies/mechanism for Access to Finance and Business Support Services;
• Work closely with the management and strategic coordination unit to achieve the planned objectives of the economic development component;
• Identify, implement and document research to publish in ED, present to relevant forums and share with internal and external partners and agencies;
• Identify key approaches to sustainable and inclusive economic growth, in collaboration with the Strategic Coordination and Management Unit;
• Work closely with the Knowledge Management Officer.

Required Skills or Experience

• Master's degree in applied social sciences or other relevant field. Specific academic training in economics or management and business development is desirable;
• At least 10 years of experience in implementing economic development programs contributing to women and youth economic empowerment;
• Deep knowledge of gender equality and youth inclusion approaches;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and French;
• Experience in building the capacity of staff and partners, both formal and informal;
• Ability to actively participate as an effective member of a team and take initiatives to strengthen the implementation of the project;
• Proven ability to work productively with various stakeholders and to meet tight deadlines with a focus on producing quality products;
• Strong facilitation and communication skills;
• Experience in knowledge management and sharing;
• Knowledge of, or willingness to learn and use google applications (google docs, google hangouts, etc.;
• Demonstrate a commitment to gender equality and youth empowerment.