JOB- IRC Labor Market Survey Consultant, North Caucasus

Distrib. by: Central-Eurasia-L - Announcement List for Central Eurasian Studies

JOB- IRC Labor Market Survey Consultant, North Caucasus

Posted by: Almut Rochowanski <almut@chechnyaadvocacy.org>

IRC Labor Market Survey Consultant, North Caucasus

Planned start date: October, 2008 and/or as soon as possible

Title of the project: Vperyod (Get Ahead): A pilot program expanding
economic opportunity in war-affected areas of the North Caucasus

Since summer 2006 IRC has been implementing the program Vperyod which
aims to expand grassroots economic opportunity and boost employability
for vulnerable people in war-affected communities of Chechnya. The
program represents the first initiative to integrate vocational
training and micro-business/SME development activity in these
war-affected areas of the North Caucasus.

The program has two major objectives:

* Entrepreneurs in Chechnya benefit from an improved environment for
small business establishment and development.
* Vulnerable youth in Chechnya have improved employment opportunities.

In 2006, IRC, in partnership with the East-West Institute, conducted a
labor market survey and built its program activities based on survey
results. However, Chechnya is currently undergoing large scale state
investment in infrastructure development, and recovery in urban areas
is continuing to progress swiftly, including the start-up of SMEs.
Therefore, IRC believes the revised Labor Market Survey is necessary
to better understand existent gaps at the local market and better
address these gaps. The results of this survey will inform the
implementation of this program and will also be dissimilated widely
among state and non-state actors in this field.

This survey aims to:
* Identify current gaps at the local market and determine demand for
certain professions to inform design of vocational courses for young
men and women. The survey will pay particular attention to current key
state and non-state stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education,
Chamber of Commerce, and the Center for Small Business and the role
they can play in supporting improved youth employability.
* Determine training interests of female youth and where they
correspond with the demands of local economy to ensure adequate
vocational training and work placement opportunities for female youth.
* Conduct comprehensive research on general operating environment for
micro-, small, and medium businesses, in particular the obstacles and
challenges.
* Identify development needs within small and medium businesses in
terms of capital, training, etc.
* Make recommendations to strengthen market-led vocational training
and SME enterprise development programming.

Required Outputs of Survey
* A final report that includes:
* An Executive Summary;
* Methodology used;
* Analysis of the labor market and SME environment
* Main findings;
* Key short term and long term recommendations for future programming
in the fields of vocational training and support to small business;
* If appropriate identify additional opportunities for IRC to support
economic recovery in Chechnya, and potential constraints.
* Survey summary
* Debriefing of IRC Country Director and IRC program team on the main
findings of the survey and recommendations.

Scope of Work

Pre-Visit:
* Review all relevant program documentation including previous labor
market survey reports by IRC and other international organizations.
* Review all IRC documentation on surveys
* Determine, in consultation with Northern Caucasus Program
Coordinator, Learning and Livelihood Coordinator, Development
Technical Unit and IRC Research Evaluation and Learning Unit, the most
appropriate methods for conducting the survey and preparatory work needed.
* Prepare plan for approval by IRC incorporating: data collection
methods, data collection instruments, resources required and plans to
ensure ethical data collection.

Visit:
* Conduct program site visits and agreed methodology with Program
Coordinator, Learning and Livelihood Coordinator, beneficiaries and
stakeholders.
* Provide feedback to IRC throughout visit and share summary of the
survey results, observations, and recommendations with IRC management
and key program staff before departure.
* Note: The consultant will be responsible for following Ethical
Considerations, which include but not limited to obtaining informed
consent from the survey participants.

Post-Visit:
* Prepare draft of the labor market survey summary report and share
it with IRC Northern Caucasus. The draft report will be subject to
discussion by relevant program staff.
* After that, the consultant will prepare a Final Summary Report to
be formally presented to IRC for submission to donors, within 30 days
of visit-end. The report format will be agreed upon during the visit
with the country program.

Qualification and Experience of the required consultant:

The consultant should have at least a master's degree in an area
related to the nature of this consultancy, background in
community-based economic development and capacity-building of local
enterprises and/or entrepreneurs, experience in labor market surveys,
willingness to work in an insecure environment and follow strict
security protocols.

Duration of visit: 2-3 weeks

Other details: IRC Northern Caucasus will arrange all domestic
transport and accommodation, provide a mobile phone for use during the
visit, and provide translation as necessary for field work. The
consultant should bring his/her own laptop computer. The consultant
will receive a security briefing prior to arrival and promptly upon
arrival in the country. The consultant is required to abide by IRC
Northern Caucasus Security Protocol.

Qualifications and Key Competencies:

Required:
* Advanced University Degree or equivalent
* Technical expertise (previous experience with labor market surveys,
vocational training, economic recovery, and SME development, ideally
in a post-conflict environment)
* Excellent analytical skills,
* Computer literacy
* Ability and willingness to work and travel in high security environments

Desired:
* Fluency in written and spoken Russian and English
* Previous working experience in the Caucasus

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer - IRC considers all applicants on
the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national
origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran
status or disability. IRC is an equal opportunity employer.

To apply for this position please go online to http://www.theIRC.org,
click jobs under Northern Caucasus.

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