Overview
The National Project Coordinator (Textile expert) will manage and coordinate the day-to-day implementation of project activities in Syria, focusing on upgrading the garment and textile sector.
Key Responsibilities
- Plan, organize and manage the day-to-day implementation of Output 1 activities in Syria.
- Maintain the rolling work plan and track delivery against schedule and budget.
- Organize and provide full logistical support to expert missions, field visits, workshops and training events.
- Obtain the permits, security clearances and administrative authorizations required.
- Prepare Terms of Reference for national recruitment and procurement.
- Identify obstacles, risks and delays and propose mitigation measures.
- Act as UNIDO's operational focal point in Syria towards ILO, the Ministry of Industry, technical and vocational institutions, Chambers of Industry, sector associations and business development service providers.
- Ensure complementarity with ILO activities and avoid duplication.
- Secure access to the ILO sectoral mapping and enterprise engagement data.
- Obtain and maintain the institutional access on which the technical work depends.
- Ensure synergies with programmes of other organizations active in the sector.
- Operate the monitoring and reporting system for Output 1 in accordance with the project logframe and the arrangements established by the monitoring expert.
- Establish and maintain a coherent information system covering each project activity.
- Prepare the periodic reporting.
- Contribute to communication, visibility and dissemination in cooperation with the communication expert.
- Maintain and archive the complete project record.
- Support the Senior Adviser and the international expert(s) leading the mapping of textile technical support centres and the diagnosis of the selected centre(s).
- Comment on the draft assessment instruments.
- Organize, accompany and conduct the field data collection, including equipment inventories, laboratory walk-throughs and instructor and management interviews.
- Verify the technical accuracy and completeness of the data collected.
- Translate and contextualize technical findings between Arabic and English.
- Organize the national validation of the selection recommendation and of the upgrading roadmap.
- Support the Senior Adviser and the international experts in preparing the technical specification package for machinery, laboratory and digital equipment, and the skills gap analysis underpinning curricula modernization and the Training of Trainers (ToT).
- Verify the local feasibility of the proposed technology.
- Mobilize enterprises, instructors and sector bodies for consultation.
- Review draft technical deliverables for national relevance.
- Prepare the ground for the ToT.
Required Experience
- At least five (5) years of professional experience in the coordination or management of donor-funded industrial development, private sector development or technical and vocational training projects, including work planning, budget and activity monitoring, procurement and recruitment support, and results-based reporting, is required.
- A solid technical background in the textile and garment industry – covering one or more of spinning, weaving or knitting, dyeing and finishing, or garment manufacturing – sufficient to support international experts on equipment assessment, laboratory capability, production technology and skills profiling, is required.
- Demonstrated experience in organising and conducting field data collection, enterprise surveys and institutional assessments, including the preparation of expert missions and field visits, is required.
- Knowledge of the Syrian textile and garment sector, its enterprises and its technical and vocational institutions, and demonstrated experience of working in Syria, is required.
- Experience of working with UN agencies or international organisations, and of coordination with government institutions, chambers of industry, sector associations and business development service providers, is desirable.
- Familiarity with international textile standards and quality systems (ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 17025, OEKO-TEX, ISO/ASTM test methods) and with business development services or value chain development for SMEs is desirable.
Qualifications
Advanced university degree (master’s or equivalent) in textile engineering or textile technology, or in industrial, mechanical or chemical engineering, industrial management, economics or business administration with demonstrated specialization in the textile or garment industry, is required. Alternatively, a first level university degree or an advanced technical college diploma may be acceptable provided it is combined with additional 5 years of professional hand-on experience that is directly relevant to the expertise required by the specific assignment. A qualification in project management is an asset.
