Youth Economic Opportunities Consultant

Consultancies United States


Description

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. 

 

We are doers. Our decades of on-the-ground experience help us create greater impact, practical recommendations, and lasting partnerships. 

 

Summary of Consultancy: 

 

This consultancy will use positive youth development approaches to develop approaches and tools that support young people to navigate the school to work transition and secure economic opportunities. The consultancy works for IREX’s Center for Applied Learning and Impact (CALI) that collaborates with teams across the organization to advance learning and innovation, including testing and developing new technical products and approaches and integrating research, evaluation and learning in support of IREX’s strategy.  

 

Summary of Tasks: 

Work with the Center for Applied Learning and Impact (CALI) team to develop products and services that support young people to navigate the school to work transition and secure economic opportunities. This may include:  

  • Apply lean and agile product development principles to develop technical resources, including conducting user research. 
  • Test and integrate these tools into current and new IREX programs, and in the pursuit of strategic partnerships and new programs.   
  • Develop learning content to train, coach, or mentor other IREX staff on best practices and tools.    
  • Review and contribute to monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) plans within programs and proposals. 

Contribute to new business development efforts through designing and drafting youth economic opportunity elements of proposals. 

 

Skills and Qualifications: 

 

  • Bachelor’s degree in relevant field.  
  • Demonstrated experience with youth economic opportunities, youth school to work transitions, youth livelihoods, and/or youth entrepreneurship. Familiarity with USAID or USG youth economic opportunity strategies, frameworks and requirements preferred.  
  • Demonstrated experience and expertise in Positive Youth Development (PYD) approaches that support youth to contribute to their full potential and/or with youth-led data synthesis and youth-led advocacy/communications.  
  • Demonstrated experience conducting interactive training using adult learning methods and brave space principles.  
  • Experience researching, adapting and training others to design, develop and use practical and robust youth economic opportunity tools. Proficiency with competency-based frameworks and tools preferred. 
  • Demonstrated entrepreneurial mindset, to plan strategically and creatively to meet project objectives, with a focus on innovation. 
  • Demonstrated experience documenting, analyzing, and comparing different and innovative youth development approaches and their applications in various contexts. 
  • Demonstrated understanding of best practices and approaches to youth economic opportunities. Familiarity with current research, technical frameworks, and on-the-ground implementation approaches in the youth economic opportunities fields. 
  • Experience with research, evaluation and learning related to positive youth development.