County Programme Specialist at Food and Agriculture Organization

Organizational Setting

The post is located in the FAO Representation in Kenya.

The County Programme Officer is recruited to spearhead implementation of a USAID funded project which is on Increasing Smallholder Productivity and Profitability (ISPP) and implemented by FAO-Kenya in five counties – Machakos, Makueni, Taita Taveta, Tharaka Nithi and Kitui. The project officer shall be based in FAO’s field officer at Machakos County within the offices of the department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

Reporting Lines

The County Programme Officer will be under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative and the direct supervision of the Senior Project Manager and Programme Coordinator

Technical Focus

Provide both technical coordination and operational support to the county governments on agriculture development and in line with FAO’s country programme framework

Tasks and responsibilities

The County Programme Officer (CPO) is expected to undertake the following functions among others:

• Work closely with the County Government and the department of Agriculture in the Implementation of the ISPP project;
• Support county agricultural and nutrition officers and partners in building capacity within the framework of FAO and USAID delivery modalities;
• Undertake to collect data on key USAID and FAO outcome indicators
• Establish and maintain partnerships with relevant stakeholders and initiatives at county level while identifying synergistic opportunities for collaboration;
• Actively participate in the updating of the County project management unit/coordination fora at the county on project progress
• Work closely with the public and private extension workers and the farmer associations (e.g. Water Users Association), cooperatives in selected counties to ensure consistency and quality of their extension work;
• Provide hands-on agronomical/technical support to the farmer cooperatives/groups and public and private extension workers;
• Organize regular meetings with component partners at field level to enhance experience sharing and upscaling of successes;
• In coordination with M&E officer, take lead in coordination of regular data collection, verification and progress monitoring of project activities;
• Timely submit to the Project Manager the monthly progress reports, work and travel plans on the program implementation at the respective counties;
• Perform other duties as required by FAOR and his assignees

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• At least University degree or equivalent in Agriculture, Agribusiness or Agriculture economics or any other related field
• 6-7 years of relevant working experience with University Degree or 3-4 years relevant working experience with Advanced University Degree.
• Good working knowledge (level C) of English and knowledge of local languages.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills            

• Work experience in similar position, particularly project management that relates to improving rural livelihoods in partnership with community and sub-national organization
• Relevant and extent of experience in technical coordination and operational support to the agricultural field offices
• Experience in linking producers-micro-financial organizations-agricultural market and development issues
• Working knowledge of UN agencies and their co-mandate in host counties
• Conversancy with key sustainable development goals in agricultural sector

Selection Criteria

• Good knowledge of administration functions.
• Experience in working with UN bodies and/or on USAID projects.
• Computer proficiency and especially data collection applications.
• Good judgment and ability to organize office work and prepare correspondence on own initiative.
• Willingness to work as a team member and attention to detail.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing).
• Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list.
• Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications.
• Candidates with acceptable language certificate/s should upload them when submitting their application. For details, visit http://www.fao.org/3/I8446EN/i8446en.pdf
• For other issues, visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/
• For further information on categories, contract duration and honoraria, please refer to the Conditions page.