Senior Gender Officer
Job Reference No. SGO 11/2017
Founded in 2006, the Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is an African-led African-based organization
that seeks to catalyze Agriculture Transformation in Africa. AGRA is focused on
putting smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by
transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a
business that thrives.
While both men and women are engaged
in agriculture in Africa, their roles are often differentiated by gender and
women face significant difficulties in accessing quality inputs, finance,
extension services, information about available opportunities and markets.
AGRA recognizes that closing the
gender gaps in access to and control over resources, and promoting the
empowerment of women and youth are all essential to catalyzing and sustaining
an agriculture transformation in Africa.
Therefore, AGRA’s vision for a sustainable, inclusive agriculture
transformation in Africa, requires the inclusion and empowerment of women, men
and youth, at all levels of the agriculture system. AGRA has
recently rolled out a new 5-year strategy to catalyze and sustain an Inclusive
Agricultural Transformation in Africa to increase incomes and improve food
security for 30 million farmers. AGRA will deliver this strategy through an
approach that simultaneously catalyzes change at farmer level, strengthens
input and output market systems and puts government at the center to enable and
champion private-sector-led agricultural growth at national level.
To support this transformation, AGRA
is seeking to recruit an experienced and exceptional individual to the position
of Senior Gender Officer.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Head of Strategy &
Analytics, the Senior Gender Officer, will be in charge of ensuring a gender
strategy is in place and an understanding of the same by staff, grantees and
all other partners at both regional and country levels. S/he will be the key
resource in providing quality advisory services to AGRA management and to the
country teams in regard to incorporating gender within all programs and
activities at AGRA. S/He will be responsible for providing technical support
and coordinating internal capacity building, as well as promoting the capacity
of partners and grantees through integration of a gender approach in policies
and programs, across AGRA. S/He will help position AGRA as a knowledge leader
and technical leader in the Gender space with various stakeholders.
Responsibilities
Support the development and
refinement of AGRA’s gender strategy and approach
·
Lead in developing and adopting a
gender policy with internal accountability and reporting mechanisms including
promoting a good working atmosphere
·
Support the strengthening of AGRA’s
country plans by incorporating strong gender governance and thinking
·
Be the gender focal person on all
gender matters at AGRA in relation to policy priorities, programme development
and donor funding
·
Identify and supervise the work of
expert consultants providing substantive inputs to the work programme
·
Lead interdisciplinary work and
initiatives with the donor community, government, public sector, AGRA
countries, multilateral organisations and NGOs to advance gender equality and
women’s empowerment at national, regional and global levels
Advisory to AGRA staff and leadership
on incorporating gender within all programs and activities at AGRA
·
Provide leadership, timely and high
quality advisory services to AGRA management and to the country teams on
Gender, ensuring that outputs are delivered in a timely manner according to
budget
·
Develop and draft policy guidance,
policy positions, issues papers and factsheets on gender, for a range of
audiences
·
Lead in conducting evidence-based
analysis, and policy dialogue within AGRA and with relevant stakeholders on
Gender issues
·
Exercise quality control of policy
guidance products and reports on gender;
·
Ensure capacity building of AGRA
staff and teams to set and deliver against gender specific targets
Technical support and capacity
building for AGRA grantees
·
Develop guidelines for reference by
potential grantees and staff during proposal solicitation and development
·
Support the design and development of
proposals to ensure incorporation of a well laid out gender strategy
·
Consult with grantees to develop new
grant ideas around gender in achieving sustainable productivity growth
according to AGRA’s strategy
·
Conduct project visits and provide
technical guidance on gender during monitoring and evaluation
Knowledge management and thought
leadership in gender
·
Driving the advancement of knowledge
management and thought leadership in gender development activities
·
Write project reports, gender
technical briefs, abstracts and document success stories
·
Develop and implement effective
communication strategies for policy products to maximise their value,
visibility and impact within AGRA and the food security and sustainable
development community
·
Represent AGRA at designated
international meetings and conferences, prepare briefing materials, speaking
points and make presentations
·
Lead in convening meetings and
workshops on gender capacity building
Resource mobilization and partner
engagement:
·
Lead fund-raising activities for
AGRA’s programming from funding sources that specifically address gender
advancement ensure the agreed work programme activities are supported by a
sustainable funding base
·
Foster relationships and develop
strategic partnerships with partner organizations, countries, multilateral
organisations and NGOs, working on gender and development.
Qualifications
·
Minimum of 10 years’ relevant work
experience working in similar organization or institutions e.g. a bilateral aid
agency, a multilateral organization or with a partner government on gender
issues in a developing country context (analytical, policy and operational).
Excellent track record in leading evidence-based analysis in the field of
development and gender-related issues;
·
At least five (5) years’ Senior-Level
experience designing and implementing programs and/or gender development
policies and activities in developing countries;
·
A Master’s degree in political
sciences, public policy, international relations or other relevant discipline
with a specialization in gender and development. Relevant work experience may
be considered in lieu of this.
·
An understanding of various African
gender laws and devolution related legislations; Understanding of international
conventions on gender equality and women’s empowerment;
·
Deep understanding of both the
government and private sector policies and governance structures;
·
Experience and proven capacity to
communicate effectively with different counterparts (government authorities,
heads of agencies, civil society, and the private sector) to align actors and
build networks;
·
Experience in managing complex
initiatives with proven ability to develop high impact partnerships;
·
Proven leadership ability to
influence, develop and empower employees to achieve their best with a team
approach;
·
Excellent organizational, and problem
solving/decision making skills;
·
Intelligent, motivated self-starter
with strong interpersonal skills and work ethics;
·
Results and detail orientated with a
very hands on approach;
·
A working knowledge of French will be
an advantage.
