Market Systems Development Officer (MSD) - Nakivale Refugee Settlement

About the role

HEKS/EPER (Swiss Church Aid) is recruiting a Market Systems Development (MSD) Officer for the EWISE project in Nakivale Refugee Settlement, Uganda. The project improves the self-reliance and inclusive economic participation of vulnerable youth and women in refugee and host communities while supporting environmental restoration. The officer leads market-driven vocational and business skills training, apprenticeships and job placements, business development services, market linkages and financial inclusion, and spends about 10% of the time providing technical support to other projects.

Key responsibilities

• Plan and implement the project within approved budgets and workplans, following the humanitarian-development nexus approach and integrating livelihoods, conflict transformation, climate adaptation and protection themes.
• Lead the labour market and skills demand assessment, map the private sector and analyse barriers to work and dignified employment in Nakivale, Isingiro and Mbarara.
• Ensure gender-inclusive Assessment and Training Packages (ATPs) and integrate market systems principles into project proposals, proposals' context analyses and theories of change.
• Coordinate beneficiary profiling, inclusive training materials, curriculum design and decentralized skills training across three zones, including certification with the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT).
• Identify and engage artisans, SMEs, cooperatives and employers for apprenticeships, job placements and on-the-job training, and manage safe, MoU-backed placements.
• Support micro and small businesses and green enterprises through toolkits, start-up kits and capital, and deliver business development services, incubation and mentorship.
• Facilitate contracts between groups and buyers, traders and markets, and link plastic-waste collection groups with recycling companies and aggregators.
• Track logframe indicators, conduct tracer studies and prepare donor reports, programme briefs and case studies.
• Ensure compliance with donor contracts, field financial and administrative guidelines and national regulations, and represent HEKS/EPER in livelihoods and economic inclusion coordination platforms.
• Review and approve procurement requests within delegated thresholds, and provide technical support and capacity building to the co-implementing partner and project team.