Market Systems Technical Coordinator

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The Market Systems Technical Coordinator contributes, under the leadership of the FES lead, to the design of Oxfam's market systems and enterprise portfolio in Syria, across humanitarian, recovery and development programming. Key responsibilities cover market analysis and programme design, enterprise development and financial inclusion, support to producer organisations, engagement with private and public market actors, partner and team capacity, and integration with WASH, protection, gender and MEAL. The role pays particular attention to the participation and role of women, vulnerable groups and other excluded actors within the market system. The role contributes market evidence to funding proposals and to Oxfam's policy and advocacy work.

In the first 12 months, the post holder is expected to: (1) lead on a value chain selection exercise and deliver two value chain or market studies with intervention designs; (2) map priority producer organisations, market actors and open working relationships with chambers, agro-processors and financial institutions; and (3) supply market evidence and results frameworks to at least two funding proposals and/or learning papers.

Market analysis and programme design

• Lead the selection of value chains, using economic, environmental, employment and gender criteria, starting from a shortlist of two to three sectors agreed with the FES Lead for year one, drawn from the priority sectors in the FES strategy, including but not limited to: livestock and fodder, fruit and olive, vegetables, dairy, fisheries, textiles, handicraft and heritage, and construction and mechanics.
• Design and manage market assessments, value chain studies, feasibility studies and market actor mapping; commission and quality-assure consultancies where needed.
• Apply market analysis to humanitarian as well as recovery design, including EMMA and market monitoring for cash programming, so that emergency response supports rather than displaces local markets.
• Translate analysis into intervention logic: identify where the constraints (input supply, finance, storage, transport, standards, regulation, information) and support or lead the design of interventions against it.
• Contribute market evidence and results frameworks to concept notes, proposals and donor reports, working with the funding team.

Enterprise development and financial inclusion

• Design and quality-assure business development services, delivered through hub teams and partners, including advisory support, business planning, market information, incubation and links to buyers.
• Develop financial inclusion pathways for small producers and enterprises: savings groups, cooperative finance, and engagement with microfinance and other financial actors as liquidity allows.
• Ensure enterprise support reaches women and young people on terms that do not push them into unprotected informal work, and design against that risk explicitly.

Producer organisations and collective action

• Design Oxfam's approach to producer collective action (aggregation, quality improvement, direct market linkage and internal governance, with representation of women and young members) and support hub teams and partners to deliver it, so that producers strengthen their bargaining position with traders and middlemen.

Market actor and private sector engagement

• Build working relationships with the chambers of commerce, agriculture and industry, agro-processors, input suppliers, traders, transporters and financial institutions.
• Identify where private actors will co-invest, and develop arrangements, for agreement by the FES Lead and project budget holders, designed to hold after the project ends.
• Engage public institutions on market regulation, standards and licensing at governorate and local level, in coordination with the policy and advocacy function.
• Represent Oxfam in technical working groups, coordination forums and consortia on livelihoods, markets and early recovery, as relevant.

Partner and team capacity

• Assess partner capacity in market programming and provide structured accompaniment as needed.
• Build market systems literacy across the Food and Economic Security Oxfam teams, so that market thinking is applied across all interventions.

Integration, learning and influencing

• Work with the WASH, protection, advocacy, and MEAL functions so that market interventions address water-linked enterprise and shared infrastructure, decent work and exploitation risks, and documented learning shared between hubs.
• Collaborate with gender justice teams on addressing challenges at the intersection of women’s economic participation and unpaid care work.
• Supply evidence to Oxfam's advocacy on market regulation, fair competition, protection of small producers and social protection for informal workers.

Other duties may be reasonably required in supporting the delivery of team objectives and outcomes.

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES

Essential

Core competencies:

• Agility, complexity and ambiguity
• Relationship building
• Systems thinking
• Decisiveness
• Enabling

In addition:

• Bachelor's degree in agricultural economics, economics, business administration, development studies or a related field, with at least seven years of progressively responsible experience in livelihoods, value chain development, agribusiness, financial inclusion, enterprise or SME support, or private sector development.
• Good understanding of rural economies, agricultural livelihoods, producer organisations, and MSMEs.
• A technical diploma in a related field with at least seven years of the same experience may be accepted in place of a bachelor's degree.
• Experience coordinating technical work across teams, field locations or partner organisations without direct line management.
• Demonstrated experience of at least 5 years analysing and developing agricultural, rural or other relevant value chains, including identifying market opportunities.
• Experience conducting or commissioning market assessments, value chain studies or feasibility studies, and using the findings to change a programme design.
• Familiarity with market-based programming and market assessment approaches (for example EMMA or comparable tools).
• Experience working with producers, cooperatives, associations, small enterprises or private sector actors (including financial institutions), with credibility among business people as well as communities.
• Understanding of gender dynamics in Syrian markets and labour, and commitment to designing so that women and young people gain rather than absorb risk.
• Fluency in Arabic; working proficiency in English, sufficient to write reports, assessments and proposal inputs.
• Numerical analysis skills: able to build and interrogate a simple cost structure, margin calculation or business plan.
• Strong facilitation and negotiation skills, including with government bodies, chambers and traders.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly to hubs across Syria, up to 40 per cent of time.
• Understanding of security protocols and access constraints in conflict-affected areas.
• Commitment to Oxfam's mission, feminist principles, safeguarding policies and code of conduct.

Desirable

• Master's degree in a relevant field.
• Familiarity with market systems development (M4P/MSD) approaches through formal training or project experience.
• Experience with cash and voucher assistance in a market analysis role.
• Experience with cooperative or solidarity economy models, savings groups or microfinance.
• Prior INGO or donor-funded project experience, including institutional donor compliance.
• Experience linking programme evidence to advocacy or policy dialogue.

How to apply

Please visit Oxfam website: https://jobs.oxfam.org.uk/jobs/vacancy/25146/description