Career Readiness and Women’s Empowerment Manager

About Borlaug Institute

The Borlaug Institute leads international food security and agricultural development programs for the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS). Named in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize winner, “Father of the Green Revolution,” and faculty member at Texas A&M University for a quarter of a century, the Borlaug Institute continues Dr. Norman Borlaug’s legacy of improving global food security, livelihoods, and resilience through applied agricultural science, research and extension. The Borlaug Institute’s mission is “To help elevate small-holder farmers out of poverty and hunger through agricultural science.”

The USAID Women’s Scholarship Endowment (WSE) Activity assists Afghan women in obtaining a university education in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field of study, better enabling them to overcome barriers to gaining employment, raise their incomes, and helping them achieve leadership roles in their families, communities, and government in positions of influence in the public and private sectors, thereby ensuring a balance of voices and perspectives. WSE builds capacity of partner Afghan higher education institutions so they may learn to manage the scholarship program, eventually taking over management of the scholarship program, thereby ensuring its sustainability. WSE also supports career readiness and women’s empowerment initiatives for beneficiaries to assist them in attaining a professional position, and thereby preserving empowerment successes of these women.

Job Summary

The Career Readiness and Women’s Empowerment Manager will lead program efforts to provide career readiness and women’s empowerment training to WSE scholarship recipients to promote and assist their career planning, while giving them the confidence and leadership skills needed for success. The Manager will supervise WSE’s career readiness and women’s empowerment staff and will collaborate closely with the Borlaug Institute and WSE staff to develop a program to advance the professional capacity of the scholarship recipients and facilitate internship opportunities, so WSE scholars are more likely to acquire professional employment in their chosen field after graduation.

The Career Readiness and Women’s Empowerment Manager will report to the Deputy Chief of Party.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Lead all aspects of career readiness and women’s empowerment for WSE scholars.
• Directly manage and supervise WSE career readiness and women’s empowerment training staff.
• Monitor progress of each student to ensure all students are receiving comparable career readiness and women’s empowerment training.
• Prepare monthly and annual reports on student career development data via periodic evaluations of WSE scholars.
• Serve as the primary liaison between partner university’s Career Development Coordinator and WSE.
• Oversee creation of training and learning resources, such as short training videos, modules, and PDFs for students.
• Plan, develop, and conduct career planning workshops or seminars for WSE scholars.
• Organize meetings for scholars to discuss career planning, employment opportunities, requirements, and interests.
• Interact directly with students to provide tailored career readiness advice regarding job-searching, interviewing, resume and cover letter writing, and any other facets of career planning.
• Assist WSE scholars in obtaining high-value internships, either online or in-person in Afghanistan.
• Conduct workshops, seminars, and other presentations to potential employers.
• Develop new contacts with external organizations for the purpose of expanding employment opportunities for WSE scholars and recent graduates.
• Maintain professional and social contacts to develop relationships with large organizations and employers.
• Form a council of local businesses/organizations that can provide insight about desirable skills for new hires.
• Maintain current knowledge base of labor market trends, occupational information, and the local, provincial, and national employer base.
• Maintain contact with WSE alumni to understand their career status to better advise the beneficiaries to their progress beyond the program.
• Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree with seven (7) years of relevant experience OR Master’s degree with five (5) years of relevant experience. Relevant experience is considered administering career development services, employment readiness training, and/or job identification assistance for students and graduates.
• Experience with maintenance of databases (preferably career service databases), facilitating career service orientations, and/or organizing job fairs strongly desired.
• Must possess strong networking skills to maintain professional and social contacts.
• Computer literacy is required, including knowledge and experience using Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.
• Experience or familiarity working with USAID projects is preferred.
• Written and spoken fluency in English is required. Fluency in national languages such as Dari and/or Pashto is also required. 

Submission Guideline

Qualified applicants should submit an application online at https://BorlaugInstitute.formstack.com/forms/wse_career_readiness_manager by 10 September 2022. Only finalist will be contacted.

Women highly encouraged to apply.

Functional Area

International Development

Education/ Training

Teaching

Project Management

Gender

Curriculum

Adviser

Countries

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