Organization: Mercy Corps
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 31 Oct 2015
THIS POSITION IS CONTIGENT ON FUNDING
PROGRAM/ DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:
The Technical Support Unit (TSU) provides technical expertise to Mercy Corps field programs to support program development and program quality in several technical areas. The Agriculture TSU leads the Agricultural and Natural Resource Management (ANRM) component of the Technical and Operational Performance Support (TOPS) program. The TOPS Program is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Food for Peace (FFP)-funded learning mechanism that generates captures, disseminates, and applies the highest quality information, knowledge, and promising practices in development food assistance programming, to ensure that more communities and households benefit from the U.S. Government"s investment in fighting global hunger. Through technical capacity strengthening, a small grants program to fund research, documentation and innovation, and an in-person and online community of practice (the Food Security and Nutrition [FSN] Network), The TOPS Program empowers food security implementers and the donor community to make lasting impact for millions of the world"s most vulnerable people. The TOPS Program is a consortium program led by Save the Children.
GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:
The TOPS Agriculture Officer will support all agriculture and natural resource management activities for The TOPS Program. S/He will contribute to the development and implementation of training sessions in Washington DC and field locations; tools and guides and task force activities. S/he will be a TOPS agriculture and natural resource management representative at meetings in Washington DC.
ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:
Program Implementation
- Collate training information and contribute to the development and implementation of training sessions and materials including alternative learning approaches such as distance learning and use of video.
- Collate information on new practices, events and emerging themes in food security programming and enable practitioners to access the latest policy and best practice materials on these themes for the areas of agriculture and NRM.
- Contribute to the development of tools and guides within the agriculture and NRM sector as required.
- Contribute to TOPS Agricultural Task Force activities and communities of practice in food security programming, including attendance to task force meetings, keeping minutes of meetings and facilitating online activities including blogs and discussions.
- Participate in larger agricultural, NRM, and food security networks to disseminate products and project learning.
- Represent TOPS agriculture and NRM at relevant events and meetings in Washington DC and globally, and document key event findings.
- Coordinate with Mercy Corps" Technical Support Units, field staff in Title II and other field programs to enable organization"s technical capacity to inform TOPS implementation.
- Other duties as agreed with the Senior Agriculture Specialist, Mercy Corps and the TOPS program.
Finance & Compliance Management
- Ensure compliance with donor and Mercy Corps regulations related logistical and financial procedures.
Representation
- Identify, build and manage collaborative partnerships with consortium partners, donors and other stakeholders.
- Communicate effectively to ensure overall project targets and donor obligations are met.
Organizational Learning:
- As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve – we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.
Accountability to Beneficiaries:
- Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None
ACCOUNTABILITY:
REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Andrea Mottram, TOPS Senior Agriculture Specialist
WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: TOPS Regional Agriculture Specialist; TOPS Consortium Partners; Agriculture TSU
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:
- Relevant degree (BSc, BA or above) or at least 5 years of work experience, preferably including field experience.
- Higher level degree (MSc, MA) preferred.
- Experience of agriculture activities for international development emergency projects, preferably complementary to food aid commodity programs.
- Experience in training activities within the agricultural sector. An interest in alternative training methodologies preferred.
- Experience using web-based knowledge management tools.
- Experience of natural resource management, agriculture-nutrition linkages, market development, behavior change methodologies, and monitoring and evaluation of agriculture activities to improve data collection and analysis preferred.
- Knowledge of other technical areas as they relate to agriculture and NRM including social behavior change, gender and monitoring and evaluation preferred.
- Strong reporting, presenting and verbal communications skills.
- French and/or Spanish fluency preferred.
- Experience working with USAID programs is a plus.
SUCCESS FACTORS:
The successful applicant will possess technical expertise in the agriculture sector combined with practical experience working within food security programs. He/She will have experience and interest in assessing agricultural information, developing knowledge sharing documents, using the web to disseminate technical knowledge, and training. Experience with USAID/FFP program is a plus. He/She will be self-motivated and able to think creatively about achieving capacity-building objectives for global, multi-organizational target audience. He/She will have good networking and relationship building skills and the ability to represent the organization at formal and informal functions and meetings. He/She will be is resilient and remain calm under pressure.
LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS:
This position is based in Washington DC, with time spent in both Save the Children and Mercy Corps" offices. The position will entail up to 30% travel to field locations, which may include areas of sometimes high security risks.
Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC"s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.
How to apply:
Please follow this link to apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=bWJhcnRvbG9uaS4wMDkyNS4zODMwQG1lcmN5Y29ycHMuYXBsaXRyYWsuY29t
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