Sr. Planning & Capacity Building Specialist

Job Description

Position Title : Sr. Planning and Capacity Building Specialist(Level D1)
Location : Kathmandu with frequent travel to field
Group/Unit : Enterprise and Agriculture
Reports to : Chief of Party

PROJECT SUMMARY:

The USAID/Nepal funded KISAN project is improving food security in twenty Hill and Terai districts in the Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western regions of the country. The project is soon to begin the last year of project implementation. The goal of the project is to sustainably reduce poverty and hunger in Nepal by achieving inclusive growth in the agriculture sector, increasing income of farm families, and improving the participation of the private sector in promoting agriculture growth. After 3½ years of intensive implementation KISAN project’s final year will focus on maximizing market linkages for smallholder farmers and the role of private sector service providers as part of our sustainable exit plan. Our work will continue with all market actors working with vegetable, rice, maize, and lentil in more than 300 VDCs within 20 districts in the West, Mid-West, and Far West provinces. Our facilitative, market systems development approach has built partnerships with hundreds of private sector partners, including seed companies, millers, processors, input suppliers/agrovets, agro-equipment dealers, collection centers, and financial institutions, to develop improved sourcing networks, business models, and buyer-led service delivery to improve the livelihoods of 100,000 smallholder farmers. Year 5 will bring an emphasis on consolidating these advances and equipping all value chain actors with the skills and knowledge to ensure both sustainable continuation of these activities, and ultimately independent expansion of the local business models after the project closes.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:
The Senior Planning and Capacity Building Specialist will be responsible for overseeing all capacity building activities and results under all the outcomes of the KISAN Project. S/he will be accountable for the planning and preparation for the annual work planning processes and trainings. S/he will be responsible for working with change agents (lead farmers, agrovets, cooperatives, local service providers, extension workers, and other value chain actors) within the 20 KISAN project districts to enhance their capacity in providing service to farmers for quality agricultural inputs; adopt improved production and post-harvest technologies and practices in order to increase farmers’ income; and improve capacity of agriculture extension workers, service providers, and farmers. S/he will monitor partner and staff activities on capacity building and coordinate with the Agriculture Director, Senior Business Opportunities Manager, Grants Manager, Senior Agricultural Marketing Manager and Senior Regional Manager to ensure capacity building activities are integrated and implemented throughout the project. The Senior Planning and Capacity Building Specialist will monitor all training activities to ensure that change agents are receiving training as per DIP to meet the target. S/he should provide reports to USAID as well as Chief of party regarding the plans, their implementation and about the discrepancies if any.
 

Essential Responsibilities:

1. Lead planning and preparation for the annual work planning process.
2. Lead preparation of District, Cluster, Regional and Consolidated Detailed Implementation Plans (DIPs) for both grants and non-grants activities; and orient these DIPs to project staff as required.
3. Support in preparing and amendment of Statement of Works (SOWs) for project partners
4. Work closely with Agriculture Director, Senior Business Opportunities Managers, Grants Manger, Senior AgriculturalMarketing Manager, Senior Regional Manager and M&E Director (&Team) to track implementation progress versus the plan, and identify activities that need to refined/dropped or scaled up.
5. Coordinate periodic coordination and follow-up meetings and workshops to monitor implementation progress
6. Develop capacity building plans/training for various projecttargeted individual/firmand standardizecapacity building methodologies in coordination with all Outcome Leads
7. Develop capacity building materials and ensure that targets are achieved within stipulated time
8. Support in preparing itinerary/TOR and organize and/or participate in meetings, trainings and field visits for Short Term Consultants (STCs)
9. Incorporate best practices and suggestions coordinating with other projects and participating in various meetings and workshops including GON
10. Provide input on periodic reports for USAID
11. Report to Chief of Party on the status of activity implementation.
12. Develop costings modules in close coordination with Operations Director and Finance Director
13. Work on any other project related tasks assigned by Chief of Party

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQURIEMENTS:

Education: Preferably a Maser degree in Agriculture or B.S.C in Agriculture with extensive work experience in agriculture related projects.

Experience: The ideal candidate will have the following experience:

• At least 5 years of experience agriculture project management
• Experience implementing and adapting sustainable agriculture approaches under donor-funded projects, USAID strongly preferred
• Experience with knowledge of markets (increasing access, linkages, dynamics)
• Experience monitoring activities and progress against project targets;
• Knowledge of smallholder agriculture in the West, Mid-West, and Far-West of Nepal required;
• Experience managing office and large number of field staff required;
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written with fluency in both English and Nepali required.
• Strong Skill in Excel and experience in MS Project

Other: High level of English and Nepali is required.

Disclaimer: This position is contingent upon donor approval

How to Apply
Interested candidates can post their CV to Jobs.KISAN@winrock.org within October 3rd, 2016. Mails
received after the stipulated date will not be entertained. 

This Job is expired. The Company is no longer accepting applications for this position.