Global Communities
Vacancy Announcement: Cooperative Specialist & Team Lead
Vacancy Announcement: Cooperative Specialist & Team Lead
Global Communities, formerly CHF
International, is an international non-profit organization that works closely
with communities worldwide to bring about sustainable changes that improve the
lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable.
Global Communities is seeking a
qualified and experienced Cooperative Specialist and Team Lead for the
USAID/Kenya Cooperative Development Program (CDP).
1) promote the adoption and
implementation of cooperative legislation and policies that support and
strengthen cooperative businesses in 25 counties;
2) strengthen the business acumen and
performance of cooperative businesses while integrating and empowering youth
and women within cooperative business structures in targeted urban and
peri-urban markets to increase economic participation and county revenue
growth; and
3) improve understanding of the
psychosocial behavioral impacts associated with membership in cooperative
businesses and determine whether those behaviors contribute positively to
household and community resilience strategies.
The Cooperative Specialist will
report to the USAID/Kenya CDP Chief of Party at Global Communities Headquarters
in Silver Spring, Maryland. S/he will be responsible for the management and
leadership of program operations in Kenya, and will serve as the Country
Program Representative.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Cooperative Specialist and Team
Lead will be responsible for providing strategic leadership to the CDP program
in Kenya in collaboration with the Chief of Party (COP). The Cooperative
Specialist and Team Lead shall be responsible for the management and
implementation of in-country operations.
The Cooperative Specialist and Team
Lead will work with key stakeholders and cooperative partners to develop
capacity of cooperatives in the service sectors in collaboration with the CDP
Kenya team.
S/he will also be responsible for
management and oversight of the program’s three core objectives, monitoring the
progress, milestones and achievements of the cooperatives over the life of the
program, and be responsible for oversight and delivery of program
administration including annual and monthly budgets in coordination with the
team Finance team.
The CDP Cooperative Specialist and
Team Lead will be expected to work locally with the Kenya Country Director, and
will supervise a team of at least three (3) in-country staff and local
consultants to accomplish the work plan. This position will have at least two
direct reports and oversee a team of up to five individuals.
Critical to this position is a strong
functional understanding of the cooperative business model and have a
background in working with cooperatives to strengthen their operations,
management, financial and governance systems.
The successful candidate should be
open to working in a nontraditional working environment with remote management
and have good communication and cooperation skills.
Specific responsibilities include,
but are not limited to:
·
Serving as the primary in-country
representative for Global Communities’ CDP Kenya program;
·
Providing day to day team management
and have a flexible schedule for working with HQ Management team and COP;
·
Designing, implementing and
monitoring work plan for all three pillars in collaboration with HQ Management
team
·
Working in close collaboration with
the program Chief of Party to accomplish program goals, objectives and targets;
·
In coordination with COP represent
program in forums and meetings.
·
Building cohesive team spirit among
and between team members in collaboration with HQ Management team
·
Providing training and mentorship to
the nascent cooperatives that the program will be supporting which includes but
is not limited to: good governance, operational management, cooperatives
membership roles and responsibilities, and strategic business planning;
·
Supporting the collection, analysis
and management of data/knowledge to track program progress and to provide
recommendations for ongoing improvements;
·
Working closely with universities and
technical vocational programs in Kenya to support youth employment in various
cooperative sectors;
·
Working closely with other program
staff and county government officials to design and develop cooperative-related
internship programs for youth;
·
Expanding cooperative networks and
integrating cooperative businesses into existing business forums and commercial
networks;
·
Developing program reports including
monthly performance reports, learning documents, quarterly blogs and USAID
semi-annual reports;
·
Managing the program budget and
expenditures in collaboration with Finance team;
·
Meeting internal programmatic
deadlines such as finance, M&E, workplan and reporting;
The duties listed above are not
inclusive of all the duties of the position at Global Communities. Global
Communities reserves the right to change and update position descriptions at
any time.
Education and Qualifications
·
Bachelor’s degree in Business
Administration, Finance, Agriculture, Cooperative Economics or related field of
study with at least 10 years of experience working with cooperatives in various
sectors including service industry and agriculture to strengthen their business
goals.
