Lead Expert Economic Empowerment

The responsibilities and tasks include, but are not limited to:

• Identifies and analysis EE specific technical needs of SPARK’s projects in the Middle East region
• Acts as focal point for EE -related questions and increases knowledge and expertise on EE through capacity building both within SPARK country teams and within partner organisations with a strong focus on innovation, entrepreneurship, SME support, and skills building approaches that focus on local markets for employment
• Ensures to stay abreast of new developments and current trends concerning EE in the region to support development of EE strategies
• Develops and standardizes of content/ tools/ guidelines/ manuals/ frameworks to meet the technical needs for internal and external use
• Capitalizes and disseminates the best practices and lessons learned of SPARK’s EE for mainstreaming within the organization
• Works closely the regional and country teams as a sparring partner to sharpen SPARK’s interventions
• Provides technical input and feedback on reports, evaluations and tools and works in closely with the acquisition team on project proposals to ensure quality and innovative interventions are integrated into proposals
• Builds and engages in high level dialogue with private sector companies at regional and country levels
• Participates in cluster/sector/technical meetings as well as conferences relevant for SPARK
• Assists RPM and CMs in stakeholder representation and management

Requirements and Skills

• BA or MA in social science degree in a relevant discipline related to international development or education, with a preference for candidates with some formal training in economics
• Substantial professional experience (at least 5 years) related to economic development in developing countries, working with multilateral, bilateral or non-governmental development organizations
• Proven expertise in the area of EE (publications, speaker events, skills, references, past jobs)
• Experience of working with affected populations, especially refugees and displaced populations
• Previous experience in developing tools and guidelines and delivering trainings, coaching and mentoring
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• For Turkey this position is only open to candidates with Turkish citizenship
• Turkish and/or Arabic highly desirable

SPARK Offers

• A challenging and exciting position in an international environment;
• Full-time contract 40h/per week with possibility of extension based on performance and available budget.
• Training opportunities.