National Project Officer

Introduction

The EU’s Opportunity-Driven VET (OP-VET) Action contributes to the goals of the AU Agenda 2063 on Education and Skills revolution as well as Education and Skills Priority of the Global Gateway. The Action is designed to strengthen the VET offer across Africa by aligning it with real employment opportunities generated by Global Gateway investments on the continent. 

The ILO has been a long-standing strategic partner of the African Union Commission, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs). ILO works closely with these institutions across a wide range of areas, including skills development and the promotion of lifelong learning in Africa. To further strengthen coordination and impact, the ILO has established Africa’s Skills Hub, hosted within its Regional Office in Abidjan. The Hub serves as a dedicated platform to coordinate regional skills development work and to provide technical support to the African Union, AUDA-NEPAD, and RECs, fostering coherence, knowledge sharing, and scalability across countries. Through this partnership, the ILO works closely with AUDA-NEPAD, as the technical arm of the African Union. In this capacity, the ILO contributes to the advancement and operationalization of major continental frameworks, including the development and implementation of the Africa Continental TVET Strategy (CTVET Strategy), the Africa Occupational Standard Development Framework (AOSDF), and the joint ILO–AU Youth Employment Strategy for Africa (YES-AFRICA). 

ILO is acting as a technical partner with AUDA-NEPAD under the implementation of Pillar 5 of the Opportunity-Driven VET Action. Under this framework, the ILO and AUDA-NEPAD will jointly implement the 5-year project Opportunity-Driven Skills and VET in Africa (OP-VET) under the Africa–Europe Cooperation Mechanism on Skills.

Introduction continues

To strengthen coherence and coordination across the Action, a Programme Coordination Desk will be established under the leadership of AUDA-NEPAD. The Desk facilitates coordination across OP-VET Pillars 1–5, supports information exchange among implementing partners, monitors implementation and follow-up, and promotes alignment between programme interventions and relevant African Union policy frameworks.

The National Project Officer will contribute to the effective functioning of the Coordination Desk and support coordination between AUDA-NEPAD, the ILO, implementing partners, RECs, AU Member States and other relevant stakeholders. While the position is based within AUDA-NEPAD premises, it forms part of the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa in Pretoria. The DWTs provide high quality, timely and integrated technical support to the country offices in the design, implementation and monitoring of Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCP). This support considers the profound transformations in the world of work and is driven by human-centred approach as set forth in the ILO Centenary Declaration for the future of work.

Reporting lines

Under the direct supervision of the ILO Technical Specialist recruited under the Programme, the National Project Officer will support the day-to-day activities of the Programme Coordination Desk and receive guidance from the Senior Regional Skills Specialist for Africa, based in Abidjan. The incumbent will work under the overall supervision of the Director of the Country Office and Decent Work Team in Pretoria and work closely with ILO Skills Specialists and Technical Officers involved in OP-VET, as well as relevant programme personnel across the five OP-VET Pillars.
The incumbent will also liaise with AUDA-NEPAD, Regional Economic Communities, AU Member States, ILO constituents, OP-VET implementing partners and other relevant stakeholders to facilitate programme coordination, information exchange and follow-up.

Description of Duties

The position will contribute to ensuring coherence, alignment and synergies across OP-VET interventions and support linkages between programme implementation and relevant continental skills and VET policy frameworks. The incumbent will perform the follow duties: 

