Technical Advisor - International Business & Economic Development

The Salvation Army World Service Office; Alexandria (VA); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) is an international development organization advancing health, economic outcomes, and spiritual well-being. This role partners with TSA to identify, test, and scale entrepreneurial business initiatives that create local income and sustain mission work worldwide, with focus on agriculture, micro-enterprise, and impact investment.

You will coach partners, manage an international portfolio, and travel 15–20% to country offices and donors to ensure

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Services or related field; masters in International Development/Relations, Economics, Business, or related discipline.
• 5+ years of professional work experience in international development and five years in program management.
• Three years’ experience living/working in a developing country with international development programs, preferably in a management role.
• Equivalent combination of training and experience.

Responsibilities

• Coach TSA partners in creating and implementing social enterprises to generate local income, including business planning, market research, prototyping, marketing, stakeholder engagement, and KPIs.
• Build cross-cultural relationships to define problems and build partner capacity.
• Manage an international portfolio of business development projects from design to implementation, tracking ROI and investments.
• Develop and scale a small-scale commercial agriculture methodology using TSA land, training, funding, and cooperative purchasing.
• Travel to country offices or donor offices as needed (15–20%).

Skills

International development

Entrepreneurial mindset

Community empowerment

Business development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Social Services or related field

Master’s degree in International Development/Relations, Economics, Business, or related discipline

Job description

The Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) is a 501(c)(3) international development organization dedicated to improving the health, economic, and spiritual conditions of people in poverty around the globe. For 49 years, we have partnered with individuals, families, and communities to evaluate needs, create transformational action plans, and implement effective strategies to improve lives. We have an active portfolio of $60 million in projects throughout the world emphasizing local ownership and involvement as keys for lasting success. Learn more at www.SAWSO.org

experienced initiator in international development with an entrepreneurial mindset that merges community empowerment with business principles, to create and empower the self-sustainability of The Salvation Army (TSA) mission around the world. TSA operates social programs and church missions in 134 countries, many of which are subsidized by donations from the USA. This position works directly with global TSA partners at the community level to help them identify, test, develop and launch new entrepreneurial business initiatives that can generate new local income to support their work. It’s full spectrum small business development for social purpose, starting with teaching discovery methodology, coaching and incubating new concepts, and then investing in the home-grown talent at successive levels ($5k-$500k) to secure sustainable social impact. The work is currently focused on social enterprises, property redevelopment, commercial agriculture, fundraising, and impact investing.

small-to-mid scale commercial agriculture, program management, small business development, start-ups, and entrepreneurship. This position within the larger team will specifically be responsible for establishing and scaling out profitable agricultural initiatives, beginning in the TSA Africa Zone.

JOB SUMMARY:

• Coach TSA partners in the creation and implementation of social enterprises that can generate new local income to support their community mission, including support in business planning, market research, iterative prototyping, marketing, stakeholder engagement, program design, and clear goals/metrices. Implement standard training and evaluation methodologies and provide feedback to continually innovate and iterate.
• Build positive, cross-cultural relationships across the globe to collaboratively define problems, design solutions, and build the capacity of the local TSA partners.
• Manage an international portfolio of business development projects at all stages, steadily moving them from design to implementation, curating strong and trusted relationships, monitoring ongoing operations, adjusting as necessary, and tracking continual investment portfolio performance.
• Develop, implement and scale out a small-scale commercial agriculture methodology that can make use of available arable land owned by TSA, including training, start-up funding packages, self-sustaining circular models, and cooperative purchasing agreements.
• Travel to country offices, international headquarters, or other supporting/donor offices as needed (estimated 15-20%).

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

This job description should not be interpreted as all inclusive.It is intended to identify the essential functions and requirements of this position.You may be requested to perform job-related responsibilities and tasks other than those stated in this job description.

1) Research local market context and current assets to identify opportunities

• Working with local partners around the world, conduct baseline reviews of their current properties, assets, and legal operating permissions. Assist in regularizing and occasionally expanding legal registrations and operating structures.
• Perform and teach street-level market research to validate new ideas, including interviews with target clients, analyzing primary competitors, identifying trends and value chains, all to determine comparative advantages and possible niches.
• Quickly analyze options and identify top priorities based on potential for success, ranking within SAWSO core metrics for investment, and identification of risks and their mitigations.
• Coach and teach local partners throughout so that they can develop these capacities for themselves. Lead small-business development workshops with established methodologies.

2) Project Design and Coaching

• Lead partners through the full process of business planning, moving quickly through iterative cycles of ideation, successive rounds of research and testing, and the confirming of core assumptions with pilot projects designed to test key functionalities.
• Guide partners in either persevering or pivoting when challenges arise. Build their capacity to quickly identify and evaluate ideas in the future.
• Construct preliminary operating budgets to determine profitability and required start-up costs, and evaluate the relative ROI of the investment.
• Develop full coordinated schedules for key evaluations, stage completions, and cascading overlap of involvement to ensure projects are delivered at the earliest viable opportunity, including full work plans, Gantt charts, and unique KPIs for each specific business.

3) Implementation and Monitoring

• Provide empowering support to partners throughout the implementation process through regular calls, scheduled site visits and facilitative research or connections.
• Determine appropriate investment packages and amounts, and establish repayment schedules.
• Help partners to create new tracking and management systems to monitor the initiative’s operations, process financial transactions, and create replicable policies and procedures.
• Collect, consolidate and evaluate reports which track the ongoing ROI as it relates to SAWSO portfolio. Research and provide strategic analysis of investment priorities and new opportunities.
• Collaborate with SAWSO’s other community development sectors to create sustainability plans and initiatives that can financially support local work in health, education, livelihoods, disaster recovery, and anti-human trafficking.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

Performs other related work as required.

Supports any additional duties or unforeseen projects that relate specifically to the primary tasks of this position as assigned by the Director - IBED.

This position is a hybrid role, requiring a minimum of three days a week in-office with the option to work remotely two days a week.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Social Services or a field related to sector specialties (International Development/Relations, Economics, Business, Entrepreneurism) and master’s degree in International Development/Relations, Economics, Business, social sciences or a related discipline, with preference given to agricultural certifications or degrees,

and

5+ years of professional work experience including experience in international development arena and five years of program management experience.

And

three years’ experience of living and working in a developing country and working with international development programs, preferably in management role.

or

any equivalent combination of training and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.