Lead, Cascade at Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

About the Role

• The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Lead, CASCADE to manage GAIN’s engagement with our CASCADE partner organisations. 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 Nairobi and Addis Ababa.
• Reporting to the Head of GAIN Netherland, you will provide management and leadership of CASCADE implementation activities and coordinate the on-time, on-budget and with quality delivery of GAIN’s role in ‘Catalyzing Strengthened Policy Action for Healthy Diets and Resilience (CASCADE)’ across Benin, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda.
• The postholder will bring excellent portfolio management skills to the relationship between GAIN, CARE Nederland, CARE International and our other partners, and take a lead role within GAIN in supporting the alignment, exchange and learning within and between both portfolios (CASCADE and GAIN’s market-based programme). In addition, the Programme Lead will manage GAIN’s engagement with our CASCADE partner organisations, CARE Nederland and CARE International.

Key Responsibilities include

• Co-leading with our partners for the development of annual budgets and detailed workplans for all six geographies
• Working with GAIN country program managers to develop and follow up on their work plans to ensure we deliver on budget, on time and with quality
• Providing guidance on project implementation to GAIN countries and technical know-how to design and deliver strategically relevant, sound, and feasible project interventions
• Working in close collaboration with the CASCADE coordinator (CARE Nederland) to facilitate interactions between all consortium parties to contribute to the programme objective, serving as a member of the consortium project management unit and supporting operation of other governance functions as appropriate
• Working in close collaboration with GAIN’s Programme Services Team, including SUN Business Network team, and our partner’s technical specialists to ensure the Country Teams obtain the support they need to design and implement their projects
• Working closely with GAIN’s Knowledge Leadership team and monitoring expert, as well as our partner’s monitoring and evaluation teams to ensure monitoring and tracking targets, evaluation and learning takes place within CASCADE’s activities
• Working with country teams to ensure completion of timely donor and internal reporting (interim and final reports, periodic progress reports, annual plans)
• Working closely with GAIN colleagues at the Development Office and based in The Netherlands supporting the relationship with the donor and CARE Nederland in determining internal reporting deadlines, templates and governance structures
• Supporting knowledge management and learning, alongside CASCADE MEAL team, CARE, GAIN’s Knowledge Leadership, Communications and Country programmes teams, as well as with GAIN’s partners
• Coordinating with leadership of GAIN’s other Dutch funded programme to ensure complementarity and where relevant cooperation, including combined events, evaluation and cross-learning

About You

• The ideal candidate should have substantial level of professional experience directly or indirectly relating to food and nutrition, supply chains and international development. You should have demonstrable success in managing multi-country and multi-partner consortium projects. Candidate with experience working at both global and African country levels is preferred.
• The postholder should have ability to operate within the private and public sectors to effectively liaise with food enterprises, development agencies, and governments at senior level. Also, you should have good understanding of policy engagement and advocacy at national level and possess excellent representational, strategic, and diplomatic abilities to represent GAIN and our partners accordingly.
• Candidate will have strong communication skills, proficiency in written and verbal English and able to work in multi-cultural and multi-lingual environments. You should be highly flexible and able and willing to travel frequently across Africa and Europe as required.
• Postgraduate Degree in business, food and nutrition, development studies, economics, agricultural development or related field. The ideal candidate will possess project coordination, management, negotiation, and advocacy skills and demonstrated excellence in written/verbal communications, research, writing and analytical ability.