Business Advisor Vacancy at VSO Niger State

VSO is the world’s leading independent international development
organisation that works through volunteers to fight poverty in
developing countries.
Our high-impact approach brings people together to
share skills, build capabilities, promote
international
understanding and action to change lives and make the world a fairer
place.

We are recruiting to fill the position of:

Job Title: Small Business Advisor

Location: Niger State
Duration: 18 Months

Job Purpose

• Strengthen the capacity of farmers’ groups, enterprises and
  partner organisation on improving access to finance, markets and
  processing avenues, strengthening farmers capacities on market
  development and preparing business plans.

Responsibilities

• To support the youth and farmers groups to understand finance and how to access finance and financial services
• To support to prepare business plan and identify market actors
• To capacitate and support farmers groups and enterprises on financial literacy, distinguishing between income and profit
• To prepare the follow up the groups activity and business plan and review
• To support the group to do the linkage with the relevant government line department
• Due to the nature of our volunteer placements, it is possible
  that the responsibilities of this role may differ in reality and
  therefore the post holder will need to be prepared to be flexible and
  adapt to their environment as necessary.
• To build the knowledge of the farmers groups on banking procedures including loan applications

Key Performance Indicators
The Key performance indicators of this placement are that:

• Target beneficiaries are able to sustain their livelihoods and the livelihoods of their families.
• This includes managing their own businesses, supply their
  produce to the markets and are always able to meet the market demands by
  having adequate produce for identified markets.

Below includes other indicators:

• Improvements made in the operations of farmers collective or business operation
• Problems identified, addressed and solutions recommended
• Objectives will be confirmed in a three way discussion between
  the volunteer, employer and VSO in the first three months of the
  placement.
• Quality of reports developed for business owners detailing solutions (training programs, employee handbook, reporting systems )

Competencies
Building and Sustaining working relationships:

• The social skills to build and actively maintain working
  relationships that foster teamwork and collaboration with others for the
  benefit of a common goal.

Open Minded and Respectful:

• A non-judgemental approach that values other people and culture.

Seeking and Sharing Knowledge:

• Recognition that learning is a two-way and continuous process.

Facilitating Positive Change:

• The ability to analyse problems and develop lasting solutions in line with VSO approaches.

Adaptability:

• A flexible approach and the ability to adapt behaviour to different situations.

Resilience:

• The self-confidence to work with a variety of situations, diverse people and ambiguity.

Skills and Knowledge
Essential:

• A university degree in Business Administration or business management.
• A degree in Accounting, Marketing, Human resources, Information technology
• Report writing and documentation
• Work experience in business management or related fields preferably for an agri-business and/or market based project
• Basic understanding of business operations and various areas of business
• Experience in value chain development and application of innovative financial mechanisms
• Skills in training and facilitation
• Strategic planning skills
• Ability to think innovatively and analytically
• Sound computer skills

Desirable:

• Ability to speak Hausa
• Previous work experience in West Africa would be an added advantage

How to Apply

 Click here to apply online

Click here to download more information (PDF)
 
Deadline 30th October, 2015.

Interview/Assessment Date(s) TBC