VACANCY – Economic Empowerment officer
ALIGHT works with its partners and constituencies to provide opportunities and expertise to refugees, displaced people and host communities – to better survive conflicts and crisis, and to rebuild lives of dignity, health, security and self-sufficiency. ALIGHT presently works in and with partners in seventeen countries globally. ALIGHT has consistently operated in Rwanda since the year 1994, and today has a strong and committed team of over eight hundred personnel who include full time staff, community mobilizers and incentive workers– implementing programs in Reproductive Health, HIV and Nutrition; also, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, Shelter and general Infrastructure, Livelihoods/Economic strengthening, and Sexual and Gender Based Violence Prevention/ Protection. Our work in Rwanda currently covers all the refugee locations and their kind Rwandan-host communities. And we are always looking to expand and, jointly with our partners, offer lasting impact with and for the communities we serve! ALIGHT is looking for a qualified, self-driven and committed individual to join its team as Economic Empowerment Officer to be based full time in any one of the field sites (refugee camps, transit and reception centers) where ALIGHT has active operations with fix term to December 2023.
PRIMARY PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:
The Economic empowerment officer will coordinate and oversee the economic development of the assigned community and supporting Economic response activities in refugee camps for business expansion and retention.
PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Identify customers groups to begin the grant application process and conduct the pre-grant interviews/selection;
- Design, monitor and implement weekly work plans to insure achievement of program results and good performance;
- Build the capacities of refugees and host community in business, management and entrepreneurship related skills to improve resilience and self-reliance;
- In collaboration with the program unit, carry out market surveys, feasibility studies, needs assessment and other data collection activities related to the livelihood sector to support appropriate monitoring and evaluation of all activities;
- Collaborate with all sectors to identify and mobilize beneficiaries among the targeted vulnerable groups in the camp;
- Carry out sensitization and mobilization meetings with the refugee, and host community towards the importance of their participation in livelihoods activities;
- Collaborate with the Site Lead to identify and oversee the budget for all economic empowerment activities in the camp;
- Ensure business owners have access to a variety of financial service available in the camp including savings in micro financial institutions and banks available in the community
- Perform any other duties assigned by the supervisor, or any other Alight Senior Manager.
- Ensure the planned the activities are implemented on time.
EDUCATION, TECHNICAL SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED:
- Minimum Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent in Development studies, Project management, Business Administration, Agronomist or related fields;
- Significant and sustained experience of 2 years in a similar role implementing livelihood & entrepreneurship, preferably in an International NGO;
- Significant background working with refugees and host community groups implementing community service projects;
- Experience in working in donor-funded projects with International NGO’s particularly those addressing livelihoods and economic development;
- Demonstrated ability to write clearly, insightfully and persuasively in English, Kinyarwanda and meet regularly tight demanding deadlines;
- Experience in managing and working with a multicultural staff and familiarity working procedures in camp environment;
- Strong participatory leadership and interpersonal skills;
- Ability to motivate and counsel community groups for business orientation;
KEY BEHAVIORS & ABILITIES:
- Proven ability to manage staff under the project and work effectively with colleagues, donors, partner organizations, stakeholders, local institutions, and others at all levels;
- Ability to develop implementation plans with logical framework as well as develop monitoring and evaluation tools and processes to ensure that set goals and targets are achieved;
- Familiar to interact with people at all levels, individually and/or in groups;
- Capacity to work independently in a fast pace environment and deliver results with tight
- Deadlines;
- Self- motivated and customer oriented with a strong sense of personal ethic, integrity and quality;
- Excellent strategic analytical thinking, process management and problem solving;
- Initiative and resourcefulness innovation;
- Strong ethical standards and high level of integrity;
- Strong interpersonal skills and organizational skills;
- Can handle stressful situations without compromising the achievement of goals and objectives;
Interested candidates should submit 1page Cover letter, and updated CV (maximum three pages) and names, title and contacts of three professional referees, to include most current employer/supervisor (all in/as one document) – via email only to: RWJobs@wearealight.org with the POSITION applied for clearly indicated in the subject line. The deadline for submission of applications is October 25th 2023. However due to urgency to update the roaster, Application will be reviewed on a rolling basis until successful candidates are available. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Alight is an Equal Opportunity Employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gend er identity, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, or protected veteran status. Alight complies with all applicable laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.
