Textile Production and Marketing Volunteer Assignment

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Background:

The East Africa Trade and Investment Hub (the Hub) boosts trade and investment with and within East Africa. It does this by deepening regional integration, increasing the competitiveness of select regional agricultural value chains, promoting two-way trade with the United States (U.S.) under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and facilitating investment and technology to drive trade growth intra-regionally and to global markets. The Hub supports the U.S. Government’s presidential Feed the Future initiatives. Within the latter, the Hub plays a coordinating role at the regional level, in the area of policy and regulatory interventions to support intra-regional trade of staple crops. This includes work in standards, especially those related to plant and animal health, and addressing technical and non-technical barriers to trade, with the fundamental purpose of contributing to food security and nutrition.

The project seeks to contribute towards strengthening of Regional Cooperation and Integration in East African Community (EAC) leading to the following end of project results:

• Double the value of intra-regional trade in the EAC
• Increase non-oil exports to the U.S. under AGOA by 40%
• Foster 10,000 new jobs through firms assisted by the Hub and its partners
• Facilitate $100 million in new investments in targeted EAC sectors
• Increase the volume and value of EAC’s intra-regional trade in staple foods by 40%
• The Hub supports enterprises to expand regional and global exports under the Trade Promotion and AGOA component. Target products for this include home décor and fashion accessories, specialty foods, cut flowers, apparel and footwear. The Hub supports firm level technical assistance to build capacity of East African exporters to meet the needs of US and other buyers.

Position Objective:

The volunteer expert will provide support to the company's production and marketing teams to build capacity in regards to efficiency and quality control in exporting to the US. He/she will also work to improve the marketing, fabric sourcing, and warehousing strategies of the company.

Tasks to be Performed:

• Deliver practical training and coaching on production for US market, including: US fashion trends, patterns and grading, pricing, quoting, sample production, and handling of orders
• Improve fabric sourcing and warehousing system for apparel products
• Capacity building to increase production quality and efficiency
• Support development of marketing strategy for US market in high end women’s fashion apparel
• Identify US buyers to target

Required Deliverables:

• Report on US market oriented apparel production and merchandising training
• Marketing strategy with focus on US Market
• At least one US buyer linked to each for the enterprises
• Fabric sourcing and warehousing system established

Timing and Duration:

This three-week assignment will begin in April 2018.

Location:

Kampala, Uganda

Desired Qualifications:

• A university degree in market research, marketing, textile technology/engineering; international trade, manufacturing chemistry, engineering, business, economics, development, or a related field;
• Technical competencies and qualifications in market research, export development including distribution and coordination, supply chain, merchandising, production, export sales or logistics in a US-based retailer or importer;
• Extensive knowledge of the US apparel trade including familiarity with senior executives of top brands;
• Knowledge of export procedures and requirements for the USA (under AGOA);
• Previous experience in providing direct technical support to individual firms and business support institutions;
• Fluent in oral and written English;
• Excellent computer skills;
• Ability to work within strict deadlines;
• Established buyer relationships with retail channels in USA/EU is a plus;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills; and,
• Knowledge of East Africa and Africa processing industry would be a great asset.

NOTE: THIS IS AN UNPAID VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY