Job Purpose
The purpose of the job is to provide overall leadership, management, strategic direction and technical assistance to ensure that the SHA’s current and future agricultural and livelihoods projects/programmes are designed and implemented with the highest quality, and in accordance with the organisation’s agriculture strategy thus maximizing sustainable impact for smallholder farmers.
The incumbent will provide intellectual leadership and strategic thinking around the cornerstones of the agriculture strategy and other emerging approaches/innovations in sustainable and profitable farming systems will develop practical implementation frameworks and will lead the development of communication materials/visuals about the organisation’s agriculture approach to donors, government and peer organizations.
Responsiblites
Support resource mobilisation and new programme development initiatives
- Provide technical and strategic support to SHA’s programme for planning, coordination, monitoring and quality assurance of agricultural, livestock, livelihoods and natural resource management project interventions ensuring that farmer organisation, sustainable agriculture practices, nutrition, natural resources management and livelihood improvement issues are adequately addressed across the country programme;
- Lead agricultural and livelihood development components of SHA program focusing on diversification and sustainable intensification of agricultural production;
- Advise the Senior Management of SHA Ethiopia of new technologies and approaches developed by national and international research institutions, Universities, NGOs and private companies that could be utilised in SHA’s projects, and identify opportunities for collaboration with research institutions.
- Support, train & coach programme/project staff to meet technical quality, appropriateness and timelines as well as ensure its sustainability;
- Provide technical backstopping to implementing partners. Ensure training materials used in SHA programmes are appropriate from both a technical agriculture perspective and reflect good practice in learning for adults with basic literacy/numeracy skills;
- Prepare training materials, proceedings, policy briefs, posters, etc as deemed necessary;
- across the programme, and identify external partners to cooperate with in the process;
- Work closely with SHA country and HO team in planning, designing and implementing innovative agricultural and livelihood development projects and /or related project interventions;
- Write relevant agriculture related sections of proposals;
- Support the development of work plans, budgets, technical briefings and other relevant technical documents;
- Prepare periodical and annual project narrative reports;
- Provide technical content and review to the agriculture technical documents / projects;
- Undertake regular monitoring and periodical evaluation of project activities and support, follow up and report on all monitoring indicator data in collaboration with the M & E team and other projects staff;
- Monitor and regularly communicate project status including progress, successes, and risks, and advise on management of challenges and opportunities in project implementation;
- Lead practical action research projects on farming systems & technology adoption;
- Support project assessments and surveys, including analysis and reporting as deemed necessary;
- Contribute to knowledge management and learning through collecting and analyzing project/programme data, evaluating strategic projects, assisting with measuring program impact, as well as capturing and sharing stories, case studies and lessons learned;
- Write case studies and documenting lesson learned using all possible communication medias;
- Support continual learning and collaboration between projects, including collection, document and share best practices and promote SHA’s work;
- Liaise with Government and implementing partners in agricultural and livelihood development thematic/ technical areas;
- Represent SHA at technical agriculture/ livestock fora.
- Contribute to the development of networks of external sources of technical expertise to support agricultural and livelihood development;
- Be responsive and appropriate to the local context; and Perform other duties and tasks as assigned by the HoP
Key Relationship
Internal
- County Management Team,
- Head of Programmes
- Country program team
- Finance and Administration Team,
- Regional Agriculture Advisor,
- HQ Programme Quality Team
External
- Federal, Regional, zonal and district governments
- Implementing partners
- Agriculture and livestock research institutions, Universities and researchers within Ethiopia.
- CGIAR institutions.
- Agriculture Specialists in Peer organisations
Job Requirements
Two year but renewable based on business needs
Knowledge and Experience
Basic experience and knowledge in budget tracking and financial management
- In depth understanding of smallholder farming systems in Ethiopia;
- Technical knowledge of food security, agricultural diversification and intensification, natural resource management, agricultural extension approaches, climate smart agriculture, nutrition sensitive agriculture, and related agricultural development topics;
- Practical experience of working with smallholder to analyse and address constraints in key crop and livestock value chains
- Good understanding of current international and national best practices in agriculture/livelihoods and continuing challenges in agriculture/livelihoods programming
- Good understanding of the structure of national and international agriculture and livestock research. Previous experience of collaborating with research institutions will be an advantage.
- Excellent partnership skills and the ability to interact effectively with donors, collaborating agencies, local and government partners;
- Knowledge of key methodologies of gender mainstreaming (such as gender analysis & gender auditing);
- Excellent understanding of project cycle management approaches and tools;
- Experience in team management and coordination
- Experience in Monitoring and Evaluation and knowledge of M&E principles
- Knowledge of seed production and the Ethiopian seed sector (desirable);
- Experience in facilitation of learning process, networking and knowledge management;
- Experience in programme planning and management with an emphasis on managing for results;
- Good understanding of the Ethiopian Government structure and system as well as agricultural extension services;
- and
Commitment to international and humanitarian NGO codes, standards and practices
Qualifications/ Other Requirements
Essential:
- Minimum of a Bachelor’s (preferably Master’s) degree in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Extension, Agri-business, Agricultural science, Rural Development, Livestock Production, Veterinary Medicine, Horticulture, Forestry, Agricultural Engineering or related discipline relevant to the requirements of this post
- Minimum of five years of relevant technical and managerial experience in agriculture and/or livelihoods development, especially targeting smallholder farmers and farmers organization
- At least five years of working experience at a senior level in an NGO or in government or private sector with knowledge NGO sector
Role Competencies
- Excellent communication skills
- Ability to work as part of team across different cultures
- Ability to solve problems and take corrective action
- Proven strong writing and analytical skills
- Capable to maintain good relationships with stakeholders and donors
- Excellent command of English Language
- Strong coaching and mentoring skills
- Proven networking skills.
- Able to take initiatives and work with limited supervision
- A strong commitment to the aims, objectives and values of the SHA Ethiopia Country Programme
- Very good working knowledge of MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and general IT skills
Reports to Head of Programmes
Duration Two year but renewable based on business needs
Required 1
How to Apply
The Application Form; CV/Resume and a covering letter. The covering letter should explain why you want the position and why you think you are particularly suited to the role. The application should be submitted to the following two email addresses:
[email protected] or [email protected]
Please submit application by email only as a Word document or in pdf. Make it clear which position you are applying for by writing the Position in the subject line of your e-mail as follows [Position + Your name ]”
Closing date: 5:00pm on Monday February 18, 2019
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview by e-mail and date for interview will be communicated once the initial screening is completed.
Self Help Africa is committed to equal employment opportunities. However, for these two posts we highly encourage women applicants.
More Information
- Job City Addis Ababa