BACKGROUND

Crossroads International is an international development organization that is working towards reducing poverty and increasing women’s rights around the world. Working with local partners in 28 projects, in eight countries and supported by hundreds of volunteers each year, Crossroads leverages expertise and resources, North and South, required to help people overcome poverty and assert their human rights.

Eswatini Fairtrade is a member based organization comprised of high calibre artisanal companies and works around training, advocacy and trade to ensure economic empowerment and poverty reduction in rural communities across eSwatini (previously eSwatini). SWIFT has a clear mandate to assist and facilitate our membership with capacity building, increased sales, job creation and increasing producer incomes. During key Director interviews with our members it became clear that many of the business owners are so busy running the business that key foundational tasks such as costing, measuring profit margins and production flows are neglected. This can cause serious operational issues especially around cash flow and sustainability.

ESwatini Fair Trade represents 77 members ranging from Level 0 who have a marketable product but are not as of yet a formal business, Level 1 who are a registered company and have local domestic sales, Level 2 regional or international exporters with a minimum of ten staff and Level 3 large scale exporting companies with sales of more than one million Emalangeni (South African Rand).

The aim of the project is two-fold;

1. To improve the current piece rate we pay to our artisans, by having information of the actual time it takes to produce a product
2. To gather information on the timing of our production, and to use this information in developing a new system for payment of the artisan where the business works with productions targets for the team as a whole, as opposed to individual piece rate. The second aim is a long term-project, and this would be the first step in gathering information.

Key project task would include a proper costs analysis by product, strategies to assist the members to be profitable and a costing manual to be created for each member. Members are looking to perform an in-depth time and motion study for the production of products. The time and motion study would cover all the steps in the production.

POSITION DETAILS

At the start of the placement the volunteer would work together with the Managing Director to develop an action plan to determine the members’ needs.

Main responsibilities include:

• Conduct cost analysis of member products
• Create a costing manual for each member
• Facilitate best practices and information sharing workshops with all SWIFT members
• Support day to day artisans’ operations and provide solutions to improve quality of products
• Conduct quantitative (time recording) and qualitative (diary recording, observation) methods to determine the efficiency and working habits of artisans
• Record the work produced in the production departments

Qualification criteria for selection include:

• Bachelor Degree in Business Administration or related field
• Minimum 3 years work experience in the private sector
• Minimum 3 years work experience with social purpose business with a focus on gender and women’s economic empowerment
• Read and commit to the CCIC Leaders’ Pledge on Preventing and Addressing Sexual Misconduct 
• Experience with product costing, and training on product costing
• Experience conducting time and motion studies and recording work produced
• Experience designing training modules and conducting training to diverse teams within an organization

Other skill set/knowledge:

• Adaptability and flexibility, including the ability to work with and relate to various demographics
• Ability and willingness to work in rural areas and willingness to work in a non-Canadian socio-cultural and professional settings.
• Readiness to deal with change

Language: English

Eligibility criteria:

• Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada
• Must be 19 years and older
• Willing to conduct fundraising and public engagement activities before, during and after the placement
• Share the commitment of preventing and addressing sexual misconduct. https://ccic.ca/news/ccic-leaders-pledge-on-preventing-and-addressing-sexual-misconduct/
• In good physical and mental health (medical examination required)
• The volunteer needs to bring their own computer
• The volunteer must be available to attend one of the following pre-departure trainings : May 28-30 or July 30-August 1st 2019

Personalized support before, during and after the mandate provided by an experienced and welcoming team. The Crossroads’ experience includes the following:

• Daily living allowance (amount varies depending on the country of assignment)
• Plane ticket and local transport
• Medical insurance and vaccinations
• Pre-departure training and re-orientation upon return

“Crossroads International is committed to addressing gender-based violence by supporting the innovative work our partner organizations in ending violence against women and girls. To find out more, please visit:

https://cintl.org/takeaction/

https://ccic.ca/news/ccic-leaders-pledge-on-preventing-and-addressing-sexual-misconduct/

https://international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/priorities-priorites/policy-politique.aspx?lang=eng

APPLICATION

To apply for this position, we kindly ask that you fill out Crossroads’ online application form.

PLEASE NOTE: We are experiencing some technical issues with the on-line submission, which our IT department is working to resolve, however if you receive an error message when you submit your application , please  send your CV and cover letter to volunteer@cintl.org . We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please contact our Program officer – Volunteering if you have any question: volunteer@cintl.org

We thank all applicants but only those selected for interviews will be contacted.