Making Cents International seeks a Youth Economic Opportunities (YEO) Specialist to work on the five-year USAID/Ukraine National Identity Through Youth (UNITY) Activity.

Position Summary

Making Cents International seeks a Youth Economic Opportunities (YEO) Specialist to work on the five-year USAID/Ukraine National Identity Through Youth (UNITY) Activity. This activity seeks to foster vested ownership among young people in the country’s democratic, European future by further mobilizing youth leadership of a values-based conception of Ukrainian identity grounded in innovation, engagement, and pluralism. To that end, UNITY will simultaneously address the key domains identified in USAID’s Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach: building youth assets, fostering resilience, offering age-appropriate experiences for youth contribution, and strengthening the enabling environment, while intentionally and safely promoting dialogue and belonging around this pluralistic identity and incentivizing participation and leadership by historically marginalized groups.

The YEO Specialist will support implementation of activities to prepare youth for careers in growth industries and to be more successful entrepreneurs.

Responsibilities

• Lead labor market assessments to identify economic opportunities for youth
• Provide capacity building and technical support to the project team and local partners in youth entrepreneurship, youth workforce development, access to finance, and private sector engagement
• Design training, mentoring, support services, grant packages, and other tools to promote economic opportunities for target youth populations
• Build the capacity of service providers to deliver business development support services to youth entrepreneurs
• Engage with financial institutions to increase supply of financial services to youth entrepreneurs and/or businesses that employ young people
• Work with public and private sector training providers to build linkages with employers in designing and delivering demand-driven training approaches
• Coordinate with UNITY project staff and Making Cents’ technical staff based in the United States
• Contribute to project activity planning, reporting, data analysis, and budgets as requested
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree
• At least seven (7) years of relevant experience supporting youth economic opportunities programs
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience related to the entrepreneurship ecosystem and workforce development initiatives in Ukraine
• Experience conducting labor market assessments
• Experience building the capacity of service providers
• Excellent communication and organization skills
• Excellent computer skills (MS Office Suite);
• Fluency in English and Ukrainian

Our Ideal Candidates Have:

• A Master’s degree
• Familiarity with a Positive Youth Development (PYD) approach
• Experience with USAID programs

Making Cents International is a results-driven women-owned small business founded on the principles of social entrepreneurship. Since our founding in 1999, we have been fostering human potential and promoting economic opportunities for disadvantaged populations around the world. We have implemented more than 130 projects in over 60 countries to date and are a trusted partner to public- and private-sector clients who benefit from our expertise and broad industry exposure. 

Making Cents International is an equal opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, age, or other legally protected characteristics.