Business Advisor

About TechnoServe: Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of TechnoServe's work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of businesses and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty. The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics, and increasingly, the effects of climate change. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing...when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better, they can access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off. Program Overview: TechnoServe is collaborating with the Anglo American Foundation and partners with the aim of enhancing the livelihoods of vulnerable workers while creating new quality opportunities for youth in the country's recycling sector, providing target beneficiaries with access to more, better quality and higher-paying jobs in the circular economy. TechnoServe's ambition is to develop a center of excellence in a targeted geography that will demonstrate the viability of an integrated approach to enterprise development along the circular economy value chain and which will become an example to be scaled across other townships in South Africa and regionally. The initial 15-month Phase A of the programme will focus on the townships of Soweto in the City of Johannesburg municipality and the City of Ekurhuleni. TechnoServe and RLabs will deliver a set of interventions to achieve youth empowerment objectives and address gaps observed in the plastic and paper recycling sector. This first phase will be a learning phase to inform a potential follow-on 36-month programme, contingent on co-financing. The conceptualization of this programme follows a diagnostic study that was conducted by TechnoServe in 2023, with the objective to validate the potential to create jobs and improve workers' livelihoods by building the capacity of waste recovery businesses. The diagnostic study identified three priority interventions to create lasting impact in South Africa's circular economy: 1) direct enterprise support, 2) micro businesses creation, 3) strengthening of the support ecosystem. TechnoServe and consortium partner, RLabs have collaborated with GreenCape (the Secretariat of the South African Plastics Pact) to engage with relevant stakeholders in the value chain and validate the scope and high-level design elements of the interventions, and to get buy-in for operational collaboration. Job Summary: Working closely with the Senior Business Specialist, the Business Advisor will play a critical role in the programme by overseeing advisory services and conducting all program activities and training services to beneficiaries. TechnoServe will provide customised capacity building to small and medium growing recovery businesses and promote connections among market participants in targeted recycling routes. TechnoServe will directly develop the capacity of opportunity-driven business owners through training, advisory, mentorship, and aftercare including access to finance and access to markets interventions, gather market intelligence and monitor performance. This pillar is complementary to Pillar 1 as recovery businesses have a critical role to play to enable and support micro business creation in communities they operate in while also facilitating formal and informal networking and linkages with various stakeholders. The tasks outlined below are the key responsibilities of the Business Advisor; however, the employee will be expected to perform any tasks that are necessary within the context of the evolving needs of the project. Primary Functions & Responsibilities: Project Inception Phase: Provide support to short-term consultants during the inception phase analysis study which will include a socio-economic baseline, macro level baseline, and gender analysis. Assist the Senior Business Specialist and Implementation Manager in developing the detailed project work plan, including training material content. Project Implementation: Conduct recruitment/enrollment of program beneficiaries using predetermined criteria. Lead the implementation of the project's digital strategy, ensuring beneficiary adoption and engagement. Facilitate training sessions for beneficiaries, monitoring attendance and engagement to ensure adherence to program guidelines. Conduct business diagnostics to determine areas of improvements. Provide mentoring sessions to beneficiaries and monitor and document improvements. Provide crucial linkages between plastic collectors and aggregators, and between aggregators and recyclers. Monitor the recruited plastic collectors, aggregators, and recyclers to ensure they are operating within the terms and conditions of the program's agreement. Facilitate off-take agreements with the recyclers and micro aggregators. Participate in monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities, contributing to the program's reporting and knowledge sharing. Ensure adherence to the program work plan, identifying and mitigating risks to successful project implementation. Collate feedback from the program beneficiaries through the program's feedback mechanism. Embody and promote TechnoServe's values, vision, and strategy, ensuring these are integrated into all program activities. Perform other duties in line with the evolving needs of the program. Basic Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree in Business Management, Marketing, Business Enterprise, Project Management, or relevant Social Sciences/Humanities related discipline with 2 years' experience in working with communities in educating clients/beneficiaries on business development and marketing goals while nurturing relationships with relevant stakeholders or 4 years in business advisory. Demonstrated ability in working with small and growing businesses for at least 4 years. Proven experience in stakeholder engagement, data collection and analysis, digital training delivery, and report writing. Ability to engage and advise a broad range of stakeholders, including senior management of private sector companies, donor representatives, and others. Demonstrated experience in report writing. Experience in the waste management or recycling sector. Preferred Qualifications: Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders. Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint); familiarity with data collection tools such as Comcare is advantageous. Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal. Required Languages: Excellent communication skills in written and spoken English. Proficiency in the local languages is an advantage. Travel: Regular visits to the beneficiaries and stakeholders. Supervisory Responsibilities: None. Closing Statements: We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply. With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability, and all other protected classes. We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.
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