United States of America: AGRONOMIST
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 31 Aug 2013
Africare is an independent, non-profit organization working to improve the quality of life of the people in Africa. Since 1970, Africare has worked in partnership with 35 African nations to build sustainable, healthy and productive lives and communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC with 1,400 international staff working across 21 country offices, Africare is the largest non-governmental organization working exclusively in Africa. Since 1970 Africare has provided more than $1 billion in direct aid to Africa for agriculture and food security, health and water and sanitation programs and projects.
Africare is searching for an accomplished and highly motivated technical expert in agriculture, to provide technical assistance and guidance to Africare’s agricultural programs in Washington and in the field. The professional in this position will lead project design in agricultural and food security proposals and identify and develop new opportunities; monitor implementation of agricultural programs; mentor, trains and provide guidance to field agriculture technical staff; develop appropriate literature, white papers and analyses for internal and external knowledge sharing; scale up successful Africare initiatives in the sector; forge strong strategic partnerships with public and private sector actors in agriculture and food security, donor agencies, foundations, think tanks and advocacy organizations; represent Africare at major national and international conferences, and help establish Africare as a leading innovator in the field. This key role on Africare’s management team is based in Washington, DC and will report to the Director of Agriculture, Food Security, Enterprise Development and Gender (AFSEG) Programs.
Key Responsibilities and Tasks:
Oversee Technical Support for Implementation of Agricultural Projects and Programs:•Ensure the quality and timely delivery of the work of Africare’s technical teams and subject matter experts in Washington and in the country offices and Africare’s roster of more than 30 technical consultants supporting project and program implementation.•Build knowledge and learning systems to ensure the spread of agricultural and farming innovations and agricultural best practices across the portfolio and their documentation and publication.•Significant travel to the field to supervise and train on applications of scientific methods and appropriate cultivation on various climates; tech assistance in soil fertility, seeds, fertilizer use, production plans, land conservation, agro-ecology, pest and parasite control, agricultural machinery and technology. S/he will represent Africare with relevant ministries including Ministries of Agriculture, Planning and Rural Development as local as local government and community leaders. Will work with extension works and supervise livestock plans. •Review donor reports for agricultural programs and set up systems of reporting to ensure effective monitoring of program quality and results. •Create opportunities for field/headquarters mutual learning and collaborating in sharing best practices and telling Africare’s story.•Participate in monthly country team meetings and quarterly portfolio performance and pipeline review meetings and in positioning projects to meet quarterly targeted in workplans. Contribute to development of monitoring and evaluation tools, and compile and enter data for program monitoring, evaluations and surveys.
Mentor, train and provide guidance to field agriculture technical staff and contribute to the appropriate planning for agricultural growth within Africare’s strategic planning:•Supervise the work of Africare’s 30 – 35 ag experts with different levels of expertise developing and implementing Africare’s agricultural programs across 21 countries. Ensure that Africare hires and trains a high quality corps of agriculture and extension staff and establish systems for drawing on the expertise of agriculture staff across the organization.•Advise our Farming as a Business (FaaB) and bring value to our value chain, post harvest, livelihoods programs, improving nutrition in agriculture projects and processes, incubating innovations and scaling up pilots.•Contribute to development of strategic plans and ensure effective budgeting and planning for growth of Africare’s agriculture and food security sector. Identify and develop new opportunities; lead project design in agricultural and food security proposals and grow Africare’s book of business:•Develop strategy papers for Africare’s work in agriculture and food security and update those annually.•Build and manage strategic technical partnerships with other organizations to strengthen our technical capabilities meet ambitious new business goal. •Participate in proposal development, serving as technical writer on agriculture proposals.•Identify new business opportunities consistent with those strategies and help Africare close on them.•Lead project design, modification and re-vision of Africare agricultural and food security programs.•Develop appropriate literature, white papers and analyses for internal and external knowledge sharing;Position Africare Externally as a Leader, Research Partner and Innovator:•Build and sustain Africare’s partnership opportunities for cooperation and coordination with agricultural research institutes, technical and agricultural university programs and land grant institutions. Create programs at Africare that create bridges to those institutions.•Represent Africare in professional fora and to the media on African agriculture and food security. Work with Africare staff to publish Africare's technical work and feature our technical work on the internet and social media.•forge strong strategic partnerships with public and private sector actors in agriculture and food security, donor agencies, foundations, think tanks and advocacy organizations; represent Africare at major national and international conferences.
Administration:•Review and develop budgets and monitor spending against budget for agricultural programs•Supervise headquarters based extension or agricultural staff based.
Education Requirements:•Minimum Master's Degree in agronomy, PhD is preferred; courses and training in areas outside of specialization to include water and sanitation, agro-ecology, land and water management and livestock management.•Training in a rural development discipline outside of agronomy to include economics, business administration or management is highly desirable.
Experience/Skills Required:•At least 7 years field experience in successfully designing, implementing and managing agriculture and food security programs in Africa or other developing countries with experience that is directly relevant to Africa.
•Field experience with local and community driven development projects preferably within an NGO context.•Training and experience using participatory methods such as PRA and RRA.•Experience working in Africa with African extension programs and with ministries of agriculture and rural development etc.•Demonstrated technical knowledge of agriculture and food security issues of Africare work.•Documented grant writing ability and successful project design experience.•Experience with USG grants including USAID and USDA.•Experience working with the private sector.•Documented experience in personnel management.•Excellent written and spoken communication skills•Fluency in English required; working knowledge of French required.
How to apply:
Applications should include a CV and cover letter. In the cover letter (no more than two pages in length) the candidate should briefly describe his or her motivation for the position and highlight relevant experience.
Please send CVs to resumes@africare.org and include the title to the position for which you are applying in the subject line.
Africare offers a competitive salary along with a benefits package that includes paid time off, retirement plans with a generous employer contribution, and health plans for medical and prescription drugs.
For more information about Africare, please visit www.africare.org .
Africare is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer committed to workplace diversity.
