ITC Representative Africa

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Description

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The purpose of this role is to lead ITC’s contribution towards building SME competitiveness, developing trade capacity and inclusive sustainable economic growth in Eastern Africa in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The incumbent will lead DCP’s Office for Africa’s operations in Eastern Africa and assume a representation role vis-à-vis the African Union, from ITC’s Office in Nairobi, Kenya, working closely with the other parts of the Office for Africa (DCP/OA) at ITC HQ. As part of its mandate, OA coordinates ITC’s technical assistance at country, (sub) regional and continental levels including in the context of the operationalization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Responsibilities

• Representing ITC and advocating for ITC in regional organizations – the African Union (AU) and the EAC.
• Managing communication strategies to raise awareness of ITC’s work in the region
• Facilitating ITC’s participation and visibility in important events in the region.   Partnership and Resource Mobilisation: Establishing and maintaining strategic partnerships with governments, stakeholders, and funders in Eastern Africa, to support programme development, implementation, and resource mobilisation. This includes:
• Identifying needs of the national/regional private sector to support SME competitiveness at Macro, Meso and Micro levels.   
• Identifying funding trends and opportunities
• Developing and implementing resource mobilisation and partnership strategies and plans 
• Engaging with funders, developing project leads and negotiating agreements
• Overseeing ITC’s reporting to stakeholders and funders in the region
• Initiating and fostering ‘partnerships for purpose’ with key stakeholders, including government agencies, UN and other international organizations, funders, the private sector and NGOs.  UN Collaboration: Actively participating in the UN Country Team (UNCT) as ITC’s representative for Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Ethiopia. Supporting the ITC Country Manager in representing ITC in the UNCTs of other EAC members. This involves: 
• Positioning ITC in the UN Coordination Frameworks aligned with the ITC regional strategy. 
• Ensuring ITC’s collaboration on UNCT programming and advocacy.
• Contributing to the UN system interagency coherence, collaboration and reporting.
• Engaging in UNCT consultations and decision-making processes.
• Coordinating ITC’s reporting to the Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO).  Strategic Planning and Programme Development: Supporting the development, and monitoring of strategic plans and programmes, aligned with ITC’s global strategy, national priorities, and the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF). This includes: 
• Keeping ITC informed of major social, economic and political developments in the regional organizations (AU, EAC) and assigned countries (EAC members and Ethiopia).
• Providing substantive advice to the Director DCP and senior management on strategies for the region and programme planning; collaborating with the Chief, Office of Africa on synergies within ITC’s portfolio in Africa and the operationalization of the AfCFTA; collaborating with ITC’s other regional offices on South-South trade and investment opportunities.
• Ensuring high quality of project concepts and plans for the East African region while maintaining highest level of client orientation. 
• Leading the formulation of country strategic notes and annual country work plans for the member states of the EAC and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and for ITC’s work with the EAC and AU
• Leading and contributing to needs-assessment missions and project developments 
• Aiding Senior Management missions from ITC headquarters to the region.  ITC project portfolio coordination and oversight: 
• Coordinating ITC’s projects for the member states of the EAC and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to support the ITC regional strategy, national priorities, the UNSDCFs and to be maximize complementarity and results between the programmes and projects.
• Acting as an interface with key stakeholders for improved synergies of ITC projects with the work of development partners 
• Facilitating the uptake of ITC’s Global Public Goods in the countries and regional organizations and ensuring ITC-HQ managers are aware of any specific user needs and feedback. Serving as a channel for other ITC services to governments and Business Support Organizations (BSO) and promoting services innovation in view of client needs.
• Overseeing that projects comply with agreed targets and logical frameworks, donor requirements and UNCT agreements. Identifying risks associated with the ITC project portfolio and with achieving results. 
• Facilitating the establishment and coordination of ITC project offices in the region. 
• Contributing to internal and external evaluations.  Office Management: Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Nairobi office, managing the team of core office staff and resources, and ensuring compliance with ITC and UN regulations and policies. This includes: 
• Developing the core team’s annual work plan and budget.

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in economics, business administration, international relations, political science, law, social sciences or related area.
• A first-level university degree in the above subjects in combination with an additional two years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 15 years of progressively responsible professional experience that combines strategic and managerial leadership in development cooperation at the international level is required. 
•  A minimum of two years experience working in or with Eastern Africa is required. 
• Experience at national and international level in trade and/or private sector development advocacy and policy dialogue, interacting with high-level government and regional officials is required.   
• Experience in resource mobilization resulting in a track record of successful fundraising is required.   
• Experience in leading and managing the development and execution of complex development programmes related to private sector development and/or international trade is required.   
• Experience in managing multicultural teams is required.   
• Experience in executing representational functions (outside own country) is desirable.   
• Experience with inter-organizational collaboration and building and maintaining effective partnerships across organizations is desirable.   

Languages:

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is desirable. Knowledge of an additional official UN language is desirable.

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