Senior Manager - Programs and Research
Overview
The ideal Senior Manager,
Programs and Research will be a compelling leader, able to foster and steer
high quality initiatives at AWARD. He/she will provide robust professional and
technical guidance for multi-faceted programs focused on the nexus between
gender and agricultural research, environment and climate change, agricultural
policy and practice in Africa. He/she will oversee the implementation of the
current portfolio of AWARD’s programmatic activities, coordinate the planning
and design of new initiatives, lead AWARD’s conversations and engagement on
gender in agricultural research with regional and global stakeholders. The
incumbent will work collaboratively with all AWARD units to ensure seamless
program execution and identify key learnings and opportunities for action to
accelerate and achieve AWARD’s vision and mission. He/she will be also
responsible for enhancing AWARD’s performance and credibility as an essential
player and expert on gender responsive agricultural research and development.
Duties and responsibilities
- Provide leadership, direction, and technical support in the
day-to-day program operations, production of high quality and timely
deliverables in line with the work planning and allocated budgets.
- Lead AWARD’s engagement with national, regional and global
agricultural research communities on issues of gender responsive
agricultural research and development.
- Prepare comprehensive work plans, develop program budgets,
and work closely with the Team to ensure cost-effective interventions and
operations at AWARD.
- Lead the development of a robust research agenda and
preparation of guidance materials, including toolkits and guidelines on
gender responsive agriculture research and development.
- Work closely with the M&E and Communications units, to
translate data, evidence, and learnings from AWARD programs into
compelling narratives and action points for sharing with key stakeholders
in the agricultural sector.
- Coordinate with the M&E/Communications units, the review
and analysis of the implementation and progress of the various initiatives
to ensure that AWARD’s standards of excellence are maintained as well as
to enable continued adaptive management.
- Support the review of AWARD’s grants, the analysis of
cumulative results achieved and the preparation of recommendations to
improve performance.
- Prepare regular progress updates, lead the reporting
exercises and sharing with the relevant internal and external audiences.
- Lead AWARD’s engagement with national, regional, and global
actors on the issues of gender, climate change, and policy in agricultural
research and development. Contribute to AWARD’s resource mobilization
efforts, identify, and provide guidance on new funding opportunities and
strategic partnerships to explore as necessary.
- Serve as a member of the senior management team and
contribute to the strategic positioning, decision making and working
towards a farsighted, efficient, and effective leadership for AWARD.
- Support continued capacity development of the AWARD team in
the areas of gender in agriculture research and development.
- Proactively supervise a dynamic team of colleagues by
providing effective coaching and necessary support for team motivation,
personal and professional growth.
- Represent AWARD externally as needed.
Qualifications
- PhD in a relevant discipline, including agricultural
economics, social sciences, gender studies, rural sociology, international
development, rural development, or any related fields.
- Excellent command of the English language, both written and
spoken, with proven drafting and editing skills. Fluency in French would
be an added advantage.
- A minimum of seven (7) years of professional experience
working in the field of international development/organisational
development with a focus on integrating gender dimensions into programs
and policies, particularly in the context of agriculture, climate change,
rural development, food security and nutrition.
- Internationally recognized expertise in gender and
development research, preferably in the food and agriculture sphere.
- Strong knowledge of, and experience in program design,
implementation, management, and evaluation.
- Proven experience in the coordination of donor-funded
projects and thus, good knowledge of donor planning cycles, agreement
requirements and regulations as well as donor reporting processes.
- Experience working in Francophone Africa will be ad added
advantage.
- Experience in managing culturally diverse teams, including
recruitment and managing performance, career development, coaching and
mentoring.
- Solid experience working with multi-stakeholders in the
agricultural sector and managing the implementation of complex
institutional transformation processes on the African continent.
- Strong understanding of the role of gender in the African
agriculture and food systems, the policy landscape in Africa; value chain
development and implications for socio-economic development, challenges,
and opportunities for Africa’s effective development.
- Solid track record of research contributions in agriculture
and development, use of mixed-methods approaches, evaluation design,
impact assessment and other strategic analyses focused on gender,
agri-food systems, and related research topics.
- Demonstrated experience in resource mobilisation and donor
relations, including writing grant proposals and other fundraising
materials.
- Experience in communicating research-, Monitoring and
Evaluation (M&L) – related evidence including practical
recommendations for action.
How To Apply
