Chief Technical Advisor (CTA)

The ILO seeks to recruit a Chief Technical Advisor (CTA) at the P5 level to manage the new Development Cooperation (DC) project, “Asia Regional Child Labour Programme”, with a focus on the elimination of child labour in Asia. The project, which is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), has a budget of about USD 10 million, and will be implemented over a period of 48 months. It will support 6 countries in Asia to eliminate child labour under the IPEC+ Flagship Programme: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan, and it will conduct Research on child labour in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. The programme will complement other ILO projects in the area of child labour elimination in respective countries. The ILO programme is part of an overall DFID regional programme on child labour elimination in Asia, which is implemented by ILO, UNICEF and a coalition of NGOs led by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS).

The project falls under the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG 8, target 8.7. This programme will spearhead ILO’s and DFID’s response to stepping up action on child labour in Asia.  

The ILO Asia Regional Programme on Child Labour will be used to support ILO/IPEC + activities in each of the six priority countries for this programme. It will support Child Labour elimination action plans for each of these countries. These include improving data collection and monitoring mechanisms, including support for national and provincial child labour surveys; working with government to strengthen policies and law enforcement mechanisms, such as strengthening policies to address the worst forms of child labour; capacity building and technical assistance of key agencies on implementing national action plans on worst forms of child labour; and awareness raising campaigns with communities on child labour. DFID County Offices in these countries will work closely with the ILO Country Offices in identifying priorities for action and in monitoring delivery.

In addition, the project will support a Research component on child labour elimination, which will support ILO’s work in strengthening the capacity of government in improving the collection of data and evidence on child labour and understanding the nature and prevalence of the worst forms of child labour in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. It will support mainly the capacity of statistics offices in gathering and analysing child labour data, and in undertaking specific surveys addressing the worst forms of child labour in specific sectors.

Reporting lines:

The CTA will report to and work under the general supervision of the ILO Director for DWT/CO-New Delhi and will receive technical guidance from the sub-regional Specialists on FPRW in New Delhi and Bangkok, as well as the Solutions and Innovations Unit of the FUNDAMENTALS Branch in ILO HQ. In countries covered by the project, the CTA will work in close collaboration with ILO Country Offices and seek advice from Country Office Directors in relationships with national constitutes. The project staff, including a Senior Researcher, National Project Coordinators in the six target countries, a Monitoring and Evaluation Assistant and Finance Assistants will report to the CTA as their immediate supervisor,

1. Lead, coordinate and supervise the implementation of the programme in close collaboration with each ILO Country Office and Ministries of Labour, social partners and other major stakeholders in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Myanmar. 

2.    Develop and ensure the timely delivery of activities in line with the main outcomes identified in the project document, and ensure high quality of project deliverables.

3.    Building on the ILO’s established country positioning in each country, maintain and expand the ILO position as the lead agency on all child labour issues and forced labour of children, coordinating and mobilizing support from other stakeholders in order to strengthen the country’s ability to combat child labour. 

4.    Provide technical guidance in the development of legal documents and policies related to child labour in the target countries.  

5.    Build the capacity of Ministries of Labour, other relevant government agencies, and workers’ and employers’ organizations to detect, prevent, reduce child labour, and supervise and evaluate child labour-related efforts. 

6.    Provide technical guidance in clarifying key child labour concepts in research, in-depth evaluation and data collection on the awareness of relevant stakeholders, risks and current situation of child labour in project sites. Coordinate the development of appropriate survey questionnaires and methodologies on child labour in line with international standards in close collaboration with ILO’s statistical programme on child labour and FPRW. 

7.    Conduct training seminars, workshops, and meetings on all project intervention areas (Child labour surveys, research, advocacy, awareness-raising and others); develop/adapt training guides, manuals and other knowledge-sharing materials to local environment. 

8.    Supervise and guide the work of National Project Coordinators, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and administrative/financial assistants. Provide supervision, programmatic and administrative guidance to the Senior Research Officer.

Ten to fifteen years of relevant experience in the fields of Economics, Human Rights or Social Sciences with at least seven years at the international level carrying out project management, supervision, administration and implementation of technical assistance projects in the area of child labour, human rights, human trafficking or other relevant area. Several years of experience in international cooperation (implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes for social and economic development) in the sub-region or in a similar developing or transition country environment. Having working experience in at least one of the target countries would be an advantage, as well as familiarity with ILO policies and procedures.   

Advanced university degree in Economics, Law, Human Rights or Social Sciences or a related field with demonstrated expertise.

Excellent command of English. 

• Excellent organisational, management and negotiation skills, including drafting skills, with proven capacity to initiate and implement technical co-operation programmes and activities with ILO constituents, UN Agencies, NGOs, and others, including mobilizing the support from international donor agencies.
• Technical expertise in working on child labour issues; 
• Wide knowledge of child labour monitoring and referral systems, labour law enforcement, educational and vocational training and social protection of children; 
• Decision-making and problem solving skills;
• Ability to advocate and provide high-level policy advice; 
• Ability to develop clear strategic goals consistent with the project/program's objectives, and to design and synthesise strategies for program development.
• Excellent leadership skills, ability to work effectively in a team and excellent interpersonal skills. 
• Proven ability to take ownership of all responsibilities, to act with integrity and transparency by maintaining social, ethical and organisational norms, and to meet all commitments within the prescribed time, cost and quality standards.
• Ability to develop training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy, procedural matters and present them at high-level meetings.
• Ability to promote a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office, and to focus and guide others to meet objectives at individual and group level.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to write accurate reports and to build networks to obtain cooperation with partners.
• Ability to plan and support the development of individual's skills and abilities for a more effective fulfilment of job/role responsibilities.
• Ability to maintain effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work tasks or environment, and to adjust effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements or cultures.
• Drive to seek or encourage others to seek opportunities for different and innovative approaches to organisation challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively monitor work programme and resources;
• Experience in identifying and distilling promising good practices;
• Excellent knowledge of financial rules and regulations.