ThaiNGO

The purpose of this position is to provide overall technical and managerial leadership to Plan’s youth employment (TVET) programs across Asia. The post holder will be responsible for facilitating the oversight of targeted country projects for youth economic empowerment, with a particular emphasis on projects supported by the Australian National Office, supporting the replication of market-oriented TVET and ICT for Vocational Education (ICT4V). S/he will serve as the principal point of contact for technical management and guidance to defining strategic partnerships and expansion of pilot projects to scale. This will entail supporting the overall design, development, monitoring and evaluation of Plan’s youth economic empowerment programs and ensuring compliance with Plan International, relevant NO and donor requirements. In addition, the incumbent will promote organizational learning, facilitate resource acquisition, provide technical guidance to scale up and sustain programs and represent Plan with donors in regional and global forums. The incumbent will also prepare reports for donors, either for submission directly to donors or via ANO, to ensure fulfilment of reporting requirements for ANCP and other DFAT funds.

Dimensions of Role:

Financial measures or statistics relevant to post such as budget; list of direct and indirect reports

As an expert in the area, the Youth Employment Manager influences Plan’s decision makers -the country management teams, program management units, country program teams - on quality youth economic empowerment programming, and provides overall management and quality assurance for donor funded programs and strategic support to country programming quality.

The total regional budget for youth employment and livelihoods currently stands at approximately $15 million, but is anticipated to grow substantially. The current funding covers programming, covers travel costs, annual network meetings and representation at regional and global conferences; however, the YES Manager is expected to secure further multi-year funding for country initiatives to expand the reach for the sector.

Typical Responsibilities - Key End Results of Position:

“What” is done and “why”, but not “how”; include indicators for success

Essential:

Project Management and Technical Support (60%): Lead the project management, monitoring and provision of technical support to five ANO-funded youth employment projects in the Asia region (including ICT4V initiatives) . Support to ANO-funded projects will represent 60% of the time allocation of this role and will entail as a minimum:

Intensive support for the design of 3 new ANO-funded projects and appraisal of finalized designs as per ANO design guidelines, drawing upon the experience of ARO colleagues and the ICT4V tools currently being piloted within the region.

Monitoring of project progress and financial expenditure against program designs, including in-country travel and review of quarterly monitoring reports for all 5 projects. Intensive support to ANO-funded projects in instances of low capacity or poor project performance, including the provision of targeted training to project teams. Risk Management and the reporting to ARO and ANO of any emerging project risks, including any child protection risks.

Input into and review of DFAT Annual Development Plans (ADPlans) for all 5 projects to meet the submission deadline to ANO of mid-June. Input into and review of DFAT Annual Development reports covering the previous year’s project progress to meet the submission deadline to ANO of mid-September

Provision of broader technical support to ANO and non-ANO projects, particularly in relation to guidance on inclusion of marginalized youth, including young women, youth with disabilities and youth ethnic minority groups and, where appropriate, the development of common tools/methodologies to enable vulnerable youth to access market-led vocational training opportunities;

Grant Acquisition and Donor Liaison (20%)

New donors identified that enable scale-up of Youth Employment interventions in the region, particularly focusing on opportunities to leverage ANO-sourced funding bilateral, multilateral and private sector funding sources.

Leadership in, or input into donor funding proposals in collaboration with a bid team.

Strategy and Learning (20%)

Contribute to revision of the ARO Youth Employment Strategy and sub-strategies covering ICT4V, scaling up, funding strategy and organizational sustainability;

Contribute to development and revision of standardized M&E systems to generate common performance indicators which demonstrate meaningful impact and contribute to the region’s strategic direction;

Contribute to the development of tools which identify appropriate local employment sectors with sufficient demand for the skills that have been acquired; developing strategy and tools for identification and selection of suitable local training and business partners; ICT4V tools to compliment and enhance traditional face to face teaching methodology, develop cost-effective scaling up model and develop mechanism for following the alumni etc.;

Documentation is accessible and disseminated internally and externally through user-friendly and user-oriented channels;

Desirable Developed evidence base, incorporating research, baseline studies, mid-term and final evaluations of ANO-funded projects and others implemented in the ARO region;

Strategic and operational partnerships established at country, regional and global levels:

Country and partner organizational capacity will be assessed and action plans developed to address knowledge and skills gaps;

Enhanced reputation of Plan as a leading practitioner and stakeholder in Youth Employment Solutions by donors, businesses and communities of practice; and

Plan International representation at national, regional and international forums.

