Dairy Innovation Support Manager at Baraka Agriculture College

Applicants are invited for the position of Dairy innovation support manager at Baraka Agriculture College (BAC).

The purpose of this job is responsible for bridging the gap between dairy research findings (from KALRO) and practical on-farm application in the catchment area of BAC. This role involves adapting research insights to local conditions (using Demo farm(s), disseminating knowledge through extension activities (with local co-ops) and facilitating the adoption of best practices in dairy farming.

Key Duties

• Manage project activities to be implemented at the college there includes: -
• Overall management of the dairy Demo-farms and related activities.
• Management of the research site at BAC in support of KALRO on-site research trials.
• Management of the outreach program at BAC in collaboration with the innovation support unit at KALRO.
• Form part of innovation support team led from KALRO (innovation support unit) to support extension officers in BAC catchment area.
• Co-design extension initiatives along Dairy Co-ops in BAC catchment area.
• Develop and implement Baraka Agriculture College Dairy curricula for promotion of dairy farming in Kenya.
• Participate in the management of BAC.
• Ensure the quality of project deliverables for which BAC is accountable.
• Oversee activities deployed on the ground by the approved project implementer to achieve expected outcomes.

Qualifications

• Hands-on agricultural project management professional with practical field experience.
• Ability to work within a talented, committed and agile team.
• Experience in driving change towards regenerative dairy development.
• Strong communication skills and ability to manage projects across diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Degree in Agriculture or related field

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Over 5 years’ experience of working on Dairy value chains.
• Must have proof of successful implementation of programmes in either dairy value chain, climate smart agriculture, market system development, integrated food security, sustainable agricultural and livelihoods programmes or other related fields.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex studies and findings in an accessible way for non-technical readers, including presentation of data in visually appealing ways, highly structured and rigorous summaries of findings and robust and accessible syntheses of key lessons.
• Good report writing skills
• Budget management, monitoring and implementation.
• Good understanding   of project cycle management approaches, monitoring and evaluation and farmers’ capacity building.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Strong problem solving skills and adaptability.
• ICT skills; strong skills in MS word and excel and experience of using data collection apps in the field and data analysis software is essential.