Livelihoods Advisor

Position: Livelihoods Advisor (countrywide)

Location: Tehran, Iran (with frequent travel to the field)

Duration: 1 year with possible extension (including 3-month probation period)

Reports to: Program Director

Number staff to manage : 4 Livelihoods Officers

About RI: Relief International (RI) is a leading nonprofit organization working in 20 countries to relieve poverty, ensure well-being and advance dignity. We specialize in fragile settings, responding to natural disasters, humanitarian crises and chronic poverty.

Relief International combines humanitarian and development approaches to provide immediate services while laying the groundwork for long-term impact. Our signature approach -which we call the RI Way- emphasizes local participation, integration of services, strategic partnerships, and a focus on civic skills. In this way, we empower communities to find, design and implement the solutions that work best for them.

RI in Iran: Relief International has been active in Iran since 1989. The Iran operation focuses on providing and improving access to health, education and livelihoods to Afghan refugees – with protection effectively mainstreamed across our activities. Relief International is a major actor in disaster response in Iran and currently implements a large scale COVID-19 response. We support national CSOs as well as coordination and advocacy with other INGOs, UN agencies and Governmental partners to improve the overall humanitarian and development response.

Position Summary: In order to address socio economic challenges faced by vulnerable Iranian and Afghans in Iran, RI is expanding its livelihoods programming significantly. We are recruiting a countrywide Livelihoods Advisor, based in Tehran, who will focus on the development of RI Iran’s Livelihoods strategy, Livelihoods program development, technical support for program implementation, external representation and facilitation of learning within the organization.

Position Responsibilities and Duties:

Strategy and Program Development (50%)

• Develop the RI-Iran Livelihoods sector strategy.
• Define RI-Iran’s approach to Livelihoods activities, including Business Skills Trainings and Vocational Training – while at the same time expanding the scope of RI-Iran’s Livelihoods program into new areas, innovative income generation, support for entrepreneurs/start-ups.
• Initiate and participate in the development of relevant livelihoods projects.
• Provide leadership and strategic direction to the team in the development of proposals and program planning.
• Support the identification and procurement of training/consultancy services for the Livelihoods sector – placing an emphasis on quality assurance.
• Conduct market and skills assessments in RI’s target areas.

Technical leadership (20%)

• Provide technical oversight to ensure the quality of RI-Iran’s Livelihoods programing.
• Oversee the beneficiary identification and selection process for RI’s Livelihoods programming.
• Provide technical advice to the program team, especially on market-based approaches and on post-emergency Livelihoods early recovery and rehabilitation.

Monitoring and Reporting (10%)

• Work closely with the MEAL team in the monitoring of Livelihoods interventions; ensuring the collation, analysis and sharing of data related to project activities and broader Iranian context for the purposes of designing new interventions, donor advocacy and fund raising.
• Support the development of needs assessments, training needs assessments, market assessments, values chain analysis etc. and conduct in-depth analysis of the data collected through the use of these tools.
• Support the MEAL team and field teams in ensuring that robust monitoring systems are in place and that reviews are undertaken periodically.
• Work with the MEAL team to design and implement a data management and reporting system to monitor and evaluate projects in terms of achievement of objectives, indicators and outcomes.
• Lead on the preparation of Livelihoods components of project reports – contributing both in terms of narrative reporting and data analysis.
• Conduct monitoring visits to project locations, develop field reports and follow up on critical issues in a timely manner.

External Representation, Communication and Advocacy (10%)

• Establish and maintain communications with key Livelihoods stakeholders (including BAFIA, TVTO, SWO and civil society actors) and engage actively with existing coordination mechanisms.
• Represent RI in relevant working groups (such as the Livelihoods and Cash working groups) and external meetings.
• Coordinate with RI’s Global Economic Opportunity Technical Advisor and other technical and operational staff.
• Lead on the development of Livelihoods related position, policy and research papers relevant to the Iran context.

Capacity Building (10%)

• Regularly assess and strengthen the capacity of RI-Iran’s Livelihoods team, ensuring that team members are able to access training and professional development resources appropriate to their capacity gaps/needs.
• Coordinate the dissemination of key technical material and organize trainings (including on market assessments and value chain analysis) with a special focus on standards and best practices.
• Build the technical capacity of RI teams, partners, NGOs and government counterparts as required.

Areas of Expertise:

RI wishes to identify a Livelihoods Advisor with demonstrated experience and expertise in:

• Livelihoods program design and development, most notably for DEVCO and GFFO.
• Design and implementation of Livelihoods programs in fragile states and for refugee and IDP populations.
• Experience in cash, especially in emergency and post-emergency contexts preferred
• Technical writing for Livelihoods proposals and reports.
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning in Livelihoods programming.
• Livelihoods programming in emergency, protracted crisis, and development settings.

Qualifications & Requirements:

This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in demanding and often difficult environments.

• 5 years of experience in the Livelihoods or Economic Development sector working on donor-funded projects and supporting project teams on full project cycle technical needs (design, implementation, M&E, lessons learned).
• Third level qualification in Business, Agriculture, Vocational Training or another Livelihoods related field.
• Experience in emergency or protracted crises setting desired.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, tasks efficiently in a fast paced environment.
• Excellent time management skills, resourcefulness, with strong attention to detail.
• Ability to work virtually with team members spread out around the world.
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.
• Ability to think critically and creatively.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
• Excellent representation, presentation and communication skills.
• Creating an empowering and motivating environment; building relationships internally and externally.
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

RI Values:
We uphold the Humanitarian Principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and operational independence. We affirmatively engage the most vulnerable communities.

We value:

• Inclusiveness
• Transparency and Accountability
• Agility and Innovation
• Collaboration
• Sustainability