•    Support the activities of the OP-VET Programme Coordination Desk established under the leadership of AUDA-NEPAD, supporting day-to-day coordination, information exchange and follow-up among OP-VET implementing partners and stakeholders.
•    Support the coordination and facilitate implementation across OP-VET Pillars 1–5, promoting coherence, complementarity, alignment and synergies among programme interventions and helping identify areas requiring joint action or follow-up.
•    Maintain regular communication and effective working relationships with AUDA-NEPAD, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), AU Member States, ILO technical units, OP-VET Pillar leads, implementing partners and other relevant institutions, ensuring the timely exchange of programme information, workplans, implementation updates and other relevant documentation.
•    Monitor implementation progress across the OP-VET Action and develop and maintain appropriate monitoring and coordination tools to track activities, milestones, deliverables, implementation challenges, results, decisions, commitments and agreed follow-up actions.
•    Support the preparation of consolidated technical, implementation and progress reports, including collecting and compiling inputs from OP-VET Pillars, implementing partners and relevant stakeholders.
•    Support engagement with ILO constituents, including relevant government institutions and employers' and workers' organizations, and facilitate their participation in relevant OP-VET activities and consultations.
•    Contribute to the implementation and dissemination of relevant continental skills and VET policy frameworks and initiatives, including the Continental TVET Strategy (CTVET), African Occupational Standards Framework (AOSF) and AfCFTA-related skills-development initiatives.
•    Support linkages between OP-VET programme interventions and relevant African Union, regional and national skills-development priorities, facilitating information exchange and documenting opportunities for collaboration and scaling.

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•    Plan and organize technical coordination meetings, workshops, consultations and programme events, including preparation of agendas, background materials, presentations, participant lists and other relevant documentation.
•    Prepare meeting minutes, summary reports, briefing notes, presentations and action matrices and ensure systematic documentation and follow-up of programme decisions.
•    Participate in programme meetings, technical consultations, workshops and other events and, as appropriate, provide information and coordination support on behalf of the ILO.
•    Support the collection, documentation and dissemination of good practices, implementation experiences, lessons learned and relevant tools emerging from OP-VET interventions.
•    Facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge among the five OP-VET Pillars and identify opportunities for cross-pillar collaboration, joint activities and knowledge sharing.
•    Contribute to programme communication and visibility activities by providing implementation information, results and other relevant inputs for briefing materials, knowledge products, presentations and communications outputs.
•    Maintain an organized repository of relevant programme documents, reports, workplans, meeting records, decisions and technical materials to support institutional memory and programme reporting.
•    Support the coordination of programme missions and country-level activities, including liaison with ILO offices, national counterparts, AUDA-NEPAD, RECs and implementing partners, as required.
•    Promote the integration of gender equality, inclusion and non-discrimination throughout programme coordination and implementation activities, in line with relevant ILO principles and policies.
•    Perform other relevant duties assigned by the supervisor in support of the effective coordination and implementation of the OP-VET Action.

Required qualifications

Education

First-level university degree (bachelor’s or equivalent) in international development/relations, political science, education, vocational education and training, public policy, project/programme management, social sciences or another relevant field.
Training or certification in project/programme management would be an advantage.

Experience

At least two years of professional experience in programme or project coordination, development cooperation, skills development, vocational education and training, employment promotion or a related field.

Experience in one or more of the following areas would be an advantage:

•    Coordination and implementation of development cooperation programmes;
•    Skills development, TVET or employment programmes; 
•    Monitoring programme implementation and preparing progress reports;
•    Organizing multi-stakeholder meetings, consultations and technical events;
•    Working with government institutions, regional organizations, development partners or social partners;
•    Working with the African Union, AUDA-NEPAD, RECs, UN agencies or other international organizations;
•    working on regional or continental programmes in Africa.

Languages

Excellent knowledge of the working language of the duty station and a good knowledge of English.

Competencies

Candidates interested in the position should consider that the nine core competencies of the ILO, listed below, may be evaluated during the selection process: Integrity and transparency, Sensitivity to diversity, Orientation to learning and knowledge sharing, Client orientation, Communication, Orientation to change, Takes responsibility for performance, Quality orientation and Collaboration. Amln addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires: 

•    Knowledge of ILO's mandate and values. 
•    Good drafting skills. 
•    Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing. 
•    Knowledge of programme and budget, project administration and evaluation concepts. 
•    Knowledge of, or ability to learn, the Office's financial rules and regulations. 
•    Ability to Interpret project information and to identify and analyse problems to improve implementation.
•    Ability to work independently, quickly, precisely, and take initiative and responsibility.
•    Ability to work under pressure and to meet the deadline.
•    Proficient in Microsoft Word, Power Point, Excel, web-browsers and database applications
•    Effective organisational skills.
•    Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member |of a team.
•    Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes