Associate Business Advisor (m/f)

Description

• TechnoServe is currently implementing Phase V of the ExxonMobil Foundation funded Business Women Connect (BWC) project in Mozambique. The goal of the program is to increase economic opportunities for women by promoting effective use of formal savings products and business skills of business/financial women. In partnership with formal financial service providers - we will engage approximately 500 women entrepreneurs to help them improve their businesses, and become more effective financial service providers and ambassadors of formal savings to thousands of other women in Mozambique. The three main outcomes of the BWC project are: 1) Increased number of women financial agents; 2) Increased capacity of women in business; 3) Increased capacity of financial service providers to reach women agents and clients
• The role of the Associate Business Advisor is to train business women in business skills, financial literacy, gender awareness and the competitive advantages of IF/MNO through classroom training sessions and in person coaching. She may work closely with IF/MNO teams to identify and recruit new women entrepreneurs to become IF/MNO agents. To do this, the Associate Business Advisor should work closely with local community authorities, local business women and stakeholders, as well as the respective TechnoServe team. The Associate Business Advisor is responsible for routine and baseline data collection, mid and endlines, recording attendance and providing any other project monitoring or evaluation support

Duties

• Identify and train women entrepreneur’s/bank officers
• Participate in "train the trainers" training, on Adult Facilitation and Teaching skills, Gender Awareness and
• Gender Sensitive Recruitment; and teach backs on financial education; competitive advantages of IF/MNO and business skills
• Coordinate all activities related to training preparation and ensure that operational, logistical and financial practices are adhered to as per TechnoServe policy
• Conduct training for IF/MNO teams on gender, recruitment of women agents and clients, and financial education - with support from the Senior Business Counselor and Business Advisor when possible
• Conduct high quality, appropriate and relevant trainings to IF/MNO women entrepreneurs and agents, and ensure that the project trains no less than 250 business women
• Support IF/MNO team in locating, identifying and recruiting business women to become bank agents and receive training from TNS; ensure project goals for women agents are met IF/MNO team, and when challenges arise, work with the Senior Business Counselor to resolve issues
• Coordinate refresher trainings and counseling sessions to IF/MNO teams, with support from the Senior Business Counselor when possible
• Provide coaching services in the establishments on selected modules and offer the women entrepreneurs high quality, relevant, practical, focused and regular coaching and counseling throughout the project to support business development and performance
• Follow BWC's training script and criteria, including class length, use of materials, activities, the approved lesson and work plans
• Record trainees' attendance and absences, and proactively and regularly raise concerns/issues with BWC staff

Gender Integration

• Ensure that the needs of women entrepreneurs/agents linked to gender are addressed, and in case they are not, communicate to the Senior Business Counselor to resolve
• Provide an effective, culturally sensitive and high quality gender sensitization module for the women entrepreneurs/agents, ensuring that the right message is conveyed (ensuring that Gender Based Violence mitigation strategies are being followed) and monitoring whether women are effectively absorbing the learnings

Monitoring and evaluation

• Collect data for baseline, midline, and endline and through regular data collection tools during trainings or coaching sessions to ensure we collect relevant information on project indicators
• Participate actively and regularly in team meetings to track implementation progress and share relevant data from the intervention (e.g. attendance lists, feedback forms, etc.)
• Understand, respect and promote TechnoServe's values, vision and strategy in the implementation of assigned tasks
• Accurately record the attendance of participants
• Ensure timely delivery of data and reports to the BWC team

Requisites

• University degree in management, business, administration, economics, international development or related field
• Minimum one year of professional experience working with business, entrepreneurship, microfinance, mobile financial services or community development focused on women's economic empowerment
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills; exceptional ability to become familiar with local community practices and sympathize with and understand the needs of local women entrepreneurs
• Entrepreneurial attitude and knowledge of business management
• Ability to work effectively with minimal supervision
• Poise, maturity, common sense and able to solve problems
• Excellent verbal communication
• Speaking and writing professionally in Portuguese; fluency in local language(s)

Notes

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted
• TechnoServe is an equal opportunity employer for minorities, women, protected veterans and people with disabilities