Manager - Agriculture Technical Assistance Facility (Agri-TAF) at Adam Smith International

Job description

Project summary

The Agriculture Technical Assistance Facility (Agri-TAF) is a £4 million DFID funded facility running over four years from January 2016. The purpose of Agri-TAF is to provide additional expertise, knowledge and evidence for better policies, plans and programmes – the implementation of which will lead to significant improvements in the areas of gender, nutrition, environment, and climate change on the ground.

The facility provides support to the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) and to a lesser extent its affiliated agencies, the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), and other Government departments involved in the development and delivery of PSTA4, at both central and decentralised levels.

The targeted outcome of the programme is expected to be “MINAGRI and its agencies’ policies, plans, programmes, and management processes reflect better use of data and evidence, including on gender, nutrition, environment, and climate change”.

Role outline

Agro-TAF requires a full-time Programme Manager (PM) to be based in Kigali. Given the demands of the role, the PM will not be required to engage extensively in local business development, which will be the responsibility of the team in Nairobi.

The candidate will need to be permanently based in Kigali for 2 years. Consideration will be made for candidates with permission to work in Kenya who wish to be based in Nairobi with frequent travel to Kigali.

In summary, the PM’s role is to:

• Lead on implementing processes and procedures that align with DFID programmatic requirements, including governance, risk management, reporting, learning, adaptation and delivery of milestones.
• Provide the team with confidence that ASI systems and processes will support them in delivering on their work, whether that be from a DoC, operational, or personal perspective.

The following will be expected of you:

• Support Team Leader in engaging and monitoring the performance of all technical advisers contracted to deliver Agri-TAF.
• Review performance of Agri-TAF outputs against log-frame agreed with the DFID SRO.
• Coordinate development of quarterly and annual report and plan.
• Submit a monthly reporting and forecasting calendar to DFID that includes submission dates for the quarterly plan, financial forecasts and invoice submission.
• Manage programme budget as well as integrity, accuracy and timeliness of all financial systems.
• Plan allocation of human resources on a quarterly basis to maximise programme impact; update TL and SPM on burn rate of advisers’ days.
• Carry out a monthly update of project information on all Knowledge Management Platforms including the Agri-TAF, DFID and Corporate portals.
• Maintain log of strategic risks to programme delivery, reputation or safety of personnel and inform ASI Management of strategic risks to ASI reputation with beneficiaries, donor or advisers.
• Support implementation of Duty of Care and security coordination.
• Conduct quarterly update of Agri-TAF SOPs, ensuring that content is aligned with up to date ASI SOPs.

You will also be expected to be capable of the following:

• Deliver Agri-TAF quarterly deliverables completed on time and within budget.
• Deliver Accurate expenses and fees forecasts submitted quarterly.
• Ensure all classified risks to project are documented, mitigated and escalated if need be.
• Develop strong and effective relationships with DFID, MINAGRI and relevant beneficiary counterparts.
• Increase corporate knowledge of industry developments in Rwanda’s agriculture sector.
• Increase visibility of Agri-TAF in ASI.
• Development of a team culture in the Agri-TAF office that reflect ASI values.
• Ensuring Duty of Care is provided for all staff.

About you

• You are passionate about delivering results on projects for developing economies. You have interest and experience in working in developing and conflicts affected environments.
• You have a ‘can do’ attitude and think of innovative ways to overcome problems on the ground. We are looking for a new team member who combines technical ability with proven experience. It’s this combination that ensures we deliver real societal impact and measurable results beyond those anticipated.
• You should have demonstrated ability to build productive relationships with people from a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds. You should relish working in a team, should be innovative, energetic, positive, and genuinely committed to achieving lasting change in your work.

For the advertised roles Adam Smith International seeks the following skills and experiences:

• Desirable – Masters in a relevant subject
• Good undergraduate degree in a relevant subject
• Report, policy and document writing skills
• Basic budget, finance and forecasting skills.
• Ability to build effective, credible client relationships and networks
• Ability to build effective, credible client relationships and networks.
• Excellent computer skills, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
• Outstanding written English and communication skills.
• An understanding of working in Rwanda or the East Africa region, the agriculture sector and knowledge of ‘how to get things done’ in the region.
• Up to date understanding of DFID’s ways of working and requirements; including key contacts and responsibilities, payment and budgeting approach, geographical set up and how to present information.
• Knowledge of Adam Smith International’s vision, values and purpose, and how these relate to Agri-TAF.
• Ability to describe effectively to clients what Adam Smith International and the Programme do.
• Understanding of Adam Smith International’s finances: invoicing, billings listings, forecasts.
• Understanding of security issues and knowledge of how to manage them.
• Understanding of health and safety issues from an individual and group perspective as it relates to Agri-TAF.

What We Offer You

We offer you a dynamic and friendly team environment and the opportunity to work on a highly successful portfolio of programmes. We have a strong commitment to our people and strive to live by our principles:

• Take responsibility (Accountability). We are individually and collectively accountable for what we do.
• Always find a way (Resourcefulness). We think innovatively to reach a solution.
• Promote Quality (Excellence). We maintain and promote professional standards in everything we do.
• Commit to the Outcome (Achievement). We take pride in delivering our best to achieve results.

We’ve built a culture to reflect our principles, full of likeminded professionals who are smart, passionate and great at what they do. We have a headquarter overlooking the Thames in a central London location.

Heard Enough? Ready to Apply?

We would love to hear from you. Please submit a CV (no more than 3 pages) and a short cover letter with a subject line of “Manager - Agri-TAF”. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis.

Deadline for application is midnight August 10th 2018

Shortlisted applicants only will be contacted.

Thank you for your interest

ASI is committed to continually improving the diversity of our workforce through the attraction, retention and development of a diverse range of talented people. We want people to be comfortable bringing their whole self to work and recognise that inclusion brings further opportunities for innovation and creativity.