Skill Development Advisor

Professional Alliance for Development (PADet) is an indigenous, not-for-profit; a nongovernmental humanitarian organization established in 1998. It has been serving disadvantaged and marginalized segments of the community especially youth, women children in the areas of Reproductive Health HIV/AIDs Prevention and Care, Child Protection, Women Development and Livelihood &Food Securities for the last 25 years.

Project Background

PADet, as a consortium partner in a program led by SNV and funded by Mastercard Foundation will be implementing an anticipated flagship program focused on enabling 112,000 Rural young women (RYW) to access dignified and fulfilling jobs in Eastern Amhara regions. The program will target high-potential agricultural value chains (e.g., horticulture, poultry, dairy), using a market systems development approach. So PADet needs to recruit qualified and competent candidates in the following job opportunities.

Job title: Skill Development Advisor

Grade level: IX

Location: Field office/Dessie

Report to: Cluster Coordinator

Number of staff required: 1

Position Summary: 

the position holder is responsible for providing technical leadership at the cluster level to design, coordinate, and oversee inclusive, gender-responsive, and market-relevant skills development interventions for rural young women (RYW) and persons with disabilities. The role involves engaging and strengthening local training providers, supporting woreda facilitators, and promoting the integration of digital, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy training into existing systems, strengthen the local skills ecosystem, enhance access to training and improve service quality. The Advisor ensures training is accessible and responsive by introducing flexible delivery models, embedding inclusive practices, and customizing content to the local context. The position also supports quality assurance, contributes to learning and reporting, and represents the program in cluster-level coordination platforms to align training supply with market demand and youth aspirations. The role reports to the Cluster Coordinator and is technically guided by the Skill System Advisor at national level.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the planning, design, and rollout of skills development interventions within the cluster in alignment with annual and quarter work plan and national program strategy.
• Oversee the implementation of tailored training packages (entrepreneurship, agribusiness, digital & financial literacy, value chain trainings) adapted for RYW and persons with disabilities as per the approved cluster plan
• Ensuring the quality of trainings and training materials to be organized to various groups of project participants, service providers and other TOTs.
• Support and participate in the training and other capacity building activities of Youth Savings and Loan Associations (YSLA).
• Identify, assess, engage and strengthen local skill service providers such as A/TVETs, youth centers, OSSCs, universities, private training providers, etc to co-develop and deliver inclusive, gender-responsive, and digital-integrated training.
• Provide technical guidance to woreda facilitators on service provider engagement, and follow-up
• Actively participate in customizing training manuals to make it contextualized and tailored to the cluster context
• Provide inputs on the development of strategies to reduce barriers for RYW and persons with disabilities to access training and skills services.
• Support flexible and innovative training delivery models (e.g., mobile training, community-based learning, digital advisory services) to increase accessibility.
• Promote and support the adoption of digital advisory and learning tools in collaboration with training providers.
• Work closely with GESI, safeguarding and other advisors to ensure training delivery in the most accessible, inclusive and tailored way addressing the needs of all program participants (RYW, Persons with Disabilities and young mothers)
• Support efforts to embed inclusion mechanisms (e.g., assistive devices, childcare services, safe space) within training institutions to enhance participation for young mothers and persons with disabilities.
• Work to embed digital literacy, entrepreneurship, financial literacy trainings and mentorship into existing systems of woreda-level government offices, training centers (A/TVETs, youth centers, OSSCs), and community institutions to improve access for youth, especially RYW and Persons with Disabilities.
• Collaborate with the MEAL team to develop tools and indicators to track participation, completion, and outcome of skills/ training interventions.
• Conduct regular field visits and coaching sessions with zonal coordinator, woreda facilitators and skill service providers to monitor quality and inclusiveness of service delivery and provide timely feedback.
• Capture lessons learned, document success stories, and contribute technical input to cluster-level progress reports, learning briefs, and annual work plans,
• Engage in multi-stakeholder dialogues and represent the program in cluster-level forums, skills networks, and coordination platforms to align training services with market needs and youth aspirations.
• Take other responsibilities within the project that will help the team to achieve the desired results.

Qualifications and experience

• Master’s /BA degree in education, Agriculture, Youth Development, TVET, Social Sciences, or a related field.
• At least 4 years of relevant experience in skills development preferably in rural youth employment and agricultural value chains.
• Proven experience in working with TVET institutions, private training providers, and public skill development systems.
• Strong understanding of GESI, safeguarding, and inclusion approaches in training.
• Experience in coaching and capacity building of field staff and local actors.
• Proven expertise in adult learning methodologies and youth entrepreneurship experience in tracking training quality and gathering field data.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Willingness to travel extensively within the assigned cluster.

Personal Competency:

• Willingness to work extra working hours and weekends with staff.
• Highly motivated, self-managed and Strategic oriented.
• High level commitment to achieve project goal and Objectives.
• Able to work with minimum supervision.
• Ability to prepare and submit quality reports timely