An attractive remuneration package
commensurate with the responsibilities of the position will be negotiated with
the successful candidate.
Associate Program Officer
Inclusive Finance, Nairobi, Kenya –
Job Reference: APOIF11/2017
Founded in 2006, the Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is an African-led African-based organization
that seeks to catalyze Agriculture Transformation in Africa. AGRA is focused on
putting smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by
transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a
business that thrives.
As the sector that employs the
majority of Africa’s people, nearly all of them small-scale farmers, AGRA
recognizes that developing smallholder agriculture into a productive,
efficient, and sustainable system is essential to ensuring food security,
lifting millions out of poverty, and driving equitable growth across the
continent.
AGRA is rolling out a new 5-year
strategy to catalyze and sustain an Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in
Africa (11 focus countries) to increase incomes and improve food security for
30 million farmers. Under this strategy, AGRA will deliver through an approach
that simultaneously catalyzes change at farmer level, strengthens input and
output market systems and puts government at the center to enable and champion
private-sector-led agricultural growth at national level.
To support this transformation from a
technical assistance perspective, AGRA is seeking to recruit an experienced and
exceptional individual to the position of Associate Program Officer
(APO), Inclusive Finance with a focus on Technical Assistance that
enhances Access to Finance for SMEs and Smallholder Farmers. The position
is based in Nairobi with regular travel (50% of the time) primarily in Kenya
and to other AGRA’s focus countries.
Position Summary
Reporting to the Program Manager of
PROFIT and closely collaborating with the Head of Inclusive Finance, the
Associate Program Officer will be responsible for the management of Technical
Assistance funds linked to improving access to agricultural finance for SMEs
and smallholder farmers active in staple crop value chains.
In the first year, the APO will
mainly support the PROFIT program manager in successful delivery of the
Business Support Services (BSS) component of the PROFIT Program. The BSS
component supports SMEs, Farmer Based Organisations and Farmers in improving
their access to agricultural finance. The component also support Financial
Services providers in improving their offer of Agricultural financial products.
As AGRA sources more Technical Assistance
funds to enhance access to finance for SMEs and smallholder farmers, the role
will expand to other countries, financial services providers and value
chains. The APO will be successful if
TA funds are efficiently and effectively deployed and leading to enhanced
access to finance for the agricultural sector actors.
Responsibilities
Support PROFIT Program Manager
·
Support in actual implementation
process for the BSS component through Technical Service Providers (TSPs), partners
and/grantees, providing relevant technical backstopping as may be required;
·
Assist the Program in assessing and
identifying capacity needs and gaps in partners and grantees ability to
implement projects, and implement mitigating strategies;
·
Work closely with the TSPs and
grantees to ensure that appropriate target groups are identified and technical
assistance delivered as per plan;
·
In line with PROFIT’s design, support
in collaborative efforts with other AGRA and IFAD programs and ensure program
activities are implemented in alignment with AGRA’s new strategy;
·
Work with M&E on capacity
building including training of partners and grantees in data capture,
management and reporting based on overall Program outputs and outcomes;
·
Monitor program implementation to
ensure partners and grantees are implementing project in accordance with the
contractual agreement;
·
Support in technical review of
partners and grantee quarterly reports and other deliverables as is required;
·
Assist the Program Officer in
preparing reports to the AGRA board and donors;
·
Control costs associated with budget
for the program;
·
Developing and/or reviewing the
project implementation framework including implementation strategy with
partners and grantees and providing detailed quarterly work plans and budgets;
·
Provide technical backstopping to
partners on gender and youth mainstreaming;
·
Documenting and knowledge-sharing of
the success stories, best practices and lessons learnt from program
implementation and support in preparation of policy briefs;
Support Technical Assistance Facility management
·
Build a data base of Technical
Services Providers in the area of access to finance for Agri SMEs and
Agricultural finance for Financial services providers
·
Contribute as an active team member
to the development and implementation of AGRA’s Inclusive Finance strategy
·
Where necessary, support other team
members (FISFAP, PROFIT, Farm to market) in their duties of developing and
managing activities linked to agricultural finance.
·
Perform other duties in the area of
Inclusive Finance for Agriculture as they appear.
Qualifications
·
Minimum of a Master’s degree in
Business, Agricultural Economics or related discipline;
·
At least five (5) years’ experience
working with partners and managing programs in agricultural value chain
development and access to finance for SMEs and smallholder farmers and;
capacity building for SMEs and smallholder farmers in developing countries,
especially in sub-Saharan Africa
·
Experience in conducting needs
assessments, terms of reference development, procurement processes and
management of consultants and trainers in the agricultural finance sector.
·
A sound knowledge of, and experience
in, rural finance at national and regional levels;
·
Ability to travel up to 50% of time
required.
An attractive remuneration package
commensurate with the responsibilities of the position will be negotiated with
the successful candidate.
How to Apply
If you believe you are the right
candidate for this position, kindly submit your application with a detailed CV
in English (including your e-mail address and telephone contacts to recruit@agra.org noting to quote the job reference number in the
subject line of the application e-mail.
To be considered, applications must
be received on or before 7th December,
2017.
For more information on AGRA, please
can visit www.agra.org
AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer