Product Design Consultant

Background

Turquoise Mountain is a non-profit, non-governmental organization specializing in heritage based urban regeneration, traditional craft-training and connecting artisans to market opportunities. We seek to provide jobs, skills, and a sense of pride, through heritage. Since 2006 Turquoise Mountain has restored 150 historic and community buildings, trained 10,000 craftspeople, generated direct sales of $7m in craft products and welcomed 1m visitors to our exhibitions worldwide.

Context

The Turquoise Mountain Institute of Design, Crafts and Economic Development proudly leads the way in embracing and reviving traditional crafts and sustaining economic growth. Committed to championing the exceptional cultural heritage of the Levant, the Institute’s ambition is to strengthen the unique cultural and creative industries. Through a comprehensive educational program, members of the Institute learn the skills needed to succeed in the crafts sector. This facilitates artisans to attain financial autonomy by launching their enterprises and actively contributing to the economy.

In Collaboration with Mercy Corps the Lead implementer of the USAID Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity (Iqlaa), Turquoise Mountain is set to implement a new program, focusing on sustainably strengthening and growing the businesses of Home-Based Businesses (HBBs) and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the tourism sector through its Tourism Business Incubator in the North of Jordan.

Program Overview

Jordan’s micro and small enterprises (MSEs) comprise 98 percent of the country’s businesses, employ around 60 percent of the country’s private sector workforce, and contribute half of the national GDP. Home-based-businesses (HBBs) and MSEs in Jordan, including informal businesses, have been facing overlapping challenges, such as limited access to markets and business development services, as well as a burdensome regulatory environment, underdeveloped infrastructure, and limited management capacity. MSEs face strong competition within the country’s domestic market, and export markets require difficult-to-meet volumes and quality standards.

The USAID Informal Livelihoods Advancement Activity (Iqlaa) is a five-year USAID-funded program that started in 2022 and aims to support Jordan’s HBBs and MSEs to grow, transform, and become resilient to future shocks. Iqlaa’s approach explores new ways of doing business and improving access to finance, markets, and services. The program focuses on four sectors: agriculture, hospitality and tourism, manufacturing, and services, with a special focus on technology development and implementation. Iqlaa infuses a gender, youth, and social inclusion lens throughout all interventions.

Through research and adaptive collaborative learning, Iqlaa will identify opportunities, incentives, and market constraints that facilitate or restrict formalization and growth. Based on the findings, Iqlaa will implement best practices in enterprise strengthening, inclusive job creation, and financial sector development within a market systems development (MSD) framework. Iqlaa will also leverage innovative behavioural change methodologies to facilitate long-term, sustainable changes in the MSEs ecosystem in Jordan.

The Tourism Business Incubator Project

The project aims to support and promote the growth of home-based businesses (HBBs) and micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Jordan’s tourism sector, focusing on the northern region, including Irbid, Ajloun, Jarash, and Mafraq. It targets MSEs and HBBs that offer tourism-related craft products and experiences. The Tourism Incubator aims to enhance the efficiency of these businesses, enabling them to actively compete and contribute to the tourism sector by utilizing craft, cultural, and heritage products, as well as implementing improved business practices and capabilities. The program will offer these enterprises specialized training, mentorship, and product development services to enhance their tourism offerings.

Project Objectives:

• Improve income generation for HBBs and MSEs in the tourism sector.
• Develop new innovative tourism products that both attract tourists, whilst offering reliable income streams for these businesses.
• HBBs and MSEs business performance improved – with business owners upskilled in relation to design, business planning, branding, marketing and innovation.
• Develop and strengthen linkages and partnerships between Home-Based Businesses (HBBs), Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), and the existing key tourism stakeholder.

This Terms of Reference (ToR) outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Design Consultant. The Consultant will deliver Design for Craft training and one-to-one design mentorship to Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and Home-Based Businesses (HBBs) as part of the Incubation & Enterprise Skills Training Program. This program aims to strengthen the abilities of 100 MSEs/HBBs with high potential and medium to high business maturity. The goal is to elevate these enterprises to a level where they can effectively compete in and contribute to the tourism sector by enhancing their business practices and capabilities, especially in leveraging craft, cultural, and heritage products.

Roles and Responsibilities:

1. Design Training Development

– Develop a comprehensive design training program specifically tailored to MSEs and HBBs in the tourism sector.

– The Training should cover key aspects such as:

• Design principles.
• Product design process from concept ideation to execution.
• Product selection and development.
• Prototyping.
• Cultural heritage role in product design.

– Ensure the training program is accessible, engaging, and applicable to the participants’ businesses.

1. Implementation of Design Training:

– Conduct group training sessions and workshops for MSEs and HBBs.

– Utilize interactive and practical teaching methods to facilitate hands-on learning experiences.

– Monitor and assess participants’ progress to ensure they understand and can apply the concepts taught.

1. One-to-One Design Mentorship:

– Provide personalized mentorship sessions to MSEs and HBBs to support them in implementing design improvements in their products and services.

– Offer specific guidance on design challenges participants may face, such as product differentiation, sustainability, usability, and market appeal.

– Support participants in the creation of unique, high-quality cultural and heritage products tailored for the tourism market.

1. Monitor and Evaluate Progress

• Conduct pre and post assessments to evaluate the progress of trainees.
• Collect and analyze data on training effectiveness and provide reports on training progress, the activities conducted, outcomes achieved, challenges faced, and recommendations for development.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• A minimum of 5-7 years of professional experience in product design, design for craft training, design consultation, or a related field, with a proven track record of working with micro and small enterprises.
• Previous experience working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international development agencies, or donor-funded projects, especially USAID projects, is an advantage.
• Excellent training and facilitation skills, with demonstrated ability to conduct engaging and effective workshops and one-on-one mentorship sessions.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders and teams to achieve project objectives.
• Experience in crafts and cultural Heritage is desirable.
• The training will be conducted in Arabic.

Contract Duration:

5 months