Vacancies at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture

Duties and Responsibilities:

•  Serve as principal point of contact in Kenya for procedural and substantive matters in the absence of the COP;
•  Support the development of strategic plans, annual and quarterly work plans, and other deliverables in line with USAID guidelines to achieve objectives;
•  Support the development of strong M&E mechanisms, program monitoring tools and efficient systems to ensure high quality implementation;
•  Represent CNFA with partners and key stakeholders, maintain positive relationships with USAID, local authorities, and the country office team;
•  Identify and effectively manage all key risks related to the program, including compliance with donor transparency and due diligence requirements.
•  Ensure that synergies among Activity elements and grantees are capitalized upon;
•  Ensure that the Activity focus remains on achieving results;
•  Manage an effective monitoring and reporting system; and
•  Other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements

Key Qualifications:

•  At least seven (7) years of experience managing agribusiness, market systems development, and/or value chain development projects in Africa, with experience in Kenya strongly preferred.
•  Bachelor’s degree in access to finance, investment, economics, banking, or related field required, Master’s degree is preferred.
•  Demonstrated professional success in the areas of agribusiness, industrial agriculture, and/or building coalitions of agricultural companies required.
•  Demonstrated capacity for diplomacy, negotiation, and communications is required.
•  Experience working on USAID-funded or other international donor-funded projects is preferred;
•  Strong English and Swahili written and oral skills required.

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Duties and Responsibilities:

•  Lead the technical design process, in coordination with other members of the proposal team and make recommendations for approaches and interventions that will address key challenges identified;
•  Develop a network of key contacts and conduct either virtual or in-person interviews (per COVID-19 requirements) with key market system actors and local partners as part of the design process;
•  Provide written deliverables to contribute to proposal sections in close collaboration with and as requested by the Lead Technical Writer;
•  Conduct research on existing development challenges in the Kenyan agricultural context;
•  Make recommendations regarding partner and staff selection;
•  Contribute to the MEL plan, indicator selection, and target setting; and
•  Support other needs as requested by the proposal team.

Job Requirements

Key Qualifications:

•  Minimum eight (8) years of experience in agriculture and agribusiness development is required, experience in Kenya preferred;
•  Degree in related field required, Master’s degree or PhD preferred;
•  Experience designing and/or managing agriculture market systems development projects is required;
•  Strong writing and communication skills desired;
•  Professional written and spoken fluency in English is required; Fluency in Swahili is strongly preferred.

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Duties and Responsibilities:

•  Oversee program administration, operations, implementation, and fiscal management to ensure technical and financial activities align with scope and budget allocations, internal policies, and donor regulations;
•  Develop strategic plans, annual and quarterly work plans, and plans for overall management of the program in line with USAID guidelines and within set timelines to achieve objectives;
•  Lead team to provide effective coordination and guidance to local market actors, academic institutions, Government, smallholder farmers, service providers and other key stakeholders;
•  Support the development of strong M&E and learning mechanisms, program monitoring tools, and efficient systems to ensure high-quality implementation;
•  Ensure quality control and provide overall technical and management leadership under the award; adjust operations in response to USAID/Kenya technical direction;
•  Represent CNFA and the program with partners and key stakeholders, at conferences, workshops, meetings, and other industry gatherings; maintain positive relationships with USAID, local authorities, and the country office team;
•  Manage and oversee all contract management and implementation tasks based on established USG regulations, procedures and CNFA guidelines;
•  Identify issues and risks related to activity implementation in a timely manner; and
•  Other duties as assigned.

Job Requirements

Key Qualifications:

•  Master’s degree or higher in a field related to agriculture, economics, or business administration from an accredited college or university;
•  Minimum of ten (10) years of international experience and expertise in agricultural development, successfully achieving meaningful and sustainable results;
•  At least seven (7) years of experience in working with counterparts at various levels of government, as well as with non-governmental organizations (including private sector associations/organizations) in managing international development assistance activities;
•  Knowledge of and experience with agricultural market systems in East or Southern Africa, with Kenya-specific knowledge and experience preferred;
•  In-depth knowledge of USAID policies, and regulations;
•  Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead large teams and work effectively and collaboratively in a team environment;
•  Strong technical expertise, management skills, and a strong command of English and Swahili technical writing and communication skills required.

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CNFA is currently seeking applications for the following types of professionals with minimum 5 (five) years of experience in their respective technical or operational area of expertise to support this project. Please indicate the area(s) of expertise for which you would like to apply in your application:

•  Business development services and capacity development, especially for SMEs
•  Market systems development and private sector engagement, including public-private partnerships
•  Household and market systems resilience
•  Nutrition-sensitive agriculture
•  Gender inclusion and women’s empowerment
•  Positive youth development and economic inclusion
•  Access to finance
•  Enabling environment for economic growth
•  Social and behavior change communication strategies
•  Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Analysis
•  Writing and communications

Job Requirements

Key Qualifications:

•  A minimum of five (5) years of experience in respective sector or area of expertise;
•  Bachelor’s degree in related field or higher is preferred;
•  Experience working on USAID-funded development projects is preferred;
•  Experience with the areas of expertise listed above in Kenya is highly preferred;
•  Fluency in English and Swahili strongly preferred.