PROJECT CONTEXT

The project for Expanding the Kaizen Initiative through Enhancing Sustainable Agri-business.

The government of Ghana has long tackled to enhance micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises' (MSMEs') sustainable performance improvement for economic development and job creation. The country has introduced Kaizen – a Japanese methodology and philosophy for continuous quality and productivity improvement at shop floor level – over the last decades to achieve its goals.

The Ghanaian government’s responsible institution for MSME promotion is Ghana Enterprise Agency (GEA). GEA has been working on Kaizen dissemination for more than a decade, with support of international donors including Japan. To date, GEA and its field offices (Business Advisory Centers, BAC) have received Kaizen training and provided Kaizen services to numerous Ghanaian enterprises across the country. On the other hand, however, the impact of Kaizen at the industry level is still limited and many MSMEs continue to struggle to improve their enterprise performance at the basic level. Public systems to disseminate Kaizen to MSMEs are also still under development, due to the limited financial and human resources as well as lack of accumulation of institutional knowledge.

In response to the request of the Government of Ghana, UNIDO will support the scaling up of its national Kaizen initiatives. In the context of Ghana, given the country’s relatively higher capacity and capability in the region, UNIDO will introduce the approach “Smart and Sustainable Agri-Business” (SSAB). SSAB approach addresses not only the productivity aspects but also resource efficiency (including environmental sustainability), food safety and compliance, and social welfare aspects, thereby enabling the enterprises to maximize their performance while minimizing the cost and environmental load. SSAB will be conducted by measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the aspects mentioned above from the workplace, visualizing them on SSAB Digital Dashboard, and identifying the rooms for improvement.

Since SSAB collects and measure the KPIs in a digital manner, it allows the enterprises to conduct Kaizen activities in a sustainable manner. This will also enable the government to centrally manage the industry’s Kaizen effort and thereby measure SSAB’s impacts at the industry level.

The overall objective of the project is that the competitiveness of Ghanaian MSMEs and agri-business enterprises are strengthened through enhanced productivity and sustainability. The project is designed to ensure the achievement of the following three main outputs:

Output 1: GEA’s technical and managerial capacity enhanced to better support MSME’s sustainable performance improvement.

Output 2: National Kaizen initiative scaled up focusing on food and agri-business enterprises.

Output 3: SSAB introduced to Ghanaian food and agri-business enterprises to enhance overall sustainability.

FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

The National Project Coordinator (NPC) will be working under the direct supervision of the Project Manager, and in close coordination with the project team and relevant counterparts. The NPC is expected to perform the following duties:

• Coordinate all project related activities as per the project action plans, including, but not limited to, missions of international experts, meetings, field visits, training and workshops, recruitment and procurement plans and activities;
• Communicate with the counterpart and other stakeholders and participate in the meetings, field visits, workshops and training activities organized under the project and lead discussions when so indicated by the Project Manager;
• Provide technical inputs on project activities and support the Project Manager in the overall planning, reporting and management of the project;
• Support the Project Manager in identifying local resources such as potential project beneficiaries, consultants, cooperation partners, etc.;
• Supervise and coach the project team members as well as short-term consultants and manage their outputs including administrative tasks, local and international procurement, local and international recruitment, Monitoring and Evaluation reporting, surveys, needs assessments, etc. Provide technical guidance, support and training to the project team as needed;
• Elaborate documents such as Minutes of Meetings, reports, studies etc. and maintain a proper record keeping system for them;
• Support the Project Manager in drafting project progress reports and other reports as required;
• Conduct other tasks as required by the Project Manager.

Qualification Required & Experience

• Advanced university degree in economics, business management, agri-business management, engineering or any other relevant field with a specialization in the private sector development is required.

Technical and Functional Experience:

• A minimum of five (5) years of practical experience in the project management and/or coordination in the field of MSME’s performance improvement is required.
• Experience in management and/or coordination of UN and/or donor funded projects is required.
• Exposure in evaluating and analysing the needs, conditions and problems of the country or a similar country in the region is required.
• Experience in project coordination with public and private decision-makers is desirable.

Languages: Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Fluency and/or working knowledge of another official UN language, is desirable.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES

Core Values

• WE LIVE AND ACT WITH INTEGRITY: work honestly, openly and impartially.
• WE SHOW PROFESSIONALISM: work hard and competently in a committed and responsible manner.
• WE RESPECT DIVERSITY: work together effectively, respectfully and inclusively, regardless of our differences in culture and perspective.

Location: Accra

How To Apply For The Job

To submit your application, click on the link below and complete all relevant fields on the online application form.

Click Here To Apply Online

Closing Date: 30 September, 2022