NGO Jobs in Nairobi, Kenya – CIMMYT

About the Organization: The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT® (www.cimmyt.org), is a not-for-profit research and training organization with partners in over 100 countries, and through offices in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

Through strong science and effective partnerships, we create, share, and use knowledge and agricultural technologies to increase food security, improve the productivity and profitability of farming systems, and sustain natural resources in developing countries.


We participate in an extensive global network of people and organizations who share similar research and development goals, including the public and private sector, non-governmental and civil society organizations, farmers, and the development assistance community.
 
Vacancy: Seed Systems Officer - DTMASS (CIMMYT)


The Position: Under the CIMMYT DTMASS (Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling) Project, the incumbent will be responsible for providing timely and high-quality technical assistance to in-country maize seed production partners (private / public seed companies, NARS,NGOs) to ensure that the project achieves project outputs and outcome targets. 

This will include promotion of best practices for DTM (Drought-Tolerant Maize) variety production (from breeding to post-certification mass production) to engender independent and sustainable local early-generation and Certified DTM seed production and ultimately.

Key Responsibilities:
·                     Under the direction of the Principle Investigator for Kenya, implement technical support and capacity building efforts to in-country seed companies (public and private) on DTM seed production
·                     Assist multiplying initial pre-basic and basic seed to help private seed companies to quickly scale seed production of drought-tolerant maize varieties.
·                     Assist and coordinate the production of Early Generation seed to meet the demands by private seed companies and other partners.
·                     Provide technical support for the production of certified by seed companies and distribution in the target zones.
·                     Support other seed system specialists and scientists in engaging seed producers for the development of sustainable seed networks and markets.
·                     Assist in developing and improving capacity of seed sector partners through training and other related capacity-building initiatives.
·                     Assist and monitor variety demonstrations conducted by seed companies and NGOs to promote drought-tolerant maize varieties.
·                     Ensure with the relevant bodies, the partner compliance with all relevant seed quality and production and storage standards as needed.
·                     Support seed company partners in timely and accurate recording of seed production Progress Reports, including the reporting of any challenges.
Essential Qualifications
·                     MSc in Agriculture or related field.
·                     Minimum 3-5 years of relevant experience in maize seed production, maize breeding, agronomy or related field.
·                     Experience working with public and private seed sectors (NARES, private seed companies, extension workers, etc.)
·                     Experience organizing and implementing Variety demonstrations, field days, other promotion activities.
·                     Experience in collecting DUS and VCU data.
·                     Experience in training or skills transfer.
Terms of offer: CIMMYT in Kenya is hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) which is an equal opportunity employer and offers a collegial and gender-sensitive working environment. 

We believe that staff diversity promotes excellence and strongly encourage applications from qualified women. 

This position is on local terms and subject to ICRAF HR policies and will be for an initial period of two (2) years, subject to six (6) months’ probation period with a possibility of renewal.

The position will be based in the CIMMYT office in Nairobi, Kenya but will require travel to the field inside the country, with a possibility of occasional travel abroad.

Vacancy: Monitoring & Evaluation and Learning Officer - CIMMYT
 
The Position: The incumbent will provide timely and high-quality data collection, analysis and reporting of in-country maize seed production and promotion efforts under the six-country CIMMYT DTMASS (Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling) Project based in Nairobi.
 
Key Responsibilities:
·                     Implement a monitoring, evaluation and learning (ME&L) framework in-country under the direction of the Senior ME&L Specialist
·                     Support Project partners (local seed companies and quality control agencies) set up regular data collection systems to record Project indicators and maintain quality assurance of their data
·                     Ensure data compliance with CIMMYT and donor (USAID) indicator requirements, including measuring Gender issues
·                     Ensure complete, quality and timely data and reporting of partner and Project data to the Senior Project ME&L Specialist
·                     Support the Project with knowledge management (analysis, reporting and feedback mechanisms) of Project progress, successes and challenges
·                     Build the ME&L capacity of in-country partners, providing technical assistance as needed and participating in Project capacity building workshops when required
·                     Support in-country research and other data collection efforts as needed (securing and training enumerators; etc.)
·                     Support SR ME&L Specialist and CIMMYT SEP staff in design and testing of data collection instruments including: Surveys; Key Informant Interviews; Focus Group discussions; Observation; self-assessment surveys; etc. 
·                     Help find and summarize in-country secondary data on the maize seed sector as needed/ directed by the Senior ME&L Specialist
·                     Support CIMMYT Communications staff in preparing materials for publication on DTMASS efforts and project success stories.
Essential Qualifications
·                     Preferably Masters Degree in International Development, Agricultural Economics, Business or related field; Bachelors degree with outstanding experience may be considered.
·                     Expertise in M&E, data collection, indicator design, analysis strategies; field research design
·                     Enumerator training skills.
·                     Minimum 5-7 years’ experience in development program M&E
·                     Experience with field data collection and quality control• Experience recruiting, training and managing data enumerators
·                     Experience designing and field testing indicators and survey instruments
·                     Experience with USAID projects a big plus; UN, WB Gates and other major international donor project experience highly desired
Terms of offer: CIMMYT in Kenya is hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) which is an equal opportunity employer and offers a collegial and gender-sensitive working environment. 

We believe that staff diversity promotes excellence and strongly encourage applications from qualified women. 

This position is on local terms and subject to ICRAF HR policies and will be for an initial period of two (2) years, subject to six (6) months’ probation period with a possibility of renewal.
 
The position will be based in the CIMMYT office in Nairobi, Kenya but will require travel to the field inside the country with a possibility of occasional travel abroad.

How to apply

Applications will be considered until 6th November 2015.

Please note that only short-listed applicants meeting the above requirements will be contacted.



We invite you to learn more about CIMMYT and World Agroforestry Centre by accessing our web sites www.cimmyt.org and www.worldagroforestry.org