Trade, Education and Skills Programme manager

Job Vacancy

Our mission is to promote and protect abroad the values, interests and economic well-being of Ireland and its people; we do this under the political direction of our Ministers, through our staff at home and through our Embassy network abroad.

The Embassy of Ireland, Pretoria, is seeking a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hardworking person with excellent communication and interpersonal skills to fill a full-time Trade, Education and Skills Programme manager position, on an initial three years contract, to join our team. Roles and Responsibilities: Under the direction of the Second Secretary, manage and coordinate the Trade, Education and Skills portfolio to support Ireland’s strategic objective of developing strengthened trade and economic relations and institutional partnerships with South Africa and our countries of accreditation to support inclusive economic growth.

This will include:

• Supporting trade promotion to raise Ireland’s profile as a trade, investment and institutional partner in South Africa, including managing the Embassy’s flagship entrepreneurship programme, the Irish Tech Challenge;
• Managing the Embassy’s Fellowship programme and supporting growth of the alumni network;
• Developing institutional linkages and cooperation between Ireland and South Africa in higher education, science and research;
• Coordination of other areas of work to support skills development and employment in South Africa.

1.Expand Ireland’s trade, and investment links with South Africa and the region:

• Engage and grow Embassy’s private sector network to encourage trade and business activity between Ireland and South Africa, and support growth of Irish business networks;
• Project manage Embassy’s tech start-up programme, the Irish Tech Challenge;
• Support coordination across ‘Team Ireland’ - Ireland’s trade-focused state agencies in South Africa, and regional coordination on trade issues;
• Carry out targeted trade promotion activities to raise Ireland’s profile as a trade and investment partner in South Africa, identifying policy exchange and public diplomacy opportunities for same;
• Stay abreast of key issues and develop knowledge networks to support the work of the Embassy in this area, particularly on economic trends and sectors of interest to Ireland and Irish business;
• Support on ad-hoc projects as necessary, for example coordinating trade visits or ensuing trade promotion focus in cultural activities.

2. Skills and Employment Development in South Africa:

• Manage the delivery of the fellowship programme in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Mauritius ensuring a strategic and targeted approach to selection of candidates and courses of study;
• Support the development of a strong South African Alumni of Irish Higher Education Institutes and other affinity diaspora groups, including acting as point of contact for Kader Asmal Alumni Association;
• Manage existing projects and grant partners to support skills, employment and entrepreneurship in South Africa ensuring lesson learning from these engagements;
• Engage with private sector for partnerships on skills development and employment;
• Stay abreast of key issues and develop knowledge networks to support the Embassy of Ireland’s work on skills and employment in South Africa.

3. Increase institutional linkages, networks and cooperation in higher education and science between Ireland and South Africa:

• Develop institutional linkages and cooperation between Ireland and South Africa in all sectors, including student mobility, research links, science cooperation and peer to peer learning;
• Support the development of the existing partnerships between Universities of Technology in South Africa and Ireland;
• Raise Ireland’s profile in South Africa as an innovation and research partner through stakeholder engagement and public diplomacy.

4. Contribution to Whole of Embassy Strategic Planning and Implementation and knowledge management:

• Ensure familiarity with all key documents outlining Ireland’s foreign policy and development objectives (Global Ireland, A Better World, Ireland’s Africa Strategy) and the linkages between these policies and the Embassy Strategy;
• Provide strategic input and advice on trade and skills development across the work of the Embassy and input to relevant cross Embassy Teams, including political, development and public diplomacy;
• Contribute to the development of annual business plans, performance management framework and budgets to effectively implement and monitor progress of activities under each Key Performance Area set out in this Job Description; 
• Contribute to the Embassy’s knowledge management and learning functions and practices, and the maintenance of a repository of information, statistics and trends;
• Work closely with the Embassy’s Public Diplomacy and Information officer to develop and disseminate key messages on Ireland/SA business links;
• Support midterm review of the trade, education and skills elements of the current Embassy Strategy;
• Fully comply with Embassy systems and procedures relating to procurement, grant and financial management, time management and all other Embassy and Department of Foreign Affairs procedures and guidelines.

Required skills and experience:

1. A degree in one of the following disciplines: arts and humanities, economics, trade, business management, or law;
2. A minimum of 5 years relevant experience in Southern Africa;
3. A proven track record of all aspects of project and grant management;
4. Excellent written and oral communication skills (including computer literacy);
5. Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently (self-starter) and as part of a team;
6. Proven ability to collate and distil large amounts of information, summarising findings to be used for management decisions and planning;
7. Police clearance and valid work permit to work in South Africa.

Desirable Skills and Experience:

1. Master’s degree in a related field;
2. Experience working with third level institutions or working on projects related to third level institutions;
3. Demonstrated capacity in strategic and results focused thinking and planning.

Terms and Conditions:

• The successful candidate must have a legal entitlement to live and work in South Africa prior to recruitment.
• Start date: 11 November 2023;
• Primary work location: Embassy of Ireland, Pretoria;
• Monday to Friday, 37 hours per week, with standard office hours from 8am to 16:30pm;
• Occasional late working or attendance at work-related events outside of working hours is required; Occasional travel is required;
• Salary is ZAR 46,570.20 per month (ZAR 558,842.40 per annum) which is the Base Point of the relevant Salary Scale;
• Salaries are paid direct to bank account, therefore, the successful candidate must have a bank account;
• Benefits: Medical Aid;
• A 12-month probationary period will apply, after which time performance will be reviewed;

Application Process

• Applications should be sent via e-mail only to Recruitment.pretoria@dfa.ie, with the subject line Trade, Education and Skills Skills Manager;
• Deadline for applications:13 September 2023 at 16h30;
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted:should you not hear from us within 30 days, please consider your application unsuccessful.
• No applications will be accepted after the deadline.

Selection Process:

• Depending on the number of applications received, a short-listing of candidates to be called for a competency-based interview may be undertaken based on the Essential/Key Requirements above;
• It is planned that interviews will be held in person before the end of September 2023;
• A skills test may be included in the recruitment process;
• A second interview may be included in the recruitment process; and
• A panel may be set up depending on the calibre of candidates.

General Data Protection Regulation: All personal information received will be kept in line with GDPR guidelines; Security Clearance for Local Staff Police security clearance will be sought in respect of individuals who come under consideration for appointment; Enquiries may also be made with the police force of any country in which the applicant under consideration for appointment resided; If unsuccessful, this information will be destroyed; If the applicant subsequently comes under consideration for another position, they will be required to supply this information again. Please note that canvassing will disqualify applicants.

The Embassy of Ireland, Pretoria is committed to a policy of Equal Opportunity

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