International
Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Recruiting
Communication Officer for
IITA
IITA is an international non-profit research-for-development (R4D) organization created in 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
CIAT,
on behalf of IITA, is seeking for a Communication Officer to develop and implement
communication activities under the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative (ACAI)
project.
The
Communication Officer will report to the Project Coordinator, ACAI, and will
work closely with the Communication and Knowledge Exchange Expert of the Cassava
Weed Management Project.
Main responsibilities include:
- Develop,
coordinate and implement a detailed communication strategy and knowledge
exchange plan for the African Cassava Agronomy Initiative project in close
collaboration with project partners, Communication and Knowledge Exchange
Expert of the Cassava Weed Management Project.
- Lead
and support the capitalization of research findings in the project through
regular reports and specific documentation in various output formats to
maximize efficiency of reaching end-users
- Manage
and ensure effective stakeholder relationships and knowledge exchange
approaches by engaging in dialogue and using feedback mechanisms with
project partners and beneficiaries.
- Manage
project events, including press conferences, promotional events and
exhibitions etc
- Set
up, design and coordinate an online media platform on project results in
close collaboration with the Communication and Knowledge Exchange Expert
of the Cassava Weed Management Project, and liaise with software developers
to ensure output of web applications are adapted to key needs of end-users
- Design,
manage and disseminate an educational video documentation on the project
- Produce
training and educational materials for extension services and rural
populations
- Produce
efficient communication materials (print and audio) adapted to the needs
of cassava farmers
The
candidate shall have the following competencies, skills and experience:
- Bachelor
degree in communication or public relations or relevant field
- At
least 2 years of working experience in communication field with proven
record in digital media and/or digital communication.
- Excellent
in writing, development and design of communication output such as briefs,
newsletters, updates, infographics, presentations, reports, etc.
- Demonstrated
ability to conceptualize web-based services for communicating research
outputs, adapted to client needs or addressing specific problems expressed
by end-users
- Good
understanding of requirements for the development of software/apps to
share information, including security, vulnerability and privacy
requirements, and ability to discuss these with software developers.
- Good
understanding of agriculture, poverty and sustainability issues in rural
areas of Africa.
- Excellent
communication and networking skills.
- Excellent
written and spoken English.
Terms
of employment: The
position is nationally recruited, will be based at IITA Offices in Nairobi,
Kenya.
The
contract will be for two (2) years period, subject to a probation period of
three (3) months, renewable depending on performance and availability of
resources.
Climate -
Smart Agriculture Profiles Coordinator
The
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (www.ciat.cgiar.org) works to
reduce hunger and poverty, and improve human nutrition in the tropics through
research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.
CIAT
is a member of the CGIAR Consortium (www.cgiar.org), a global research
partnership working many partners for a food secure future.
The
Center’s research focuses on increasing productivity of key crops (cassava,
common bean, rice, and tropical forages); reversing soil and land degradation;
and using information to foster better decisions about issues such as climate
change and environmental management.
Headquartered
near Cali, Colombia, CIAT has regional offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Hanoi,
Vietnam, with staff posted in other developing countries as well.
The Decision and Policy Analysis (DAPA) group is a growing research area of CIAT that works towards CIAT’s mission of eco-efficient agriculture for the tropics by ensuring improved decision making by a range of stakeholders on the themes of climate change, linking farmers to markets and ecosystem services.
See
https://ciat.cgiar.org/dapa for more details on DAPA.
With support from the World Bank and USAID, CIAT’s DAPA has been developing Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Profiles for multiple countries around the world (Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean) in the past three years, with the aim to advance knowledge and mainstream CSA into science and policy.
The
CSA Profiles assesses policies and practices related to CSA in each country,
specifically identifying enabling environments and barriers for mainstreaming
adoption of CSA, as well as ongoing and potential CSA activities and avenues
for financing uptake of practices in each country. See CIAT´s webpage for more
details.
The
demand for Country Profiles has increased significantly in the past year, with
donors and governments around the world soliciting CIAT to conduct the CSA
baseline assessment in their country(s) of interest.
The
Position: We are
looking for a qualified person to lead the development of national and
sub-national baseline studies on climate-smart agriculture (CSA), also known as
CSA Profiles, in close collaboration with teams of experts, donors, national
government partners, and other in-country stakeholders.
The
position will be full-time and based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Responsibilities:
- Ensure
on-going CSA Profile projects are carried out successfully within the
planned timeline and available resources.
- Coordinate
teams of consultants, editors, and designers engaged in the elaboration of
the CSA Profiles, including managing and supervising activities related to
project planning, stakeholder engagement, data collection, analysis,
infographics elaboration and layout of final documents.
- Periodically
follow-up with team members on their respective activities, to ensure
timely delivery of outputs (via Skype, phone calls, emails).
- Maintain
communication of project progress and outputs with funder(s) and
in-country partners, to ensure usability and ownership of the research
products.
- Give
the final approval of CSA Profiles documents, infographics and Supplementary
Material by making sure that the outline and content is aligned to the CSA
Profile guidelines and templates and incorporates peer review
comments.
- Build
strong links with other CIAT and CIAT-DAPA research teams to enhance the
potential for the use of CSA Profiles in a variety of research
efforts.
- Contribute
to and lead the expansion of CIAT's CSA Profiles portfolio by exploring
new potential countries to carry out the research and by seeking sources
of funding to support the development of the new Profiles.
Technical
Competencies
- MSc/MA
or PhD in international development, international relations, or other
social science field, with a focus and/or proven interest in agriculture,
rural development, and food security topics.
- Candidates
with agricultural sciences background may also be considered, provided
that they prove an understanding of social and institutional processes
around agriculture sector development.
- Experience
(at least 2 years) and interest in project management, including project
design, formulation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation.
- Proven
understanding of the Climate-Smart Agriculture concept and its
applications (work experience in this area is preferred, but not
mandatory).
- Experience
in designing and managing budgets
- Experience
in managing and leading teams.
- Excellent
Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Power Point and Excel.
- Very
good command of English language.
- Good
communication skills (verbal, written) French and Spanish will be an added
advantage.
- Interest
in and proven editing and proof-reading skills.
Role
Competencies
- Proof
of outstanding communication skills, to be applied in dialogues with a
wide array of actors, such as international organization representatives,
members of national governments members, research and private sector
representatives, experts, and farmers.
- Ability
to motivate others
- Process
management
Terms
of employment: This
is an internationally recruited position based in Nairobi, Kenya and will be
for an initial period of two (2) years, subject to six (6) months’ probation
period, and is renewable depending on performance and availability of
resources.
CIAT
offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary
and excellent benefits.
CIAT
is an equal opportunity employer, and strives for staff diversity in gender and
nationality.
Applications
Applicants are encouraged to send a one-page cover letter illustrating their suitability for the above position against the listed qualifications, competencies, skills together with a two-page curriculum vitae, including names and addresses of the referees knowledgeable about the candidate´s professional qualifications and work experience.
Applicants
are invited to visit http://ciat.cgiar.org/ciat-jobs to submit their applications for this
position:
a)
Clearly indicating Climate-Smart Agriculture Profiles Coordinator as the
position title; and
b)
Save your Application Letter and CV as one document in pdf format.
Closing
date for applications: 19th September 2016
We
invite you to learn more about us at: http://www.ciat.cgiar.org