Openings at Land O Lakes

Project Summary:

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is the lead project implementer for the Nourishing Prosperity Alliance (NPA) project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the NPA project is to establish commercially viable and sustainable forage markets that equitably strengthen the regional competitiveness of the dairy industries in Kenya and Ethiopia. Forage markets will be developed through the implementation of integrated activities in partnership with the private sector to reach the following objectives over the life of the project, from June 2023 to July 2028:

• Increase demand for and use of climate-smart forage varieties among small-scale dairy producers by conducting feeding trials with optimized rations, training dairy producers on animal nutrition practices, and linking producers to forage suppliers.
• Improve the supply of climate-smart forage rations that are marketed to small-scale producers by managing demonstration and research sites with a variety of forage types, training producers on forage production and conservation, and training small businesses in the forage value chain and linking them to producers.
• Strengthen the enabling environment for forage market development, including improved implementation of relevant policies and regulations, improved ability of women producers and businesses to compete in the forage market, and greater access to data. .

Position Summary:

The National Coordinator is responsible for ensuring the effective management and quality implementation of the NPA project in Kenya. NPA will manage demonstration plots and other field activities to promote the production and use of forage across the Rift Valley and Central regions, which show the highest potential for forage market growth and are in close proximity to areas suitable for long-term dairy production, with a few additional sites in Western and Eastern regions. The National Coordinator will also establish or maintain positive working relationships with partner organizations in-country, including the private sector, farmer organizations, women’s groups and cooperatives, and government bodies. This position will coordinate closely with the Program Director and other technical staff that are based in Ethiopia.

Reporting & Supervision:

• The National Coordinator reports to the Program Director, NPA, Ethiopia
• This position will have three direct reports: a Dairy Nutrition Specialist, Forage Services Development Specialist, and Forage Agronomy Specialist.

Primary Responsibilities:

• In coordination with the Project Director, oversee project implementation in Kenya, ensuring the effective delivery of project deliverables within agreed budgets, deadlines, and quality standards.
• Contribute to the development of the life-of-project workplan in Kenya and develop and regularly review annual workplans for NPA in Kenya.
• Prepare monthly updates on field activities for the Project Director and present in project monthly meetings.
• Contribute to the preparation of donor reports, case studies, and other publications.
• Ensure compliance with donor rules and regulations in the project agreement as well as policies of Land O’Lakes Venture37.
• Contribute to the preparation of the annual budget for the project’s activities in country and ensure proper and effective utilization of project resources, regularly reviewing the budget.
• Coordinate to ensure that reports from project staff are submitted and received in a timely manner.
• Coordinate and provide technical inputs into internal monitoring and evaluation reporting systems.
• Conduct regular field visits to supervise and coordinate field activities.
• Manage project technical specialists under direct supervision, providing support and any necessary training of project staff to build their capacity to perform their assigned responsibilities.
• Prepare and review staff performance and career development plans for direct reports.
• Coordinate with project partners and government institutions to ensure smooth implementation of activities and communicate with stakeholders on project performance and learnings.
• Perform other duties assigned by the Program Director for the achievement of project objectives in Kenya.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• A Bachelor of Sciences (BSc) degree in agronomy, animal production, agricultural extension, or other relevant field with six years (6) of relevant experience in the agriculture sector.
• Demonstrated leadership skills, including fostering teamwork, developing and motivating others, managing change, conflict resolution, and flexibility.
• Demonstrated technical knowledge and practical experience in agricultural sciences, preferably within dairy, livestock or adjacent value chains, agriculture market systems development, and extension and technology transfer.
• Experience in project management coordination and people management skills.
• Private sector experience preferred.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Ability to collect and analyze data and information, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office and Excel.
• Ability to coach, lead, stimulate, and inspire professionals in a development context.
• This position is open to Kenyan nationals only and is compensated according to Venture37’s local compensation plan in Kenya. This position is not eligible for international compensation, allowances, or international benefits.

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Position Summary:

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer will support the MEL Manager in the development and implementation of the NPA MEL Plan. The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer will work closely with program staff in Kenya to implement the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) system and improve program quality through enhanced data management systems and processes. S/he will support the day-to-day tasks of implementing MEL systems in Kenya and provide support to the Kenya team to ensure effective implementation of the project.

The MEL Officer reports to the MEL Manager, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with technical support from the Land O’Lakes Venture37 home office Global MEL staff.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Support in routine data collection and entry for various project activities and ensure that complete, accurate, clean, and consistent data is available.
• Support the MEL Specialist with data analysis and action planning.
• Contribute and support in the development of data flows and MEL tools.
• Ensure proper filing and storage of MEL documents including questionnaires, monitoring reports and datasets, among others.
• Support in the planning and implementation of annual assessments, preparing and coordinating logistics and participating in data collection, cleaning and analysis.
• Support MEL Specialist in the compilation of annual reports to the donor through provision of timely accurate and updated data and data analyses.
• Submit weekly and monthly updates on MEL activities in Kenya to the MEL Specialist.
• Conduct capacity building on MEL for Kenya program team.
• Support regular learning and adaptative management events and the use of data for programmatic decision making and communications.
• Perform other MEL tasks, as assigned.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• College or a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Economics, Statistics, Economics or a related field.
• A minimum of two (2) years of experience working in Monitoring and Evaluation in Kenya
• Education and/or Experience working with quantitative and qualitative data and database management.
• General understanding of monitoring and evaluation systems, project results and indicators.
• Proficiency in data cleaning, analysis and reporting using MS excel, Stata, or other similar statistical software.
• Computer literacy and competency in use of Microsoft Office software such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Good time management and willingness to travel as required by the project.
• Good interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
• Great attention to detail.
• Ability to work in a team and communicate clearly, concisely and effectively in English.
• Legal authorization to work in Kenya

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

• Experience using a mobile/tablet-based data collection platform.
• Experience with agriculture projects and/or projects funded by the US government or other international funders.