Economic Strengthening Advisor 

Position Details

Position Title: Economic Strengthening Advisor     Office Location: Kigali, Rwanda

Supervisor Name: TBD                                               Supervisor Title: ACHIEVE Rwanda Technical Director

New or Replacement: New Position                         Full or Part-Time: Full-Time

Expected Project End Date: 9/30/2022

Date of Submission: 8/6/2020

JOB DESCRIPTION (Please complete all Sections)

Pact Overview

At the heart of Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow. A nonprofit international development organization founded in 1971, Pact works on the ground in nearly 40 countries to improve the lives of those who are challenged by poverty and marginalization. We serve these communities because we envision a world where everyone owns their future. To do this, we build systemic solutions in partnership with local organizations, businesses, and governments that create sustainable and resilient communities where those we serve are heard, capable, and vibrant.

Pact is a recognized global leader in international development. Our staff have a range of expertise in areas including public health, capacity development, governance, and civil society, natural resource management, poverty, fragile states, monitoring and evaluation, small-scale and artisanal mining, microfinance, and more. This expertise is combined in Pact’s unique integrated approach, which focuses on systemic changes needed to improve people’s lives.

Project Overview

Pact seeks an Economic Strengthening Advisor for the ACHIEVE Rwanda program.  ACHIEVE is a five-year, USAID-funded global cooperative agreement with the dual objectives of attaining and sustaining HIV epidemic control among at-risk and hard to reach pregnant and breastfeeding (PBF) women, infants, children, and youth, as well as to mitigate the impact of HIV/ AIDS and prevent HIV transmission among these populations; and supporting the transition of prime funding and implementation to capable local partners in order to meet the PEPFAR goal of 70% of funding to local partners.

The aim of ACHIEVE Rwanda is to prevent new HIV infections and reduce vulnerability among orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in selected high burden districts in Rwanda. The strategic objectives support the Government of Rwanda strategies and priorities for HIV mitigation and prevention, with an emphasis on minimizing negative impacts of HIV on OVC and AGYW; addressing social, behavioral and structural drivers of HIV, and improving access to comprehensive SRH and violence response services to prevent new infections.  The project supports OVC services in two districts and DREAMS activities in two districts.  The project also provides capacity development to two local implementing partners to coordinate and support OVC and DREAMS service delivery programming and for USAID and PEPFAR project implementation.

Position Purpose

The Economic Strengthening (ES) Advisor will be supervised by the Technical Director and will work in partnership with the ACHIEVE Rwanda Technical Team and the project’s subpartners, Government of Rwanda counterparts, Monitoring and Evaluation team, and other relevant stakeholders at the community level.  The Economic Strengthening Advisor will be responsible for the design, implementation and technical quality of strategies and activities to improve the economic stability of young people and households caring for OVC and AGYW supported by DREAMS activities. The Economic Strengthening Advisor plays a pivotal role in planning for all aspects of livelihoods and economic opportunities activities for the ACHIEVE Rwanda. She/he will facilitate the development of social protection linkages and provision, individual savings and lending group (ISLG) activities, and the integration of enterprise expertise and market access and relationships for securing the economic wellbeing of targeted households. The Advisor will be involved in project implementation, and organizing and delivering PEPFAR approved evidence-based programs that address a wide variety of issues, including social protection and livelihoods; savings and financial access; agriculture and food security; economic and market development; ensuring delivery of specific training, coordination and execution of activities, and overall backstopping and troubleshooting. Proficiency in dealing with math, bookkeeping, and monitoring systems is essential, as is familiarity with the way Rwandan’s think and work at the grassroots, whether in rural or urban settings. 

Key Responsibilities

• Technically supervise ES program activities including the design, development, and implementation of technical guidance as it relates to ES, ensuring all ES activities are in line with state-of-the-art, globally-recognized best practices for addressing needs of AGYW, OVC, young people, and their caregivers.
• Exercising a supportive supervision approach, train and mentor technical staff, and subgrantees responsible for child wellbeing and the empowerment of AGYW.
• Build awareness of key ES concepts and principles among subgrantees and institutions. This includes assisting families in earning and saving income, managing money, allocating household resources to improving children and youth’s wellness outcomes, and small business and enterprise development and management.
• Develop and instruct subgrantees on effective methodologies for identifying appropriate ES interventions for specific households and AGYW (i.e. credit and market opportunities, group savings, income generation, micro-enterprise development training, farming-as-a-business, extensionist, other vocational training opportunities, youth employability, etc.).; train/mentor in principles and standards for good implementation of or linkages to these interventions.
• Develop and ensure the implementation of strategies and interventions that promote the economic empowerment of young people.
• Coordinate the implementation of PEPFAR approved evidence-based ES interventions with ACHIEVE subpartners and beneficiaries.
• Ensure the documentation and dissemination of best practices and lessons learned, capture timely, high-quality information, and utilize data to inform decisions and foster learning and innovation.
• Monitor and maintain relevant manuals, training materials, and reports for economic strengthening.
• Ensure all economic strengthening strategies are gender-sensitive and promote equitable programming.
• Create and implement a plan to engage the private sector in economic strengthening activities for greater and sustainable impacts.
• Lead the monthly, quarterly, and annual planning, monitoring, and reporting for all Economic Strengthening (ES) related activities.
• Oversee pilot or demonstration projects to test and adopt specific ES activities.
• Regularly visit ISLGs to provide appreciative support and supportive supervision and to ensure that a spirit of motivated teamwork and open communication is maintained throughout the project sites.
• Identifying emerging areas of challenge and participating in the modification of program materials to meet those needs.
• Ensuring that program information is accurately and promptly communicated from and to the field;
• Regularly travel to the four districts to provide ES technical support and mentorship to implementing partners.
• Contribute to work plans, quarterly and annual reports, and other reports and papers summarizing project results and evidence.
• Coordinate and collaborate with other PEPFAR clinical and community partners on ES interventions.
• Prepare regular reports documenting processes, outputs, and outcomes of ES work.
• Any other duties as assigned.

 Basic Requirements

• Master’s Degree or higher in economics, international development, or a related field preferred; gender studies or experience an advantage.
• 5+ years’ experience designing, implementing, and monitoring household economic strengthening activities working on multifaceted and complex international development programs.
• At least 3 years of technical management experience, including direct supervision of technical teams and implementing partners.
• Solid knowledge of social protection, household economic strengthening, and microenterprise and market development instruments and frameworks.
• Experience in leveraging private sector partnerships and resources for the creation of business opportunities, business mentorship, and skills training, market access, strategies to strengthen household resilience, etc.
• Demonstrated leadership qualities, depth and breadth of technical and management expertise and experience, and strong interpersonal, writing, and oral presentation skills including such skills in English.
• Experience with a USG cooperative agreement and PEPFAR programming strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to create and maintain effective working relations with host country government personnel, stakeholders, NGO partners, and international donor agencies.
• Ability to work independently and manage a high volume workflow without constant or close supervision and ability and willingness to travel to program areas and internationally as required.
• Excellent training skills in working with adult learners, particularly at the community level; experience in an appreciative approach a plus.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated success implementing programming at the community level
• Expertise in and sensitivity to the socio-cultural barriers facing intended beneficiaries for this program
• Demonstrated leadership and team-building skills.
• Local candidates preferred

Pact is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.

How to apply

• All applications with a motivation letter and CV shall be sent through the following email address: pactrwanda@pactworld.org not later than August 18, 2020 mentioning the position title as a subject to email.