International Expert in Private Sector and Innovation

Title: International expert in private sector and innovation

Services designation: International expert in private sector and innovation for Project KSV/021 “Skills for sustainable jobs in Kosovo”

Location: Pristina, Kosovo

Starting date: 01.12.2023 (tentative)

Duration: 35 months

1. Background

The main objective of Luxembourg's general cooperation strategy "Towards 2030" is to contribute to the reduction and eradication of extreme poverty through support to sustainable economic, social and environmental development. It is structured around four interconnected priority themes:

·       improving access to quality basic social services;

·       strengthening the socio-economic integration of women and youth;

·       promoting sustainable and inclusive growth; and

·       promoting inclusive governance.

In December 2022, LuxDev was mandated by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, to prepare the formulation of project KSV/021 – Skills for sustainable jobs in Kosovo.

The project should contribute to the economic growth of Kosovo through the modernisation and the support of the vocational education and training (VET) sector and its reforms.

The project will focus on:

·       strengthening of initial and continuous vocational education and training systems in the relevant sectors which offer more job opportunities in the energy and ICT sectors;

·       integration and economic insertion of young men and women in the relevant sectors through the provision of qualified workforce, in line with the needs of the private sector;

·       setting up a professional retraining module for job seekers according to current and future market needs.

Luxembourg’s envisaged assistance will examine, support, and influence the so-called formal side of TVET while taking into consideration the changing contextual environment characterised by digital transformation and business process automation. These changes will certainly require skilling, reskilling and upskilling.

This support would have an impact on the entire VET system, with the Ministry of Education (MESTI) and the municipalities being the direct counterpart. Beneficiaries would be the Centre of competences (CoC), in particular the ICT CoC supported by Luxembourg, VET schools, the private sector of Kosovo and the population of Kosovo in general.

2. OBJECTIVES

Under the direct supervision of project manager (PM), in close cooperation with the project’s team, the expert will be responsible to provide advice and guidance and to implement the activities under the Result 1 of the project.  

He/ She is responsible for operationalization and designing of project activities, ensure the coherence of the activities, developing capacity and impellent internal and external communication.

3. RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Planning and Development

·     Provide expertise and advice for the preparation, follow-up, and evaluation of interventions related to the entrepreneurship and other domains of the project requiring private sector involvement;

·     Assist in the development of a comprehensive vision and operational strategy for the project in the private sector/innovation domain;

·     Identify, initiate, and provide technical support for private sector/innovation development initiatives;

·     Participate in the design, implementation, and monitoring of project activities related to private sector/innovation;

·     Provide the technical inputs necessary to achieve the expected results of the project;

·     Collaborate with thematic experts and ensure quality assurance of project deliverables;

·     Assist the drafting and review of inception report, annual operational plans (AOP), financial reports, M&E reports and other regular reports;

·     Contribute to building a national and international network of expertise;

·     Collaborate with a team of technical experts, both international and national, to execute project activities effectively;

·     Assist ensuring coherence between technical and financial reporting;

Private Sector Collaboration and Innovation

·     Strengthen cooperation between the private sector and VET schools, with a particular focus on incentivizing private sector engagement through a grant scheme;

·     Support the development of the grant scheme and ensure the technical monitoring of grants provided under the project, this includes: revision of interim and final narrative/technical monitoring reports, planning follow-up calls with project partners, planning and carrying out monitoring missions to assess the quality of project implementation;

·     Identify and promote sustainable partnerships between public educational institutions and private companies, emphasizing work-based learning (WBL) as part of dual education;

·     Identify private companies running training centres that can collaborate effectively with the VET system and support them through evaluating their capacities; building the capacities of instructors, teachers, and school leaders to implement and monitor work-based learning opportunities; and, training the coordinator/industrial liaison officer for WBL;

·     Facilitate potential operational partnerships with international or national organizations, working closely with LuxDev in direct project management;

·     Improve coordination between public and private sector and provide technical support for the design and formalisation of innovative public-private partnerships;

·     Develop and promote innovation as well as tools facilitating and supporting innovation;

·     Foster relationships with the innovation ecosystem and especially in IT

·     Support the development of innovation challenges (together with the other projects implemented by LuxDev especially the MAE/0232 and KSV/023), hackathons, project incubations, employment fairs, etc.

Capacity Building:

·     Contribute to building the capacities of partner organisations in charge of implementing the grants and the national partners involved in the project;

·     Contribute to the capitalisation on partner project experiences (e.g: good practices and lessons learned) and proactively identify relevant topics for the project’s knowledge management (together with the M&E and Knowledge management Expert)

4. PROFILE

·     master’s degree in economic or business sciences, management, education or a related field;

·     at least seven years of combined experience in VET and private sector development;

·     experience in setting up business development facilities;

·     working experience in development cooperation or good knowledge of international development (context, challenges, partners, functioning…);

·     proven expertise in private sector development and innovation;

·     strong interest in digital tools and new technologies;

·     fluent with monitoring, evaluation, learning and capitalisation of projects;

·     excellent spoken and written English skills.

How to apply:

Please apply via our website: https://careers.luxdev.lu/job-invite/1349/

Deadline: 15 October 2023

N.B. suspensive clause: this recruitment is launched before the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding of the Project. No contract can be concluded without the signature of this agreement.