·
Master’s degree in similar field of
study with at least 7 years of relevant experience preferred;
Skills and Experience
·
Ability to design educational content
and provide capacity building around complex cooperative business strategy and
business planning, feasibility studies, and best practices in cooperative
governance and membership roles and responsibilities, knowledge of accounting a
plus;
·
Demonstrated work in value chain
and/or market systems analysis programming;
·
Knowledge of share valuation and
strategies for building equity;
·
Established cooperative network;
·
Experience working with start-ups and
assisting them become profitable;
·
Experience managing teams of at least
3 full-time staff and consultants;
·
Excellent critical thinking skills;
·
Knowledge of the Collaboration,
Learning and Adapting (CLA) approach and how to successfully incorporate CLA
into program management plans;
·
Oversee and participate in both the
Cooperative Legislative Affairs and Policy program implementation as well as
the Collaboration, Learning and Adaptive objectives in up to 25 counties in
collaboration with country team.
·
Experience in writing program
reports, developing curriculums, and writing concept notes and Scopes of Work;
USAID reporting skills a plus;
·
Strong public speaking skills with
the ability to lead workshops and engage with individuals with a variety of
backgrounds in the cooperative sector;
·
Demonstrated experience in team
building and successful collaboration efforts;
·
Proficiency level of comprehension of
Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
·
Ability to be flexible with time
schedule to allow for communication via Skype or other communication software
with the Washington-based Program team;
·
Excellent verbal, writing and
reporting skills,
·
Ability to travel domestically at
least 25% of the time, potential for international travel as needed;
·
Kenyan National strongly preferred.
Language Skills: Fluency in written and oral English and Swahili
Working Conditions
·
Based in Nairobi office with travel
within and outside the country as required to perform duties.
·
Able to work at a computer keyboard
for extended periods of time.
Vacancy Announcement: Policy & Legislative Affairs Specialist
Global
Communities, formerly CHF International, is an international non-profit
organization that works closely with communities worldwide to bring about
sustainable changes that improve the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable.
Global
Communities is seeking a qualified and experienced Cooperative Policy & Legislative
Affairs Specialist for the USAID/Kenya Cooperative Development Program (CDP).
The
Program will support three components to
1)
promote the adoption and implementation of cooperative legislation and policies
that support and strengthen cooperative business enterprises in 25 counties;
2)
strengthen the business acumen and performance of cooperative businesses (CBs)
while integrating and empowering youth and women within cooperative business
enterprises in targeted urban and peri-urban markets to increase economic
participation and county revenue growth; and
3)
improve understanding of the psychosocial behavioral impacts associated with
membership in cooperative business enterprises and determine whether those
behaviors contribute positively to household and community resilience
strategies.
The
Policy & Legislative Affairs Specialist will report to the Kenya CDP
in-country Cooperative Specialist and Team Lead.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
The
Cooperative Policy & Legislative Affairs Specialist will be responsible for
design, management and implementation of the program’s Cooperative Legislative
and Policy Affairs program component in liaison with the Chief of Party (COP)
and Cooperative Specialist and Team Lead.
The
position will be responsible for designing component strategy, work plans and
the corresponding budget. The Specialist will seek to revise, expand and
support new cooperative legislation in up to 25 primarily Feed the Future
priority counties.
The
position will work directly with county based cooperative professionals and
county government officials on devolution of cooperative legislation and
functions at the county level. The Cooperative Policy & Legislative Affairs
Specialist will also provide capacity building to cooperative officers and
officials in various positions within county government bodies in support of
new legislation and bill enactment.
S/he
will also be responsible for organizing workshops with county officials, lead
the facilitation of public forums, and design technical approaches related to
the program’s objective focusing on improving the enabling environment for
cooperatives in Kenya.
The
Policy & Legislative Affairs Specialist will be expected to work with the
CDP Kenya team and other Global Communities’ Kenya staff to accomplish the work
plan and targets for this program component.
The
successful candidate should be open to working in a nontraditional working
environment with remote management and have strong cooperation and
communication skills.
Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
·
Working closely with legal entities
and consultants to develop county government-related bills focused on
cooperative functions;
·
Leading development of programmatic
outreach for all key stakeholders and development of implementation strategy to
be submitted to Cooperative Specialist;
·
Leading the facilitation of results
oriented county forums with officials and cooperative stakeholders to review,
revise and finalize bills for county assemblies;
·
Managing program relationships with
all 25 county representatives and liaise with Council of Governors;
·
Identifying new market players and
with existing partners and stakeholders who can provide strategic value to the
program efforts to facilitate a more supportive and inclusive legal enabling
environment;
·
Supporting advocacy groups within
counties for the improvement of cooperative business enabling environments;
·
Working closely with other program
staff and county government officials to design and develop cooperative-related
internship programs for youth;
·
Plan monthly activities and
corresponding budgets;
·
Regularly developing program-related
content including white papers, blogs and reports that feed up into Semi Annual
and Annual reports to USAID;
·
Supervise a small team;
·
Represent Global Communities in
cooperative forums as requested;
·
Responding to program team
requirements on an as needed basis by Cooperative Specialist and Team Lead and
COP.
The
duties listed above are not inclusive of all the duties of the position at
Global Communities.
Global
Communities reserves the right to change and update position descriptions at
any time.
Education and Qualifications
·
Bachelor’s degree in Business
Administration, Economics, Political Science, or other social science-related
field of study with at least seven (7) years of experience working in the
public policy sector, on governance-related donor-funded programs, and/or with
local government economic development units.
·
Master’s degree in a similar field of
study with at least five (5) years of relevant experience preferred;
Skills and Experience
·
Experience writing and developing
policy or amendments to policy and legislation;
·
Experience developing policy and
outreach strategies to cooperative stakeholders in both rural and urban
contexts;
·
Experience providing capacity
building and workshop implementation on policy and legislation initiatives or
similar;
·
Strong understanding of policies
related to the cooperative sector in Kenya;
·
Experience interacting and working
closely with elected officials at the county level;
·
Strong relationships with different
stakeholders in the cooperative sector in Kenya at all levels (government,
private sector, civil society organizations, etc.);
·
Demonstrated experience designing and
implementing work plans;
·
Experience with budgets and
expenditure projections;
·
Excellent critical thinking skills;
·
Excellent verbal, writing and
reporting skills;
·
Excellent interpersonal and team work
skills;
·
Strong public speaking skills;
·
Proficiency level of comprehension of
Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
·
Ability to be flexible with time
schedule to allow for communication via Skype or other communication software
with the Washington-based program team;
·
Ability to travel domestically up to
40% of the time;
·
Kenyan National strongly preferred.
Language Skills: Fluency in written and oral English and Swahili
Working Conditions
·
Based in Nairobi office with travel
within and outside the country as required to perform duties.
·
Able to work at a computer keyboard
for extended periods of time.
Vacancy Announcement: Collaborating, Learning & Adapting (CLA) Program Officer
Global
Communities, formerly CHF International, is an international non-profit
organization that works closely with communities worldwide to bring about
sustainable changes that improve the lives and livelihoods of the vulnerable.
Global
Communities is seeking a qualified Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA)
Program Officer for the USAID/Kenya Cooperative Development Program (CDP).
The
program will be designed to
1)
promote the adoption and implementation of cooperative legislation and policies
that support and strengthen cooperative businesses (CBs) in 25 counties;
2)
strengthen the business acumen and performance of CBs while integrating and
empowering youth and women within CBs structures in targeted urban and
peri-urban markets in order to increase economic participation and county
revenue growth; and
3)
improve understanding of the psychosocial behavioral impacts associated with
membership in CBs in order to determine whether those behaviors contribute
positively to household and community resilience strategies.
The
CLA Program Officer will report to the USAID/Kenya CDP Chief of Party (COP) at
Global Communities Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The
CLA Program Officer will be expected to serve as the in-country lead for the
development and implementation of a CLA plan under the USAID/Kenya CDP Program.
