Associate Business Advisor

Description

• TechnoServe works with enterprising women and men in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. We are a non-profit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hardworking men and women in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs and wealth for their families and communities. With more than four decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives
• Program Description: TechnoServe is set to launch a four-year program, titled "PRO," which seeks to accelerate the growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), generate economic opportunities, and increase income generation in northern Mozambique. The program will dopt catalytic and facilitative interventions, with a particular focus on supporting women and youth-owned enterprises. Following a fruitful inception phase spanning January 2024 to August 2027, the PRO project will leverage the insights gained and transition from direct intervention to a more comprehensive Market Systems Development approach. This shift will involve transferring knowledge and expertise to local Business Development Service (BDS) providers, thereby ensuring scalability and long-term sustainability for the entire MSME market. The PRO program will strength the capacity of BDS providers to effectively serve a diverse range of businesses. This will be achieved through direct training sessions with BDS staff, as well as the development of sustainable business models to reinforce the providers' operational models
• Job Summary: The Associate Business Advisor will report directly to the Business Advisor-1. The Associate Business Advisor will be responsible for identifying, recruiting, training of entrepreneurs – direct beneficiaries of the program. The Associate Business Advisor will be responsible for facilitating training and mentoring sessions in business skills, financial literacy, gender awareness, including workshops, and promoting networking among entrepreneurs. To do so, the Associated Business Advisor will work closely with local communities, women and young entrepreneurs, and public and private sector partners. The Associate Business Advisor is responsible for keeping training records and providing any other support in the execution of field activities, as well as monitoring and evaluating the business skills training in the program. The Associate Business Advisor is expected to be self-sufficient, motivated, and proactive, but will be supported by members of the TechnoServe local team in Mozambique. The Associate Business Advisor will be based in Nampula, carrying out most of their activities in the field

Duties

Deliver the Business Managerial Skills Training Activities

• Participate in the "training of trainers" on key topics such as facilitation and teaching skills for adults; Gender awareness and gender-sensitive recruitment; Financial literacy; and business management skills
• Coordinate all activities related to the preparation of training activities and ensure that operational, logistical, and financial practices are in compliance with TechnoServe policies
• Support in locating, identifying, and integrating women and young entrepreneurs into the project's training cycles according to defined selection criteria
• Follow the training script, methodology, and criteria, including the duration of the class, respecting guidelines and punctuality norms, use of materials, activities, and approved lesson and work plans
• Ensure that technical training is of high quality, locally relevant (using local language and examples), and effectively reaches participants
• Identify key competency gaps within target groups in relation to local economic opportunities and provide feedback to the supervisor on training requirements/needs and propose improvements to the curriculum
• Offer regular guidance and counseling throughout the project to improve business performance and support the development and implementation of business growth plans
• Offer an effective, culturally sensitive, and high-quality gender awareness module for women and young entrepreneurs, ensuring that the right message is conveyed (ensuring that Gender-Based Violence mitigation strategies are being followed), and monitor if women are effectively absorbing the learnings
• Ensure the implementation of the gender strategy and that project gender targets are met, as well as support and accompany participants facing gender-related, psychosocial, and drop-out challenges, communicate these challenges to the project team for support and resolution

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Capture successes, failures and learnings and share these learnings internally and externally, and discuss with the Business Advisor-1
• Execute the collection of relevant data for monitoring, evaluation and learning purposes (baseline, midline, endline surveys; routine data collection, training evaluations, good business practices)
• Accurately record, within the defined period, and in compliance with internal standards for data collection and management, all monitoring and evaluation data of the training intervention, and proactively raise concerns/issues with the project team
• Ensure the reliability of the M&E data and suggest necessary improvements for better quality control

Stakeholder Management – under the MSD approach

• Develop and sustain a communicative, positive working relationship with local government, business community, community leaders, and other key stakeholders
• Under the leadership of the Senior Business Advisors (MSD), they will work closely with partner institutions, carrying out tasks such as training of trainers, mentoring in the process of transferring training packages to partners, following up on institutional capacity-building activities of partners, according to their respective intervention strategies
• Hold discussions with stakeholders to identify their needs, challenges and map out solutions with the guidance of the Senior Business Advisors (MSD)

Requisites

• Basic Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in business management, economics, statistics, or international development, or relevant academic training in an analytical field, with proven analytical capabilities in market studies or 2 years of technical and field experience in implementing business development projects, community development, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion, with particular focus on women and youth located in urban and rural areas
• Experience working with training and/or mentoring programs for young people and women
• 2 years of experience in similar roles, working in the development sector
• Fluent in Portuguese and Emakhua
• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills; exceptional ability to familiarize oneself with local community practices and sympathize and understand the needs of local women and youth entrepreneurs
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing gender equality
• Ability to balance multiple priorities and meet demanding deadlines
• Strong project management, financial analysis, and entrepreneurial attitude skills
• Ability to work effectively with minimal supervision
• Availability to be based and work full-time with rural communities
• Posture, maturity, good judgment, and capable of problem-solving and generating innovative solutions
• Excellent verbal communication
• Fluency in Portuguese, fluency in local languages is an advantage
• Experience in the socio-economic context of the northern region is an advantage
• Understand, respect, and promote TechnoServe's values, vision, and strategy in implementing assigned tasks

Notes

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted
• Travel: Availability for domestic travels within the target regions up to 10% of time
• We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply
• With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes
• We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks
• TechnoServe's Commitment to Gender Equality
• TechnoServe believes that achieving prosperity requires the full and free participation of women and girls. Our Gender Policy and our commitment to programme excellence require us to involve, empower and benefit both women and men, both at the level of our beneficiaries and at the level of our staff Mangwana Programme's Commitment to Gender Equality
• By joining our team, you will benefit from a respectful working environment for women and men that believes in the professional development of each one
• If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources at recruitment@tns.org or call +1 202 785 4515