Dealing with Problems:

Complexity of problems handled & the degree of investigation, analysis, & creative thinking required to solve them

The Youth Employment Manager will be responsible for providing technical support across a range of operating environments throughout Asia, including post-disaster areas and urban centers

He/she will provide overall management, quality assurance and monitoring to ensure programs are appropriately designed, program quality standards and targets are met, and implementation is enabled through effective partnership identification and management. The Youth Employment Manager will need to adapt to the varying levels of country office and program unit capacity, and ensure that their support is pitched at an appropriate level.

S/he will serve as the region’s contract point for targeted national and multi-country funding arrangements and will support country office relationships with donors as appropriate;

S/he will also ensure that Plan’s CCCD and Child Protection principles are built into programmes including Plan’s special focus on marginalized youth, especially girls, youth with disabilities and other excluded youth; and, that there are appropriate linkages with other programs undertaken by Plan.

Communications and Working Relationships:

Working contacts inside and outside the organization; include the purpose and level (high, medium, low) of the contact

Influence country program and management teams on the formulation and implementation of Youth Employment programs;

Network with key stakeholders at country and regional level, including donors, strategic and organizational partners in the field of Youth Employment to increase Plan’s visibility in the area; and,

Foster exchange platforms for Youth Employment teams in the region in order to ensure sharing of lessons learned and adoption of best practices.

Knowledge, Skills, Behaviors, and Experience Required to Achieve Role’s Objectives:

Gained through education, training, & experience

Knowledge

Proven knowledge of the latest issues, research, policy and practice in Youth Employment programming in a range of contexts. Familiarity with the Livelihoods Advancement Business School (LABS) methodology will be a plus

Senior professional qualification on child protection, labor and educational approaches and/or related area, or equivalent professional experience;

Up-to-date on latest M&E frameworks, baseline studies and evaluation models

Demonstrated understanding of gender and other factors of marginalization and capacity to work with project teams to undertake gender analysis and develop project-level strategies to address gender inequality and marginalization;

Definitive experience with ICT integration in education programs

Knowledge and experience in one or more Asian countries context would be desirable

Skills

Demonstrated managerial or senior level technical advisory expertise in the design, implementation and evaluation in education for employment/livelihoods

Experience in the development of workable guidelines and standards

Demonstrated facilitation and training experience

Influencing, representational and advocacy skills

Excellent communication skills operating at a distance and across a wide variation in cultures

Excellent command of English, both speaking and writing and prior experience in writing donor proposals and reports

Attitude

Self motivated

Culturally sensitive

Flexible, adaptive while maintaining the big picture

Inclusive of others: gender sensitivity and inclusion of those with special needs is central to effective Youth Employment & Livelihoods

Physical Environment and Demands:

May be “typical office environment”; note if heavy lifting, climbing, excess travel, etc.

Frequent travel within and outside the region (50%).

Reports to:

This role will report directly to the ARO Youth Employment Specialist. However, given the focus of the role on ANO-funded projects, this role will be required to communicate closely with the ANO International Programs Manager on specific issues relating to ANO-supported projects. On responsibilities including DFAT reporting and ANO project design, the role will need to specifically engage with ANO. Performance management and everyday reporting will, however, be managed by the ARO Youth Employment Specialist.

Duration of contract:

1 Year

Closing date:

Monday 28th March 2016

Application Process:

Please send your CV and a covering letter explain why your skills, knowledge and experience meet the requirements of this job to PlanAsia.JobVacancies@plan-international.org by 5.00pm local time Bangkok on Monday 28th March 2016. Please state clearly in the subject title of the email the job you are applying for.

For more information or questions, please contact the RO HR&OD Manager, Khun Na.

Internal applicants are responsible for informing their line manager about their application.

You may find full job profile and qualifications required on the JD attachment