Senior Advisor for Skills Development (100%)

Responsibilities 

• Provide technical support, strategic guidance, and technical backstopping of project teams in the field of Skills Development for current and prospective internal and external clients.
• Contribute to the identification of trends and thematic areas where skills development products and solutions are needed, and support positioning Swisscontact’s thematic expertise within and outside the organisation.
• Lead and support business development
• Assume leadership for thematic area of “green skills and jobs”: (virtual) community of practice facilitation, provision of technical inputs and reviews, concept development, documentation of good practice, support to monitoring tools, etc.
• Contribute to the development of training and capacity building sessions/courses and deliver these to internal and external audiences.
• Mentor and support other team members (e.g. interns) when required

Requirements 

• Postgraduate degree in Education, Vocational Education and Training (VET), Labour Market Sociology/Economics or equivalent.
• At least 6 years of project implementation experience, in technical advisory and support to projects in development cooperation, of which preferably 4 years based in developing countries in the field of VET and/or Labour Market Insertion.
• An established network that includes Swiss VET development cooperation actors.
• Proven experience in business development incl. bid proposal writing.
• Proven experience in carrying out applied research incl. evaluations in the field of VET and/or labour market insertion.
• Strong understanding of Market Systems Development (MSD) is an asset.
• Consultancy experience incl. established client relationships is an asset.
• Working level (spoken and written) in English and French is required, German is a strong asset. Additional languages are an asset.
• Excellent communication, digital, interpersonal and intercultural skills.
• Flexibility and willingness to frequently travel internationally.
• Business-oriented, self-starting, dynamic, and ambitious personality.
• Candidate must be in possession of working permit for Switzerland at the time of application.

Swisscontact offers attractive working conditions in an international and multicultural context. We see our work as a joint effort in an agile organizational culture: mutual respect, trust and teamwork.

We look forward to receiving your online application with the following documents in English or German: letter of motivation, curriculum vitae, diplomas and references. Please apply exclusively via the online application portal until 13th January 2025.

Swisscontact - Schweizerische Stiftung für technische Entwicklungszusammenarbeit

Swisscontact ist eine unabhängige, gemeinnützige Entwicklungsorganisation, die 1959 von Akteuren der Schweizer Privatwirtschaft und Zivilgesellschaft gegründet wurde.

In unserer Entwicklungsarbeit nutzen wir das Potenzial privater Initiative in Entwicklungs- und Schwellenländern. Wir fördern eine nachhaltige und integrative wirtschaftliche Entwicklung mit dem Ziel, die Lebensqualität für alle zu verbessern.

Unsere Arbeit basiert auf drei Säulen: Wir stärken die Kompetenzen von Menschen, damit sie ihr Einkommen verbessern und ihre Erwerbschancen verbessern können; wir erhöhen die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit von Unternehmen, damit sie wachsen und ihre Widerstandsfähigkeit stärken können; und wir fördern sozioökonomische Systeme, um eine ganzheitliche Entwicklung für breitenwirksamen Wohlstand zu begünstigen.

Die Organisation ist derzeit mit rund 1400 Mitarbeitenden in über 130 Projekten in 41 Ländern aktiv. Der Hauptsitz befindet sich in Zürich, Schweiz.