National TVET Sector Expert for Labour Market Information and Occupational Standard Development

Location: Prishtina, Kosovo

Who We Are

IREX is a global development and education organization. We strive for a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world—where individuals reach their full potential, governments serve their people, and communities thrive. With a projected annual portfolio of more than $100 million and more than 600 staff worldwide, we work with partners in more than 100 countries in four areas essential to progress: cultivating leaders, empowering youth, strengthening institutions, and increasing access to quality education and information.

Background of Private Sector-Led Workforce Development Activity in Kosovo

The USAID Private Sector-Led Workforce Development Activity in Kosovo, further referred to as the Activity aims to harness the private sector's capacity to lead sustainable and innovative models to develop the Kosovo workforce in three sectors: Agribusiness, Information, and Communication Technology (ICT), and Wood Processing. The Activity has established Sector Workforce Councils (Councils) for each of the three sectors, which are led by the respective sector employer associations. The Councils’ role is to unite the private sector, educators, government, diaspora, civil society organizations, and donors in defining sector workforce development needs and supporting training solutions. Recognizing the ongoing and evolving demand for a skilled workforce, the Activity, through the Councils, is undertaking various initiatives focused on advancing and enhancing the sectors’ workforce. This includes, as a core function, the development of occupational standards based on employer demand informed by labour market information (LMI).

Councils are led by Professional Associations in target sectors, namely Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technologies - STIKK (ICT), Association of Wood Processors of Kosovo - AWPK (Wood processing), and Association of fruit and vegetable processors of Kosovo- PePeKo (Agribusiness).

Summary of Responsibilities

IREX seeks a qualified TVET sector expert who will contribute to the development and upgrading of Kosovo's occupational standards in priority sectors, aligning with the activities of the Private Sector Workforce Councils. The goal is to strengthen the Councils’ capacity to support the private sector-led development of occupational standards that describe the tasks, knowledge, skills, and behaviors that an individual needs to be competent in their job. The development of a common set of employer-led standards will support the definition of the content of TVET, qualifications, and work-based learning models.

Main consultant responsibilities:

• Collaborate with each Council and the Activity to identify dedicated sector teams responsible for leading occupational standard development.
• Working closely with the Activity, and other experts, to ensure that project objectives are being met and challenges, with mitigations, have been identified.
• Support the Councils to review previous and conduct new LMI data gathering activities, including through data swaps, to ensure occupational standard development priorities are based on a data driven approach.
• Collaborate with the Councils to prioritize key occupations (limited to 1-3 per sector throughout the assignment period) for the creation of occupational standards, utilizing labor market information (LMI) data and other credible sources.
• Identify capacity-building needs and provide training sessions to embed expertise and enhance the Councils’ capacity for occupational standard development.
• Facilitate the Councils in the development of 1-3 occupational standards per sector.
• Present the developed occupational standards to undergo the National Qualification Authority (NQA) verification process, ensuring alignment and integration with national standards and requirements.
• Liaise with other private sector workforce and occupational standard initiatives being conducted by the Government of Kosovo and/or other development programmes.
  

This consultancy is expected to include approximately 80 days of effort distributed from January 2024 to January 2025

Required qualifications and experience:

• Minimum of a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as Education, profiles related to Vocational Education and Training, or a related discipline. A Master's degree is preferred.
• The professional background of working in the TVET sector including roles linked to labor market information (LMI), occupational standards, and curriculum development.
• At least 5 years of practical experience in TVET development activities.
• Proven track record in contributing to the development of LMI studies and occupational standards within a national and/or sector-specific context.
• Experience in engaging with workforce councils or similar entities involved in private sector workforce development.
• Expertise in curriculum development and familiarity with work-based learning (WBL) models.
• Ability to conduct training sessions and capacity-building interventions, particularly in the context of occupational standards, LMI and TVET development.
• Understanding of the NQA processes, with the ability to seamlessly integrate developed occupational standards into national frameworks.
• Familiarity with working in development programmes, especially with a focus on TVET/workforce development.
• Strong interpersonal, collaboration, and facilitation skills to work effectively with diverse stakeholders, including Councils, project management, Government of Kosovo, national agencies, and other development partners.
• Excellent analytical, writing, and communication skills in Albanian and English.
• Track record of delivering high-quality consultancy services including monitoring project progress, preparing comprehensive reports, managing work plans and budgets
• Understanding of the priority sectors identified by the Activity - activity is an advantage.
  

Expected deliverables:

• Conducting a needs analysis of Council staff assigned responsibility for occupational standard development and designing and delivering aligned capacity-building interventions in consultation with the Activity.
• Comprehensive report listing the key occupations and their corresponding levels per sector (1-3 maximum) recommended for occupational standard development, incorporating supporting LMI derived from data swaps and other relevant sources.
• A series of training materials developed and delivered to enhance the Councils' capacity for LMI and occupational standard development, including presentations, manuals, templates, and any other relevant educational resources.
• Councils’ develop 1-3 identified occupational standards per sector, including detailed recording of tasks, knowledge and skills aligned with national NQA template requirements.
• Presentation materials and documentation aligned with NQA requirements in order to be submitted for validation and approval.
• Regular progress reports providing updates on the status of each deliverable, challenges encountered, and milestones achieved.
• Final report summarizing the entire occupational standards development process, including methodologies used, supporting LMI data sources, outcomes achieved, and recommendations for future initiatives.

Mode of engagement:

The Consultant will coordinate activities with the Activity, other experts, and relevant Council Leads/Associations in person.

Application submission instructions:

1. CV that emphasizes relevant experience for this assignment.

Please include the country where you are currently located as well as countries/regions where you have worked and relevant language skills. Please note that this will be a national Kosovo based role.

1. Cover Letter: Please submit a cover letter briefly outlining expertise and experience for the role (2 pages maximum), including information on:

• Brief consultant profile aligned with the consultant's responsibilities.
• Proposed gross daily rate in Euro.
• Schedule of availability.
  

Use [email protected] email to apply. This position is open until filled. For best consideration apply by, 12 January 2024.

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