Post of duty: Washington D.C - USA
The IDB Group is a community of diverse, versatile, and passionate people who come together on a journey to improve lives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our people find purpose and do what they love in an inclusive, collaborative, agile, and rewarding environment.
About this position
SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean account for slightly more than 10% of intraregional trade, and yet have a vast importance to the region’s economy (they represent more than 90% of the region’s companies and more than 50% of total employment). In this context, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has made it an institutional priority to strengthen the international investment and commercial ties of SMEs in the region.
Based on the above, in March 2014 the IDB launched ConnectAmericas (CA) (www.connectamericas.com) the first social business network of the Americas. It is a free online platform designed to help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) carry out more and better international trade and investment transactions. It was launched in March 2014 and currently has over 700,000 businesspeople from over 180 countries registered on the platform, and over 12 million users from 200 countries have accessed its content.
CA allows users to:
Publish or apply to purchasing announcements from companies and government entities
CA was developed and promoted by the IDB with support from its anchor partners (Google, DHL, Facebook, SeaLand and Mastercard), and over 350 business support organizations within and beyond LAC. The CA anchor partners are world leaders in aspects that are critical to the development and promotion of the platform.
To support ConnectAmericas’ activities we are looking for a team-player, experienced and skilled-communicator consultant. As a consultant, you will support CA daily operations and activities. This involves supporting the technology, business development, marketing, events, and data analytics teams.
You will work in the ConnectAmericas initiative, which is part of the Trade and Investment Division of the Integration and Trade Sector This team is responsible for activities regarding trade facilitation, export promotion and investment attraction.
What you’ll do:
● The consultant will support the daily activities and operations of ConnectAmericas, which include:
o Taking an active role in the business development activities.
o Supporting communication campaigns and marketing efforts on social media, the platform, and other communication channels with the audience.
o Developing additional initiatives aimed at offering new benefits and tools to SMEs to help with their internationalization process. These include for example the conceptualization, design and development of technology tools to facilitate investment into LAC, increase competition in IDB funded procurement, and improve market access for bio-businesses in the Amazon region. This work will involve interacting with and overseeing the work of external providers.
o Assisting the team responsible for the development of the platform's IT infrastructure.
● The consultant will strengthen the CONNECT module of ConnectAmericas by:
o Coordinating initiatives aimed at increasing the platform's audience.
o Supporting the organization of virtual and face-to-face business and matchmaking events for ConnectAmericas, the IDB, and key external partners. The Consultant will also work on preparing reports on the results of the events they coordinate.
o Implementing badges on business profiles within ConnectAmericas and tracking the performance of this initiative to enhance data-driven insights and add new badges.
● The consultant will strengthen the LEARN module of ConnectAmericas by:
o Identifying content such as articles, videos, or tools through desk research that can be useful for the ConnectAmericas audience.
o Promoting the onboarding of new knowledge partners (corporations, universities, NGOs, and governments) who will produce original content to fill those gaps. This activity involves drafting value propositions, pitching to partners, and managing the relationship.
o Organizing, coordinating, and leading webinars, courses, training series and other learning experiences (online and face to face) on topics that promote the internationalization of SMEs from LAC.
● The consultant will support the operations of the Integration and Trade Sector when required, as well as any other strategic initiatives undertaken by the sector.
What you'll need
Key skills:
Learn continuously.
Requirements: