TVE Cottage Mentors and Coordinators at Mercy Corps Nigeria (Adamawa, Borno, Gombe & Yobe)

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action – helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within, now, and for the future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Project / Consultancy Title: Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity – TVE Cottage Mentor and Coordinator

Locations: Adamawa (Gombi, Hong, Mubi North, Mubi South, Song, Yola North, Yola South), Borno (Biu, Hawul and Kwayakusar, Jere and MMC LGAs (Pilot)), Gombe (Akko, Billiri, Dukku, Funakaye, Gombe, Kwami (Pilot)) and Yobe (Nangere, Jakusko, Damaturu, Nguru, Potiskum)
Employment Type: Contract

Background

• Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (RRA) is a 5-year USAID funded program being implemented by a consortium led by Mercy Corps with support from IFDC and Save the Children across the states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe states in North-East Nigeria. Rural Resilience Activity will facilitate economic recovery and growth in vulnerable, conflict-affected areas by promoting systemic change in market systems. This will ensure long-term improvements to markets that will sustainably move over 500,000 individuals out of chronic poverty.

Purpose / Project Description

• The activity’s overall goal is to effect long-term sustainable improvements to markets in Northeast Nigeria that will promote stability, improved nutritional status and sustainable progress out of poverty.
• This approach involves promoting systemic changes in agricultural and non-agricultural market systems by removing barriers to entry and aligning incentives for new and existing market actors to develop and strengthen business models that are inclusive of young people and women.
• It places a major emphasis on increased economic participation of women, youth and other marginalised groups, building trust by leveraging social networks and creating commercial relationships between market actors to improve power dynamics, facilitate information flows, and strengthen transparency mechanisms in markets, information and policy. All these aspects directly or indirectly contribute to increased production and availability of food.
• One key area of intervention for the project will be establishing TVE cottage industries for artisan’s mentorship. The TVE cottages will serve as incubation hubs for youth and women aged 15-30 years to practise and earn income from TVE skills acquired while upskilling novel capacities.
• Mercy Corps through the hybrid learning system seeks the service of Skills providers who understand the RRA model and are qualified from formal and informal TVET institutions to pilot the apprenticeship scheme through identifying and supervision of mentors in business enterprise for the duration of 3 months who will lead and guide 100 youths (15-29) in the SUB4ME initiative on entrepreneurial and employment readiness while earning, through the apprenticeship model.

Selection Process

• Following the institutional capacity assessment of 31 skills provider institutions conducted for RRA by a hired consultant, the activity identified fully operational institutions with high will and skill who participated in the TOT on soft skills and employability manual.
• These institutions who have agreed to collaborate with RRA in the form of agreements will partner with RRA through service contracts to champion the apprenticeship model in the SUB4ME initiative, by identifying and supervising qualified artisans from existing enterprises/industries who will mentor novel artisans for the duration of three moments.
• The criterias for selection, using a checklist include, but not limited to;
  • Skills providers must have been assessed by RRA during the capacity assessment.
  • Known and respected by the community
  • Must be registered by a certifying or registration body.
• The skills provider institutions who have been contracted by RRA will complete the checklist and submit it to the Intervention officer. RRA will facilitate a B2B meeting during the partner onboarding where partners and selected enterprises will have a negotiation meeting to agree on how much each artisan will be paid by the institution. Following agreement, mobilised artisans from the RRA participants database from the SUB4ME initiative will be enrolled for the apprenticeship scheme.

Skills Providers Objectives:

• To identify, supervise, and pay business mentors to mentor ( 5-10 mentees) in their spaces (TVE cottages) which will serve as incubation hubs for youth and women aged 15-30 years to practise and earn income from TVE skills acquired while upskilling novel capacities, train and support the mentees establish businesses or find jobs.

Expected Deliverables
Skills providers should be able to identify and negotiate with mentors with the selection criterias listed below:

• Existing enterprises/entrepreneurs with track record of mentorship and providing business support
• Known and respected by the community
• Enterprise/Industry must be conveniently and easily accessible, within a safe and secured environment, free from sexual, physical, emotional threat in locations identified by artisans through an administered check list .
• Industry must be willing to offer the space as a TVET cottage.
• A mentor will be required to offer a venture as a TVE cottage for apprenticeship.
• Must be willing to develop a transition plan.
• The skills provider will develop and share training work plans /schedule co created with a mentor to train trainees daily on a rotational basis for an agreed duration of hours. This rotation will continue until each mentee has circled a period of 3 months apprenticeship.
• Maintain mentors and mentees database.
• Keep track of mentees attendance, income earned, issues, dropouts, and follow-up participation of youths through home visits where need be; to ensure active participation in the cottages and help mentees develop savings plans towards transitioning. The mentor is expected to be flexible with schedules and expect spot checks from MC and it’s partners and where they cannot support the mentor, refer the issue to RRA intervention officers.
• Co create a transition plan for apprenticeship schemes
• Participate in monthly support supervisory meetings.
• Submit timely monitoring data as per RRA guidelines.
• Map out and develop a comprehensive referral system for services including health, violence among others and refer mentees to relevant services but not obligated to cover bills as MC will not be recurring additional costs incurred.
• Safeguard participants data.
• Facilitate the issuing of certificates during the graduation of mentees.

Mercy Corps expects the following deliverables to be provided:

• Biweekly update on artisans’ work progress.
• Monthly service completion receipt/document to facilitate payment of stipends
• Mentor apprenticeship transition plan.

Mercy Corps, Responsibilities:

• Mercy Corps through collaboration with VTC/TVET centres will mobilise and onboard 500 novel mentees for apprenticeship programs.
• Mercy Corps will cover apprenticeship costs during the period of the mentorship.
• Mercy corps will facilitate the printing of certificates/attendance register for apprentices.
• Mercy corps will leverage on existing partnerships to provide supportive supervision to cottage industries.

Timeframe / Schedule:

• Estimated Commencement Date: March 2022
• Estimated End Date: July 2022 (4 months)
• Conduct recruitment and onboarding of mentors and coordinators (3 weeks)
• Mentorship / transition of mentees (3 months)

Status Updates / Reporting:

• Mentors / coordinators will give weekly status updates on mentees progress, income generated by mentee, and additional services rendered for capacity enhancement of mentee.

Required Experience & Skills

• Candidates should possess an SSCE qualification.
• Should be able to read and write in English or local language.
• Should be organised with the ability to plan to use a schedule.
• Must be registered with a registration/certifying body.
• Skills provider must have been in existence for not less than 1 year with relevant mentorship experience.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills (English, Hausa and local language used in that community)
• Must be well respected and accountable in the community and guaranteed by the institution.
• Skills providers must be located within RRA intervention LGA’s.
• Must have capacity to supervise upto up to 3 businesses during the apprenticeship scheme.
• Willingness to participate in a compulsory orientation/onboarding session, learn new things and be open to supportive supervision.
• Must be willing to adhere to Mercy corps policies and procedures.
• Due to mentor attrition, if a mentor drops out due to various reasons, the new replacement will take place and the new mentor will continue from where the previous one left off.

Evaluation Criteria & Score:

• Skills providers must have been assessed by RRA during the capacity assessment – 40%
• Known and respected by the community – 30%
• Has obtained a certificate from a recognized institution, registration body or a certifying body – 30%
• Total – 100%

Payment Process

• This is a volunteer position and not an employment. The stipend is an incentive to cover the cost of mentorship and the start up process. The skills provider is not entitled to leave days or vacation time or any other benefits.
• Skills providers will be paid base on theduration of 3 months andbased on the negotiated cost per trait.
• Payments will be result based and in three trenches, following the achievement of milestones including:
  • Enrollment of apprentices, submission of transition plan, first earning of apprentice 20%
  • Documentation of employee savings, evidence demonstration of skills enhanced and progress of apprentices during apprenticeship- 2nd payment-40%
  • Graduation / start up support and evidence showing graduate artisan has established business or placed in jobs-3rd payment.-60%
• Skills providers will prepare and submit duly signed receipts/ service completion reports, mentee attendance register, with evidence of completion of milestone to the intervention officer or designee (TVET institution) who will in turn sign on the service completion and issue a receipt to Mercy corps, requesting for payment for the completion of milestone. Skills providers will submit transaction receipts indicating the amount paid to the mentor after payment has been made.
• Payment will be made by finance no later than 5 calendar working days after full service rendered satisfactorily and based upon the milestone completed. Total service fee is subject to 5% WHT. The payment will only be made through bank transfer, no cash payments.
• The Intervention officer will collate and document together with the reports to the MRM, raise payments and obtain approval, and forward to finance for further review and payment.

Application Closing Date
11th March, 2022.