In
collaboration with the Program Team Lead and HQ leadership, the CLA Program
Officer will engage project staff, project beneficiaries and other stakeholders
in identifying, collecting, analyzing and disseminating good practices and
lessons learned emerging from program implementation.
Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
·
Developing a detailed CLA plan in
close collaboration with COP and Cooperative Specialist and Team Lead to
identify ways to strategically collaborate with key stakeholders, regularly
identify and capture lessons learned from the program activities and
disseminate them in various platforms such as the program learning website,
reports, blogs, and relevant media outlets;
·
Facilitating regular
knowledge-sharing events through roundtables, workshops, and online discussion
forums among program staff, donors and other cooperative stakeholders at the
national and county level;
·
Coordinating and leading regular
stock-taking exercises such as pause-and-reflect sessions, before-action
reviews, after-action reviews, and opportunities to give and receive
stakeholder feedback;
·
Supporting the country team,
consultants, key partners, and collaborators in developing a regular pipeline
of partner collaboration activities, learning opportunities and adaptation
strategy sessions on all aspects of learning;
·
Keeping a consistently updated
database of partners and stakeholders who enrich the cooperative community of
practice and reaching out to them for collaboration opportunities on a regular
basis;
·
Participating in program research
efforts (i.e. participating in survey collection, focus group discussions and
post survey debriefs) in coordination with Kenya CDP and Research Partner
teams;
·
Participation in monitoring and
evaluation activities in collaboration with Kenya program team, as needed;
·
By drawing on existing and ongoing
industry practice and research, support efforts to identify key research
questions and engage in the design of studies that generate evidence on best
practices and lessons learned;
·
Using project-generated evidence,
develop innovative thought pieces, publications and products contributing to
the technical evidence base in the areas of social capital, cooperatives, CLA
and community resilience;
·
Ensuring that lessons learned and
best practices are documented in innovative formats and that programmatic
evidence-based knowledge and evaluations are gathered, extracted, managed and
disseminated on an on-going basis;
·
Contributing to production of key
program reports, blogs and publications drawing on innovative use of technology
for maximum consumption;
·
Performing administrative duties up
to 15% of the time to assist with the writing of reports, communicate with HQ
leadership team, and other tasks as assigned.
The
duties listed above are not inclusive of all the duties of the position at Global
Communities. Global Communities reserves the right to change and update
position descriptions at any time.
Education and Qualifications
·
Bachelor’s degree in Communication,
Journalism, Public Relations, or related field;
·
Creative, results-oriented, and
guidance self-starter with preferably at least two (2) years of experience
working in progressively junior roles in learning, knowledge dissemination
and/or communications in a development, humanitarian, academic, professional
network or similar environment;
Skills and Experience
·
Excellent writing skills in English
required. Proven ability to draft and publish mid to high-level thought
provoking, well researched materials.
·
Excellent planning/organizational
skills, including the ability to prioritize and manage simultaneous critical
tasks;
·
Strong ability and history of
successfully facilitating outcome-oriented roundtable discussions, networking
discussions, workshops and forums, with the aim to contribute to the knowledge
management and learning strategies of the program;
·
Experience evaluating training and
capacity building interventions, and/or experience in evaluation in the
co-operative development;
·
Ability to process and present
information in creative ways to generate appropriate formats for different audiences;
·
Ability to build consensus among
peers and way forward among peers;
·
Ability to meet deadlines under
pressure, and work successfully with a diverse team and stakeholders.
·
A strong interest or understanding of
cooperative enterprises and inclusive businesses a plus;
·
Knowledge of USAID’s CLA approaches
and tools;
·
Ability to travel domestically at
least 20% of the time;
·
Kenyan National strongly preferred.
Language Skills: Fluency in written and oral English and Swahili
Working Conditions
·
Based in Nairobi office with travel
within and outside the country as required to perform duties.
·
Able to work at a computer keyboard
for extended periods of time.
Apply
via email to: kevacancies@globalcommunities.org
Please
Quote the position title on the email subject while sending your application,
attach your CV and cover letter, to be received not later than 9th September
2018.
Global
Communities is an equal opportunity employer
