National Programme Officer - NOB (DC)

The ILO strives to achieve decent work for all. It promotes social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights. This position is located in CO-Addis Ababa- ILO’s Country Office for Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan and for Special Representative to the AU and ECA. This CO implements the mandate of the ILO within the sub-region, including the delivery of technical cooperation in collaboration with other ILO technical departments and social partners in the respective countries. The office continues to provide, at national level, technical guidance and institutional capacity building support to the Government and social partners to achieve the goal of decent work for all through a combination of integrated policy, programme and advocacy action.

This Country Office also provides support to ILO constituents on skills development and employability. The support is provided based on the priorities of the Government, Employers and Workers. These priorities are featured in the National Development Plan, the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) and other relevant strategic documents. Within the ILO, the priorities also align with the Programme and Budget (P&B) 2020-21 outcome 5 on skills development and lifelong learning. Globally the priorities must be aligned with SDGs, especially SDG 4 and 8.

In Ethiopia, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is a key pillar of the Government´s efforts to strengthen the education and training system and there is significant progress made in the preceding years. The first formal TVET strategy was introduced in 2002–2005, and focused on infrastructure development and increasing enrolment. In subsequent reforms, the Government has attempted to strengthen the employability of graduates and the quality of the training programmes as well. The labour force participation rates in both rural and urban areas have increased and the number of TVET centres rose from barely 15 in 1994 to more than 582 in 2017. Enrolment has substantially increased as well. On average, enrolment grew at a rate of 6 per cent between 2012/13 and 2016/17.

Despite these efforts, there are still significant gaps and challenges in the area of skills development. The TVET governance system in Ethiopia lacks a platform that could ensure coordination among various stakeholders and initiatives. Despite an explicit commitment to make the TVET system responsive to labour market demands, programmes and curricula are not based on a thorough analysis of the demand for present and future skill needs. The number of TVET centres remain lower than the ambitious target of 1,102 set by the Government in 2013/14. Ethiopia’s skills development system is also faced with limited integration of work-based learning.

The ILO provides support to the national institutions to help address some of these challenges. As part of ILO’s national response, a Global Programme on Skills and Lifelong learning is set up to provide support to the field and assist the country offices in select target countries of Outcome 5 (P&B 2020-21) to operationalize the planned outputs. The Global Programme aims to promote innovations and heightened support for the design and implementation of skills and lifelong learning ecosystems and programmes in the ILO member States, under a coordinated global framework. The objective of the programme is to provide support to ILO constituents in order to ensure businesses and individuals have a fair access to skills development systems that reflect the adaptation to the changing world of work. More specifically, the Programme will work as an accelerator of the Skills branch’s technical support to ILO Constituents in the context of the future of work, and as a vehicle to deliver outputs of the Programme and Budget for the Biennium 2020-2021 and beyond.

Within the framework of the Global Programme on skills and lifelong learning, the incumbent will support the Country Office and ILO’s work in the African region by providing comprehensive and professional services in the design, delivery and administration of a wide range of programming activities. These services cover development, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation of programmes and projects in a multiplicity of technical areas. Work involves providing professional programming services for the implementation of the Global Programme in the country. The incumbent will ensure that services are delivered in an efficient, effective and client-oriented manner and include the use of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Moreover, s/he will also ensure that work is governed by established rules, regulations, policies, procedures and guidelines, including the principles of results-based management (RBM).

Reporting lines:

The incumbent works under the direct supervision of the Country Director in Ethiopia. The incumbent will also receive technical guidance from the field specialists and specialists of the Skills and Employability Branch and will closely work with the Global Programme on Skills and Lifelong Learning team, CTA managing the ILO-Norway Programme Cooperation Agreement and will liaise closely and regularly with global Manager of the skills UP project in Geneva in order to support the Ethiopia component of the SKILL UP project.

• Provide operational and administrative support for the effective delivery of the Norway component of the Global Skills Programme and the national implementation of the Ethiopia SKILLS UP project activities
• Contribute to day-to-day operations from several of the following areas: finance, human resources, procurement, facilities and asset management, security, communications, information and knowledge management
• Ensure the effective management, implementation, monitoring and budgeting of all project activities. Prepare and analyse  workplans, technical progress reports and any other data through timely provision of inputs, effective backstopping, and efficient delivery of outputs, in conformity with ILO policies, programming guidelines and administrative and financial procedures
• Support the processing of contracts with consultants, sub-contracts with implementing partners  (government, workers’ and employers’ organizations, NGOs and others), and procurement issues; coordinate and monitor their activities; and ensure timely and high quality delivery of outputs
• Prepare briefs, periodical reports and statistical data on status of programmes /projects activities and risk management
• Review and analyse country specific development plans and priorities, socio-economic data, reports and other relevant information; identify potential technical cooperation project areas and provide written analysis on the findings to management
• Support new programme development, draft concept notes and project proposals.

(see more duties below)

• Undertake research and prepare analytical reports on skills development in Ethiopia
• Coordinate and build strong partnerships with the relevant national stakeholders, ILO constituents, NGOs,  UN agencies, and donors active in the area of skills development and life long learning in pursuance of the project’s objectives and ILO’s mandate.
• Assemble and edit basic data and trends required for planning and negotiation of programme / project activities, considering different approaches and alternative methods for project design, management, problem identification and problem resolution
• Conduct training seminars, workshops and meetings as well as support the development of manuals and training guides for skills development
• Participate in workshops and seminars and prepare reports and presentations
• Any other duties as assigned by the Director and CTA

First level university degree in education/ technical and vocational education/ economic development, social science or a related discipline. 

At least three years of professional work experience in programme and/or project planning, monitoring, implementation and evaluation activities. Experience in working with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, in particular strategic management/programming modules.

Excellent command of English and good knowledge of Amharic.  Working knowledge of another official language of the Organization will be an asset.

• Knowledge of programming cycle, programming tools (logical framework, theory of change, M&E framework etc.), project administration and evaluation concepts and procedures; knowledge of Office’s financial rules and regulations
• Ability to interpret project background history and to identify and analyse problems with project implementation
• Proven ability to draft project documents and evaluation reports
• Knowledge of RBM principles and its application in formulating and implementing projects
• Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing
• Ability to clarify information
• Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team

• Ability to respond to competing priorities and multitask
• Ability to deal with people with diplomacy
• Good knowledge of the role and operations of UN system activities for development
• Ability to perform a variety of conceptual analyses required for the formulation, administration and evaluation of projects
• Strong inter-personal skills
• Ability to justify requirements and approaches to problem resolution.
• Excellent research and analytical skills
• Ability to work with confidential material and maintain high standards of ethical conduct.
• Ability to work in a multilingual and multicultural environment.
• Appreciation of principles of gender equity