Wednesday, September 25, 2013
EMPLOYMENT: ICRAF Project Manager, Going to Scale with Bottom-Up Agricultural Innovations in the Sahel and Horn of Africa
ICRAF is in the process of recruiting a Project Manager/Agent of Change to be based in Bamako, Mali. The project is “Going to Scale with Bottom-Up Agricultural Innovations in the Sahel and Horn of Africa”.
The successful individual, acting as an accomplished agent of change, would manage the ‘Regional Programme in the Sahel and Horn of Africa on Enhancing Food and Water Security for Rural Economic Development’. This will involve leadership, vision, consummate communication, negotiation and facilitation skills to deal with a diversity of partners; the ability to span boundaries of very different kinds to ensure development is informed by research, but also to ensure that research is embedded within development; boundless ambition and commitment to make the most of a unique opportunity for the benefit of people across five African countries: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide leadership and vision necessary to guide a truly novel programme of development, with focused research embedded within it, to successful outcomes.
- Communicate, interpret and develop for diverse partners and stakeholders the project’s philosophy, objectives and implementation strategy of scaling up farmers’ innovations in programme countries.
- Help to translate the philosophy and objectives of the project into appropriate methods and approaches, in order to ensure the implementation is also consistent.
- Manage the process of embedding research into the project so that the research ensures and accelerates the achievement of the project goals, i.e. enabling research based co-learning and adaptive management.
- Provide strategic advice and support to stakeholders on the development, implementation, management and reporting.
- Develop and nurture partners at national level and international partners to provide technical support, and to develop contracts with them.
- Provide excellent project management competencies such as:
- Supervising staff under the project and ensure that staff are fully briefed on their responsibilities, deliverables, work plans, budgets, partnerships and project status.
- Overseeing monitoring and impact functions carried out by a full-time M&E professional
- Preparing and submitting on-time, both financial and technical project reports as required (defining project progress, problems and possible solutions).
- Managing day-to-day operational aspects of the project and scope
- Creating and executing project work plans and revise as appropriate to meet changing needs and requirements.
- Developing and managing the project’s budget including negotiating specific budget reporting requirements
- Managing project timelines and resource allocation
- Preparing for engagement of audit reviews and quality assurance procedures.
Deadline: October 15, 2013