Knowledge Management Lead - FORK at Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

About the Role

• The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Knowledge Management Lead - FORK to lead the sharing and uptake of a considerable amount of learning and tools to support food processing for safe and nutritious foods in Low-to-Middle-Income Countries. This role will be on a 3 years’ fixed-term contract basis, subject to availability of funding. This position is open to GAIN’s country offices in Washington DC, Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam.

Reporting to the FORK Chief of Party, the Knowledge Management Lead will lead the sharing and uptake of a considerable amount of learning and tools, and this knowledge will need to be documented and mobilized in a way that enables the target audience to support food processing for safe and nutritious foods in Low-to-Middle-Income Countries. Specifically, working with the FORK team, the Knowledge Management Lead will lead the implementation of segments of the FORK results framework that pertain to:

• Strengthened capacity of key stakeholders and local researcher to design and implement interventions that facilitate processing of safe, nutritious foods.
• Increased knowledge exchange by inclusively linking local and global researchers, MSMEs, and other key stakeholders.
• Increased application of food safety and processing intervention research findings.
• You will work with the team to ensure the material is consolidated and aligned with the learning and collaboration aspirations of USAID. GAIN seeks to increase the amount, quality and accessibility of such learning and tools and assure its mobilization for diverse stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Providing strategic leadership and overarching management of FORK’s knowledge management objective, in collaboration with FORK’s Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party
• Working with global and country teams to assess knowledge management and mobilization needs of the program and implement activities to increase the sharing and uptake of knowledge, learning and tools to support local food processing of safe, nutritious foods
• Advising and collaborating with project staff to identify key stakeholders in implementing countries, assessing challenges and building capacity to enable and empower them to implement evidence-based interventions to improve the processing of safe, nutritious foods
• Developing strategic partnerships and initiating connections between local and global research institutes, businesses, and other key stakeholders to increase the knowledge exchange around best food processing practices and approaches
• Assessing, consolidating and supporting the use of the latest evidence on food safety and food processing interventions to project team and external partners
• Influencing and promoting mechanisms to increase the use of evidence for action in the public-private space for the processing of safe nutritious foods, across disciplines and countries
• Developing and reviewing case studies, policy and advocacy briefs, blogs, and/or other documents for dissemination on a variety of media platforms, working closely with others on the FORK team and GAIN’s communication department
• Overseeing the organization and planning of events and webinars to share project knowledge and learnings, working with USAID dissemination and learning platforms and other forums, and engaging a diverse set of partners and a wide audience
• Providing overall leadership to the Knowledge Management portfolio and line managing direct reports including supporting work plan development and performance management to ensure team synergy and high-quality technical project delivery in time and budget

About You

• The ideal candidate will have experience working on USAID funded projects, preferably on a Feed the Future or public health project in a knowledge management capacity and experience working with the “USAID Collaborate, Learn Adapt” (CLA) framework, including experience organizing or participating in CLA workshops.
• The postholder will have an understanding of the opportunities and challenges working in food systems in LMICs, particularly in the enabling environment. Candidates with understanding of a relevant field of global development (e.g., global public health, agriculture, livestock, market development, food safety, WASH) required, understanding of food safety and/or nutrition and hands-on experience working in a low- or middle-income country would be an asset.
• You will possess strong communication skills and fluent in written and verbal English. Candidates with fluency in a second language (i.e. French, Hausa, Portuguese, Swahili, Bangla, etc.) is desirable. In addition, you will have excellent writing and presentation skills for multiple audiences, particularly informed, non-expert audiences.
• Master’s Degree in communications, international development, marketing, public relations, journalism, or related field, you will have trainings in at least two of these areas: communications, food science/technology, marketing, food safety, food systems, public health and economics.
• The ideal candidate will have experience with and proficient in using various types of presentation and graphic design software such as PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, PremierPro, Acrobat, Adobe Spark. In addition, you will have expertise in research translation and preparation and dissemination of documents/presentations for a diverse range policy or other non-technical audience essential.