Youth Specialist
Ngo & Social Services Jobs
- International Youth Foundation
- Expires 11 Jul 2022
- Bulawayo
- Full Time
Job Description
SUPERVISOR
The position will report to IYF’s Country Advisor and CARE’s Gender Youth and Social Dynamics Lead.
BACKGROUND
International Youth Foundation® (IYF®) stands by, for, and with young people. Founded in 1990 through a generous grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, IYF is a global nonprofit organization with programs which directly benefiting 20 million young people and operations spanning 105 countries so far. Together with local community-based organizations and a network of corporates, foundations, and multilateral partners, we connect young people with opportunities to transform their lives. We believe that educated, employed, engaged young people possess the power to solve the world’s toughest problems, and we focus our youth development efforts on three linked objectives: unlocking agency, driving economic opportunity, and making systems more inclusive. Our vision is to see young people inspired and equipped to realize the future they want. International Youth Foundation believes in Transforming Lives, Together. To learn more about the International Youth Foundation, please join us at iyfnet.org.
PURPOSE
International Youth Foundation is a partner for CARE’s Takunda program in Zimbabwe in response to the USAID/Food for Peace Fiscal Year 2020 Development Food Security Activities in Zimbabwe. As part of the CARE consortium, IYF’s role’s will specifically focus on serving as the technical lead for youth, a key cross-cutting issue that must be fully integrated and embedded throughout the project design and implementation. There will be close coordination between IYF’s activities and the rest of the DFSA components, but especially close collaboration with the nutrition / health, WASH, gender, governance, livelihoods, agriculture, and disaster risk reduction (DRR) teams.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Youth Specialist will serve as the IYF’s focal lead for Takunda project and assist in identifying youth opportunities, capacities, financial and labour market assessments and strategy development. The Youth Specialist will also provide capacity strengthening on youth leadership, ambassadorship, social enterprises, life skills, technical skills, employability and entrepreneurship interventions to consortium partners and the Takunda community agents. S/he will ensure that youth interventions are embedded and included across all purpose areas, as directed by the project youth, gender and governance strategies.
Duties and Responsibilities
RESPONSIBILITIES
• Serves as lead for youth, engagement, inclusion and empowerment in the CARE consortium.
• Leads the development of positive and inclusive youth-responsive approaches and practices across project activities in all project phases. This includes, as appropriate, working with consortium partners to ensure that project activities assess, target, reach (directly or in-directly), meaningfully engage, provide services to, and empower youth in appropriate, inclusive, youth-friendly methods.
• Advise, support, and mentor local implementing partners and CARE project staff on youth engagement and empowerment approaches and best practices
• Develop or adapt participatory learning and action tools that promote youth participation and engagement in project activities in collaboration with the consortium’s research and learning team.
• In partnership with CARE and consortium partners, develop and help implement youth appropriate SBC strategies and approaches across the three purpose areas and in relation to gender and governance that have proven effective in Zimbabwe and/or other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Directly contribute to the design and implementation of sustainability and exit strategies, ensuring that youth have sustained capacity, motivation, resources, and linkages to continue activities post-project.
• Coordinate with the CARE and Takunda consortium partners to generate and develop training materials, learning products and reports (quarterly and annual results) for the program and wider dissemination and ensuring that youth aspect is integrated.
• Strengthen among project and consortium staff on youth leadership, ambassadorship, social enterprises, life skills and entrepreneurship.
• Establish and maintain relationships with stakeholders within the community the project is operating in.
• Provide support to project team members including IYF and Takunda project staff.
• Review training curricula to enhance participation by young women and mentor example in TVET initiatives, recommend updates and improvements and help develop customized trainings suitable that encourage participants to choose vocations outside of traditional gender roles.
• Promote collaboration, coordination and shared learning among consortium and implementation partners.
• Track and review M & E data to assess program performance against the three purpose areas and identify / apply best practices.
Qualifications and Experience
REQUIRED SKILLS
- Excellent facilitation, training and mentorship skills
- Ability to demonstrate good leadership skills and ability to lead a diverse project team to produce programmatic results.
- Strong computer skills and should include (Microsoft Word and Excel and PowerPoint.
- Ability to work in a remote area
- Team player and experience in working within a consortium setup an added advantage.
- Experience in working with donor funded programs e.g. USAID in Zimbabwe or Southern Africa.
- Demonstrated excellence with oral and written communication skills in English.
REQUIRED EXPERIENCE
• Minimum of a Master’s Degree or equivalent in International development preferably with focus on youth, economic development, workforce development, vocational training or a closely related field.
• Minimum 5 years working providing technical support and capacity building in developmental programs preferably youth and livelihood programming.
• Demonstrated ability to find viable solutions to complicated challenges in a flexible, time sensitive and creative manner.
• Experience in successfully working with private sector, public sector, and civil society organizations, local communities, local government, and donors to develop effective training and job placement opportunities.
• Experience in nutrition / health, WASH, gender, governance, agriculture, and disaster risk reduction (DRR) will be an added advantage.
• Be of Zimbabwean nationality.
How to Apply
LOCATION
Mutare - Zimbabwe
TO APPLY
Please submit the following documents in English via email to jobs@iyfglobal.org with "Youth Specialist’ in the subject line:
• Completed IYF Country Office Application for Employment BY CLICKING VIEW MORE INFORMATION BUTTON BELOW
• Resume – maximum 3 pages
Deadline to receive Applications is close of business on 11 July 2022.
To be eligible for this position, applicants must have the legal authority to work and reside in Zimbabwe; this position is a local hire position in Zimbabwe. Applications will be reviewed as received.
The International Youth Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
