Senior Skills and Employability Specialist - ILO - Beirut, Lebanon

Human Resources Development Department International Labour Office
Vacancy No: RAPS/2/2012/AR/01 Title: Senior Skills and Employability Specialist Grade: P.5 Contract type: Fixed-Term Appointment	Date: 12 September 2012 Application Deadline: 12 October 2012 (22 day(s) until closing deadline) Currently accepting applications   Organization unit:   DWT-BEIRUT Duty Station:  Beirut, Lebanon
The following are eligible to apply: - ILO Internal candidates in accordance with paragraphs 15 and 16 of Annex I of the Staff Regulations. - External candidates. Technical cooperation staff with more than five years of continuous service are encouraged to apply and will be given special consideration at the screening and evaluation stage. Within the context of the ILO's efforts to promote staff mobility, applicants should expect to take up different assignments (field and Headquarters) during their career. The desirable length of the assignment in this specific position is three to five years, following which period the incumbent should be willing to move to another assignment and/or duty station. The ILO values diversity among its staff and aims at achieving gender parity. We welcome applications from qualified women and men, including those with disabilities. Applications from qualified candidates from non- or under-represented member States, or from those member States which staffing forecasts indicate will become non- or under-represented in the near future, would be particularly welcome. A list of these countries is in Appendix I. Conditions of employment are described in Appendix II.
INTRODUCTION The position is located in the Decent Work Technical Support Team for the Arab States (DWT-Beirut) in the ILO Regional Office for Arab States (RO-Beirut). DWTs provide high-quality, timely, and integrated technical support to constituents in the design and implementation of Decent Work Country Programmes (DWCP) within the framework of outcome-based work plans. The incumbent will be responsible for policy advisory services to constituents and helping to integrate skills development into broader employment promotion strategies, and for the design and technical backstopping of technical cooperation projects in the field of skills development and employment services which includes targeting both formal and informal skills development provision. Significant emphasis will be given to addressing the training and skills needs of women, disadvantaged youth, unemployed graduates, persons with disabilities and informal economy workers. The position will report to the Director of DWT-Beirut and receive technical guidance and advice from the Skills and Employability Department (EMP/SKILLS) in ILO headquarters in Geneva. DWT-Beirut covers the following: Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Occupied Arab Territories, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Close collaboration with the ILO DWT for North Africa (DWT-Cairo) and technical counterparts in other regions is envisaged.
Description of Duties Specific duties 1. Analyse trends and developments in the countries of the region, including in post-crisis and recovery countries, which have a direct bearing on the formulation of skills development policies, employment promotion, and poverty reduction strategies. 2. Work with constituents to adapt the ILO conceptual and policy framework on skills for employment to national and sector circumstances and country priorities. 3. Provide policy advice and technical expertise to countries for improvements in inter-ministerial coordination in order to link basic education, vocational training, employment services and lifelong learning and to integrate skills development in employment strategies and in the work of line ministries (agriculture, industry, environment, enterprise development, youth employment, trade and commerce, migration, etc.) 4. In coordination with employment and enterprise development specialists, develop integrated strategies that link technical and vocational training ) to better quality jobs, enterprise productivity and good working conditions in order to enhance the social perception of technical and vocational training. 5. Provide advice on developing and sustaining industry skill councils and other institutions to fully engage employer and worker representatives in designing and implementing skills development strategies and in linking training provision to current labour market needs and to emerging employment-creating industries and sectors in order to reduce skills mismatch. 6. Build capacity of employment services to provide effective and efficient support targeting labour market entry of youth, matching the supply of skilled workers and employment opportunities, and implementation of active labour market programmes. 7. Mainstream gender issues in national skills development policies and systems and in technical cooperation projects, and, where appropriate, promote policies and programmes targeting women's access to quality and relevant training. 8. Support the outreach, partnerships and resource mobilization efforts led by RO-Beirut. Keep abreast of the development of policies and procedures of other international and bilateral agencies active in skills development in the region. Participate in joint missions and promote ILO policy objectives in national and subregional development programmes funded by these agencies. 9. Analyse, document and disseminate good practices on conducive national policies and local initiatives linking skills development to decent and productive work as part of regional and global knowledge-management systems, including contributing to the Global Public-Private Knowledge-sharing Platform on Skills for Employment. 10. Participate in the development of global products in order to maintain cross-regional coherence in ILO policy advice, tools, and methods and in order to assure the relevance of research, policy guidance, and TC tools to the needs of constituents in the Arab States. These specific duties are aligned with the relevant ILO generic job description, which includes the following generic duties: 1. Lead, organize, plan, supervise and control the work of a technical unit (including managerial functions). 2. Design and promote a wide range of special subject-matter-related programmes, This involves analysis of complex or conflicting data, statistics, information or policy guidelines in a manner requiring the advanced application of principles of a recognized technical specialization. 3. Develop and review an institutional framework, in which social partners can best improve, implement and evaluate efficient and equitable ILO action programmes. 4. Assume full responsibility for policy formulation and providing policy advice to ILO's constituents on institutional strengthening, the application of ILO standards and the promotion of technical cooperation activities. 5. Develop project design, review proposals, formulate, revise and submit project proposals and negotiate funding. 6. Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the project activities. 7. Lead technical advisory missions. 8. Conduct seminars, workshops and technical meetings. 9. Prepare recommendations and guidelines for discussion and adoption as ILO recommendations on related technical fields. 10. Write manuals and training guides on related topics. 11. Disseminate information on action programmes through publications and press releases as well as ensuring representation at donors' meetings, international, regional and national fora and advocacy campaigns. 12. Monitor and coordinate research carried out by junior technical officers and external collaborators. 13. Provide technical inputs to office documents (sectoral meetings, technical committees, conference reports, Director General's report to ILC).
Required Qualifications
Education Advanced university degree in economics, labour economics, human resources development, education and training, or other social sciences with demonstrated expertise in the relevant field.
Experience Ten to fifteen years' experience of which at least seven years at the international level in human resources development, vocational education and training and skills development including for the informal economy. Experience in design and implementation of technical cooperation projects in skills development, working within the UN system on CCAs and UNDAFs and other relevant work in developing countries would be an advantage.
Languages Excellent command of English, with knowledge of Arabic a critical asset.
Competencies Proven communication and drafting skills, both written and verbal and the ability to work productively and cooperatively in a multi-cultural team environment. Ability to conduct discussions and negotiate with governments, employers' and workers' organizations, non-governmental organizations, development banks and with other agencies as well as top-level professionals in related fields. The ability to work in a multicultural environment and gender-sensitive behaviour and attitudes are also required.
Additional Information: Evaluation (which may include one or several written tests) and interviews for this post will take place in principle between the last week of October and mid - December 2012. Candidates are requested to ensure their availability should they be short listed for further consideration. Please note that all candidates must complete an on-line application form. To apply, please visit ILO's e-Recruitment website at: erecruit.ilo.org. The system provides instructions for online application procedures.