Kenya Country Lead (Consultant) at Development Gateway

The Kenya Country Lead (Consultant) manages client relationships and oversees progress on the Soil Nutrition Roadmap project. In this role, you will build and establish relationships with relevant stakeholders, manage local partners, support product innovation,  support systems, and user needs assessments, and ensure the steady implementation of project activities remains consistent and engaged. A wide degree of creativity, latitude, and responsibility is expected. This position is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The ability to live and work legally in Kenya is required. 

The Work You Get To Do

Stakeholder Relationship Management (30%)

• Builds relationships with key stakeholders, including national and subnational government ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture, civil society organizations, academia, and/or private sector partners to promote engagement in the program; 
• Coordinates with key client stakeholders to ensure project buy-in, primarily through necessary logistics and in-person meetings;
• Ensures SNR model outputs and frameworks align with national priorities and policies.
• Provides input to the broader Soil Nutrition team on political nuance and Kenya’s cultural context;
• Meets with stakeholders as required to gather additional information.

Project Management and Implementation (40%)

• Provides insight and thought leadership to enable the program team to navigate the soil health stakeholder landscape and regularly update the Soil Nutrition team on the progress made and challenges;
• Works closely with the Program Manager and Country Lead Oversight, maintains an understanding of all big-picture items for Kenya’s implementation, and helps to ensure successful and timely implementation in the country;
• Leads assessments to gather relevant data and establish country priorities;
• In conjunction with the Program Manager and Country Lead Oversight, writes reports, prepares and conducts presentations, and contributes to relevant project documents, such as minutes from partner meetings, assessments, and back-to-office reports, etc;
• In conjunction with the Program Manager and Country Lead Oversight, manages all administrative tasks, including kicking off the project, serving as the main point of contact for in-country stakeholders (Ministry of Agriculture, civil society organizations), and scheduling meetings and organizing workshops as necessary.
• Designs an in-country engagement plan to support the overall program engagement plan
• Maintains an engagement tracker and provides updates on activities, outcomes, and lessons learned.
• Identifies best practices and shares them with the SNR team to refine engagement strategies.

Data Analysis (30%)

• Coordinates data collection activities, ensuring data quality and relevance to SNR goals.
• Assists the Data Scientist in the search for data.
• Reviews suggested data sources provided by country and data teams
• As needed, use data analysis and visualization skills to communicate ideas via written drawings, quick electronic drawings, etc.
• Collaborates with the Program Manager, Data Scientist, and QA Engineer to support data use and impact surveys for ongoing project evaluation.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree preferred; Bachelor’s required. Candidates from academic majors, including agriculture, development aid, and data for international development, are encouraged to apply;
• 6+ years experience in project implementation, technology development, or data for international development. Experience working with governments and NGOs preferred; 
• Experience working in agriculture, fertilizer, or agronomy; evidence of solid networks preferred
• Fluency in English; 
• Proven track record of managing client relations in a global environment;
• Data analysis experience.