UNDP Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Recovery and Development Specialist at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Recovery and Development Specialist will work under the direct supervision of D/Director, Peace Support Office – Peace Support in Northern Ethiopia.

Duties and Responsibilities Recovery and Development Specialist

Conduct high level policy analysis and advocacy initiatives critical for the recovery of businesses in the northern Ethiopia including start-ups. 

• Maintain a deep and up-to-date overall understanding of the policy, legal, regulatory, institutional, financing, and operational issues affecting the development of MSMEs in Ethiopia.
• Support efforts to strengthen capacity of the Government, including for the RRR offices in northern Ethiopia to boosting livelihoods through utilizing businesses to spur the rehabilitation work.
• Support acceleration and re-establishment of trade links between conflict-impacted areas, especially but not only between Tigray and the rest of Ethiopia.
• Forge close and practical working relationships with the humanitarian cluster system to ensure that HDP nexus issues are addressed on the ground,
• Ensures that approaches to gender equality are integrated into all aspects of planning, budgeting, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.

Demonstrate technical leadership in programme planning, implementation and evaluation in the area of MSME ecosystem reform and development under the peace support initiative of the region.

• Design and formulate programmes and projects for MSME ecosystem reform and development in restarting business activity at-scale, targeting start-up and survival of MSMEs, with a particular focus on women-owned or managed enterprises.
• Facilitate business support and restoration of market infrastructure, at a minimum in towns and larger settlements.
• Conduct field level monitoring of progress in activity implementation, challenges and issues that impact the pace and quality of interventions under window 3.
• Measure performance of the interventions through conducting monitoring and evaluation and capturing the lessons learnt for next level program design.
• Ensure alignment of the MEME development work of the PSP with that of the regular program in the country office such as with Innovative Finance Lab and ensure linkage and synergy is created.

Deepen business solutions to respond to the crisis and recovery of communities through multi-stakeholder engagement and partnerships.

• Establish and sustain an active network of experts working on MSME issues in Ethiopia, whether resident or non-resident, that enables productive dialogue and solutions identification as well as collaboration on analytics and advocacy related to the peace and stabilization initiatives of the northern Ethiopia.
• Engage in innovative fundraising/resource mobilization strategy that elicits financial support from a wide range of private, non-profit and public sector partners, both domestic and external, to sustain and expand the peace support programme in northern Ethiopia.
• Identify and collaborate with financial institutions (banks and MFIs) to work with the PSP program in advancing access to finance for affected communities including businesses and vulnerable people.

Facilitation of knowledge building and management on small businesses recovery and development in the crisis context. 

• Identification of sources of information related to MSMEs and jobs in the various sectors and synthesis of good practices and lessons learnt directly relevant to programme implementation and policy development.
• Prepare knowledge products and support the public-private sector consultation and dialogue through supporting the dialogue structure on policy issues.
• Knowledge, good practices and lessons are captured regularly, as well as actively sourced from other projects and partners and integrated back into the programme.

Facilitate Private sector engagement

• Supporting the development of private sector including MSMEs through policy, capacity and institutional building
• Private sector engagement as partner in advancing sustainable development and crises response and recovery.
• Procurement in which private sector provides goods and services to UNDP within a commercial contract maintaining the firewall between partnerships and procurement process.
• Develop, co-creates and/or deploys solutions to development challenges, leveraging private sector technologies, innovations and expertise or services and products to accelerate the recovery and revival of businesses and livelihoods in the target areas​.

Institutional Arrangement and Reporting Lines