Economic Agency and Inclusion Technical Specialist – Mogadishu, Somalia

Project Background:

The USAID/Somalia Inclusive Resilience in Somalia (IRiS) Program will build social, economic and climate resilience in Somalia by; promoting and facilitating drought -resistant agriculture, livelihood diversification for rural and urban households, and robust private sector engagement that helps expand inclusive economic opportunities for marginalized groups. IRiS will provide targeted support to fisheries sector in Somalia to strengthen resilience to climatic shocks and provide equal opportunities for marginalized populations that have long been neglected or underserved as essential participants in local markets and economies.

Position Summary:

The Economic Agency & Inclusion (EA&I) Technical Specialist will be responsible for supporting IRiS’ activities oriented toward increasing access to economic opportunities among marginalized communities living in the program’s Geographic Focal Zone (GFZ). The EA&I Technical Specialist will work in collaboration with the Youth, Gender and Social Inclusion Specialists, other Value Chain Specialists (Fisheries and Private Sector), and Consortium Partners staff to identify opportunities for coordination on an ongoing basis including activity design, trial & iteration, and scaling phases oriented to promoting economic agency of marginalized groups. The EA&I will be required to assess the relevance, implementation modalities and sustainability of proposed interventions by the private sector companies/ lead firms.

The EA&I Technical Specialist will also work closely with private sector and other productive sector stakeholders relevant to IRiS’ Geographic Focal Zone (GFZ) to catalyze reforms that will unlock social and economic opportunities and strengthen resilience of marginalized groups. S/he will work with Somali government institutions, the private sector, and other key stakeholders to address regulatory and market access barriers, improve access to critical information, opportunities, and skills; to ensure inclusivity in economic policymaking; and to scale high-potential markets in a way that supports inclusive systemic change across multiple sectors. The ideal candidate will have a passion for applying market systems thinking and adaptive management approaches to complex development problems, experience with facilitation and stakeholder-led methodologies to implementation, a curiosity for learning and exploration, and a strong self-initiative and desire to collaborate across teams.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Under the guidance of the Economic Agency and Inclusion Lead, identify priority areas for strengthening the economic agency of marginalized groups and develop programmatic strategies that support them.

Provide management and technical support with respect to (a) addressing deep social and regulatory prejudices that hinder marginalized groups from participating in the market systems;

(b) harnessing economic opportunities that can help marginalized citizens overcome entrenched barriers to economic participation and success, and (c) strengthening access to finance and the needed capital among marginalized groups.

Support the vision of the economic agency components of the program and its alignment with other various components of the program, ensuring a consistent technical approach implemented in line with the objectives of the IRiS Program

Support design, implementation, and reporting of work plan activities with a particular focus on strengthening the economic agency of marginalized groups and inclusive economic opportunity.

Support market systems analysis, and strategy, designing private sector partnership opportunities, annual work planning, and informing appropriate monitoring, evaluation, and learning approaches that enhance sector growth that supports marginalized communities.

Identify areas of collaboration/layering and sequencing with other development programs in the target sectors.

Identify priority research and learning opportunities in key target areas and themes to improve the economic agency of marginalized groups.

Help develop and implement a policy engagement and outreach strategy to advance policies across IRiS core geographies that encourage innovation and help to catalyze the uptake of new technologies that support the growth of the enterprises owned by the marginalized groups.

Participate in technical and sectoral meetings and working groups to develop and maintain relationships with government agencies and sector groups – including national and regional economic development agencies, economic thought-leaders, chambers of commerce, sector associations, women’s business groups, training, and academic institutions, and others – which themselves have an interest in promoting broad-based sector development that supports marginalized communities

Work across technical divisions (including those dedicated to climate-resilient agriculture, economic agency and inclusion, and economic empowerment of IDPs) and grant-management teams to ensure achievement of program and workplan targets in a holistic way

Coordinate and oversee the preparation of contractual reports and communication pieces Other tasks as assigned by the Team Leader’s supervisor.