National Socio-Economic Specialist

The National Socio-Economic Specialist will ensure the smooth technical implementation of the energy efficiency component of the Forest Resilience project in Armenia. The role involves beneficiary identification, socio-economic data analysis, and coordination with stakeholders to support sustainable forest management and rural growth.

Responsibilities

• Confirm and operationalize beneficiary eligibility, prioritization, and vulnerability criteria in line with the project document and agreed stakeholder consultations.
• Review and analyze available household socio-economic and poverty data in coordination with ARMSTAT, relevant government agencies, municipalities, and other data holders.
• Provide technical support in developing a transparent and verifiable beneficiary selection methodology, including data requirements, scoring mechanisms, verification procedures, grievance handling arrangements, and documentation requirements.
• Establish procedures for identifying and verifying eligible households against the project criteria.
• Ensure the integration of gender-responsive targeting measures throughout the beneficiary identification process, with particular attention to prioritization of single women-headed households, achievement of the project's gender participation targets, and identification and removal of barriers limiting women's participation.
• Design and oversee a beneficiary outreach and consultation process in collaboration with municipalities, women's groups, community organizations, and local CSOs to ensure transparency, inclusiveness, and community ownership.
• Support coordination with women's organizations and relevant development partners to maximize women's participation as beneficiaries and contributors to project implementation and awareness-raising.
• Define household categorization and vulnerability assessment approaches to support differentiated grant concessionality and household contribution levels based on income, vulnerability, household composition, and socio-economic conditions.
• Assess and recommend appropriate support modalities and beneficiary co-financing mechanisms, including options for household contributions and affordability considerations.
• Support senior colleagues in developing data collection tools, beneficiary registration forms, verification protocols, and beneficiary databases required for the selection process.
• Support the establishment of a transparent beneficiary validation process, including community verification, municipality endorsement, and documentation review.
• Prepare beneficiary selection reports and recommendations for approval by the Project Management Unit and relevant governance bodies.
• Develop procedures to ensure transparency, accountability, and prevention of inclusion/exclusion errors throughout the beneficiary selection process.
• Contribute to the design of monitoring indicators and reporting frameworks related to beneficiary targeting, gender participation, vulnerability inclusion, and social outcomes.
• Provide technical guidance during implementation and support the resolution of beneficiary selection grievances, complaints, and appeals where required.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Master's degree or higher) in Economics, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Public Policy, Rural Development, Sociology, Statistics, Social Protection, or a related field.
• Minimum 10 years of professional experience in socio-economic assessments, household analysis, poverty analysis, social protection, rural development, or community-based development projects.
• Working knowledge of English and Armenian.
• National of Armenia or resident of the country with valid work permit.
• Strong understanding of poverty targeting methodologies, vulnerability assessment approaches, and social protection systems.
• Knowledge of Armenia's social protection framework, rural development context, and socio-economic conditions, particularly in Lori and Syunik, is highly desirable.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, including experience with socio-economic datasets and statistical analysis.
• Proficiency in Armenian and English required (written and spoken); Russian is an asset.
• Strong organizational and coordination skills; ability to manage multiple workstreams and meet deadlines.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills; ability to work effectively with government institutions, private sector, civil society, and international partners.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing beneficiary targeting and selection methodologies for development projects, grant schemes, subsidy programs, or social assistance interventions.
• Proven experience working with vulnerable populations, including low-income households, women-headed households, and rural communities.
• Experience conducting socio-economic analyses and utilizing household, poverty, demographic, or social protection data for program design and targeting purposes.
• Demonstrated experience working with government institutions, municipalities, national statistical agencies, and civil society organizations.
• Experience developing beneficiary databases, data collection tools, eligibility verification procedures, and targeting frameworks.
• Familiarity with grievance redress, beneficiary validation, and accountability mechanisms in donor-funded projects.
• Experience working on projects financed by international development partners (e.g., GCF, GEF, UN, EU, World Bank, GIZ, or similar organizations) is an asset.
• Demonstrated experience in procurement processes, including drafting of technical specifications, tender documentation, and technical evaluation of bids.
• Experience working on projects implemented by international organizations (FAO, UNDP, EU, GCF-funded projects, or similar) is a strong asset.
• Familiarity with Armenia’s socio-economic environment, rural context, or relevant regulatory frameworks is an asset.
• Additional training or certification in social inclusion, poverty analysis, gender studies, monitoring and evaluation, or data analysis is an asset.

Skills

• Socio-economic Assessment
• Household analysis
• Poverty Analysis
• Social Protection Policies
• Rural Development Policy
• Community-Based Development
• Poverty targeting methodologies
• Vulnerability and Risk Assessment
• Statistical Analysis
• Socio-economic Data Analysis
• Beneficiary Targeting Methodologies
• Grant scheme design
• Subsidy Program Management
• Social assistance interventions
• Data Collection Tools
• Eligibility verification procedures
• Targeting frameworks
• Grievance redress mechanisms
• Beneficiary validation
• Accountability Mechanisms
• Procurement Procedures
• Technical Specifications Drafting
• Tender Documentation
• Technical Bid Evaluation

Languages

English, Armenian