Youth Officer

Job Description

Location: Mutare, Buhera, Zaka & Chivi – Zimbabwe
Supervisor: Reports to the Youth Specialists based in Mutare and Masvingo, and Takunda District Manager based in the district.

Background

The International Youth Foundation (IYF) stands by, for, and with young people. Founded in 1990 through a generous grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, IYF is a global nonprofit with programs directly benefiting 7.7 million young people and operations spanning 100 countries so far. Together with local community-based organizations and a network of corporate, foundation, and multilateral partners, we connect young people with opportunities to transform their lives. We believe that educated, employed, engaged young people possess the power to solve the world’s toughest problems, and we focus our youth development efforts on three linked objectives: unlocking agency, driving economic opportunity, and making systems more inclusive. Our vision is to see young people inspired and equipped to realize the future they want. The International Youth Foundation: Transforming Lives, Together. To learn more about the International Youth Foundation, please join us at iyfnet.org.

Purpose

The International Youth Foundation is a partner for CARE’s Takunda program in Zimbabwe in response to the USAID/Food for Peace Fiscal Year 2020 Development Food Security Activities in Zimbabwe. As part of the CARE consortium, IYF’s role will specifically focus on serving as the technical lead for youth, a key cross-cutting issue that must be fully integrated and embedded throughout the project design and implementation. There will be close coordination between IYF’s activities and the rest of the DFSA components, but especially close collaboration with the nutrition / health, WASH, gender, governance, livelihoods / agriculture, and disaster risk reduction (DRR) teams.

Position summary

The Youth Officer will assist in identifying youth opportunities, capacities, financial and labour market assessments and strategy development. The Youth Officer will also provide capacity strengthening on youth leadership, ambassadorship, social enterprises, life skills, technical skills, employability and entrepreneurship holistic interventions to consortium partners and the Takunda community agents. S/he will ensure that youth interventions are embedded and included across all purpose areas, as directed by the project youth and gender strategies.

Responsibilities

• Assist in the execution of youth needs and labour market assessments in project sites, and input into other sectoral assessments on youth related issues;
• Develop positive and inclusive youth-responsive approaches and practices across project activities in all project phases. This includes, as appropriate, working with consortium partners to ensure that project activities assess, target, reach (directly or in-directly), meaningfully engage, provide services to, and empower youth in appropriate, inclusive, youth-friendly methods;
• Coordinate with the consortium partners to generate and develop training materials, learning products and reports (quarterly and annual results) for the program and wider dissemination and ensuring that youth aspect is integrated;
• Capacity strengthening on youth leadership, ambassadorship, social enterprises, life skills and entrepreneurship;
• Coordination and facilitation role to ensure youth interventions are embedded and included across all purpose areas, as directed by project youth and gender strategies and implementation plans;
• Establish and maintain relationship with stakeholders within the community the project is operating in;
• Assist to implement youth appropriate SBC strategies and approaches across the three purpose areas and in relation to gender and governance.

Required skills and experience

• Good facilitation, training and mentorship skills;
• Should be able to work with minimal supervision;
• Should be computer literate (Microsoft word and excel);
• Ability to work in a remote area;
• Team player and experience in working within a consortium setup an added advantage;
• Good interpersonal and writing skills;
• Proficiency in English the relevant local language;
• Minimum of a University degree in Development, Social work, Business Studies or equivalent;
• Minimum 5 years working in developmental programs preferably youth and livelihood programming;
• Experience in nutrition / health, WASH, gender, governance, agriculture, and disaster risk reduction (DRR) will be an added advantage

To apply

Please submit the following documents in English via email to [email protected] with “Youth Officer and mention the preferred district” in the subject line: Completed IYF Field Office Application for Employment; Resume.

To be eligible for this position, applicants must have the legal authority to work and reside in Zimbabwe; this position is a local hire position in Zimbabwe.

Applications will be reviewed as received.

The International Youth Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Deadline: 1 March 2021