Company Profile

WUSC (World University Service of Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of students, volunteers, schools, governments, and businesses who share this vision. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have over 90 staff in our Ottawa office, and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors such as Global Affairs Canada, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Mastercard Foundation and the African Development Bank.

Job Description

The Accelerating Change Through InnoVation in Agricultural TVET (ACTIVATE) project is a 5-year collaborative initiative that will contribute to a stronger, gender-responsive, socially inclusive and market-driven Agriculture Technical, Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) System that facilitates sustainable employment pathways, well-being and resilience of young women and men in Ghana. ACTIVATE will blend education and high quality, market relevant skills training in specific agriculture value chains and support growth of agripreneurship. The project will reduce gender specific barriers, elevate the voice and aspirations of youth and integrate a strong inclusivity lens, with respect to gender and disability while building collaboration and linkages among key stakeholders such as public and private actors, academia, and agriculture value chain actors to create decent work for young people. ACTIVATE will respond to key challenges facing the agriculture and adjacent sectors including insufficient management capacity of ATVET sector facilitation bodies, non-alignment of new TVET policies and reforms across sector ministries, low quality of ATVET instruction, curriculum and equipment, lack of ATVET engagement with industry, poor business skills among others.

NATURE AND SCOPE
The Zonal Coordinators, reporting to the ATVET Specialist, are responsible for supporting the project with technical, programmatic, and administrative assistance. The Zonal Coordinator serves as the project’s consistent link to the activities of the four (4) zones, and provides the day-to-day problem solving, technical input, writing and editing, and coordination that the field activities require. The Zonal Coordinator will perform a varied range of operation and implementation tasks to deliver quality support within the ACTIVATE Project Offices and the Project overall as per the list of expected tasks below.

Key Responsibilities
Program Support

• Act as a focal person (for respective zone) for partners and stakeholders to support ACTIVATE implementation activities (training, events, campaigns, meetings, partnership, ect.)
• Provide needed support on sustaining processes for developing and updating market-driven, gender-sensitive training programs, with strong employer engagement.
• In collaboration with the ATVET specialist, provide the needed support on TVET best practices in curriculum development and revision, ToT and training program implementation, innovations and models, gender considerations and evaluations, internship linkages and employment processes.
• Implement and support sustainability, scaling up, and identification of revisions of technical and soft skills training programs as required of the national standards and plans.
• In collaboration with ATVET Specialist and MERL team, assess the capacity of ATVETs at the institutional level. Support the design and implementation of capacity development plans as required.
• Work closely with the GESI and Safeguarding Advisor, partners and key stakeholders to ensure training delivery and support services at ATVETs are gender responsive and socially inclusive.
• Work closely with the Technical Advisors to provide the necessary support to implementing partners in the planning and management of project implementation.
• Provide backstopping support to anchor partners staff within the respective zone.
• Support in ensuring sustainable engagement and participation of the private sector in the development and implementation of the programs.
• Establish strong working relationships with ATVETs and other stakeholders. Undertake any other tasks assigned by the ATVET Specialist.

Monitoring Coordination

• Coordinate and monitor the activities of implementing partners to ensure timeliness, quality programing and avoid duplication of efforts.
• Compile, analyze and present zonal level data for reporting of program progress.
• Capture and report on program challenges, major decisions, lessons learned and best practices gathered.
• Identify and report on any gaps or weakness in the project reporting and monitoring systems
• Facilitate the collection and documentation of lessons learned that are related to the system change.
• Provide timely inputs to program and donor reports related to zonal activities in compliance with internal WUSC requirements and any relevant external donor requirements in close collaboration with the ATVET Specialist and MERL team.

Required Skills or Experience

• Recognized professional designation in social science, management, or business administration (BA or Bsc.)
• At least four years of progressive experience in related development projects.
• Experience working with INGOS and various implementation partners, governmental and civil society.
• Computing skills in office applications, including Word, Excel.
• Ability to perform diverse and complex work.
• Ability to work in a participatory manner within an international team.
• Experience in various types of reporting
• Ability to think systematically and strategically while setting goals and planning priorities
• Ability to work to meet deadlines in multiple tasking environments.
• Significant field experience working with other partners
• Ability to work independently and objectively maintaining the highest standards of integrity in job performance.
• Extensive travel within the zone will be expected
• Demonstrate commitment to gender equality and belief in women empowerment
• Experience working within the selected location.