AGRA Job Openings

Communications Specialist (Accra, Ghana Office) TOR (pdf)

Opportunities to Excel

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is a not-for-profit organization formed in 2006 to work with African governments, farmers, donors, NGOs and the private sector to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa through agricultural development targeted at resource-poor farmers. AGRA has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and an office in Accra, Ghana.

AGRA is seeking to recruit experienced and exceptional individuals to fill the following positions:

Program Officer - Extension Research (Eastern and Southern Africa Region) - Soil Health Program

REF: PO - ER/03-12

The Soil Health Program’s (SHP) main aim is to regenerate degraded farmland by providing support to national institutions. Increasingly, the research and extension activities on major food crops are taking a value-chain approach. This means taking a holistic approach to balanced Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM). The program’s core function is grant-making and management in the areas of soil health research and extension, fertilizer supply, training of agronomists and soil scientists and policy development.

This position is internationally recruited and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, on a 3 year renewable contract and will report to the Director, Soil Health Program. This position will require the job holder to travel up to 30% of the time.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Identifying grants opportunities using various approaches such as making public ‘requests for proposals’, reviewing them including the engagement of appropriate external reviewers, and presenting them to AGRA’s Grants Review Committees;

• Making grants in the area of ISFM practices that could be brought to scale in 8 countries through adaptive research and innovative extension approaches using the value chain approach of focus crops;

• Initiating the contracting of grantees and the transfer of monies once the grant is approved by AGRA’s Board;

• Providing, on a continuous basis, quality supervisory oversight and backstopping to the awarded grants. This will involve visiting grantees periodically, reviewing progress against the Projects Implementation Plans, and determining what corrective measures are needed to achieve the desired goals and outcomes;

• Convening workshops and forums for the grantees and their partners to meet periodically and share experiences on what is working well or not in terms of ISFM research and extension;

• Documenting key impacts and lessons emerging from the grants and investments made on ISFM research through various reports that are needed by different stakeholders including donors of the program;

• Contributing to the development of knowledge products that are deemed essential for the sustainable scale-out of ISFM technologies. This will be done through close collaboration with other strategic partners and projects they support;

• Contributing to the overall development of SHP and AGRA by effectively engaging in the program’s integration processes, review of proposals, resource mobilization, and communication;

• Strengthening partnerships with various organizations that are deemed essential to advance and sustain the investments made in ISFM research and extension, using existing country-level soil health consortia in most of the focal countries; and

• Managing staff and consultants effectively for results.

Key Qualifications, Knowledge & Experience

• An MSc. or PhD degree in Soil Science, Agronomy, Agricultural Extension, Rural Development or equivalent;

• A minimum of 10 years’ successful post-qualification experience in agricultural research and extension, 5 of which should have been spent working on issues pertaining to soil health research and development preferably in Africa;

• Strong conceptual and analytical skills in research and extension approaches related to integrated soil fertility management technologies;

• Demonstrated ability in creating strong research and extension linkages, and putting in place operational mechanisms to bring agricultural and particularly ISFM options to scale;

• Proven track record of effective supervision of grants, including proven problem-solving skills; and

• Outstanding written and oral communication skills in English and with a good knowledge of French.

Communications Officer

REF: CO – 03/12

AGRA’s communications strategy aims to: raise awareness of food security challenges in Africa and position AGRA as the key organization to help resolve them; encourage greater commitment among African governments and the international development community to invest in African agriculture; promote greater understanding of AGRA’s goals and programs; highlight the excellent work being done by African partners and grantees; and complement program activities in the field by facilitating the dissemination of information needed to promote the adoption of new approaches, policies and institutional linkages.

This position is internationally recruited and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, on a 3 year renewable contract and will report to the Director of Communications and Public Affairs. This position will require frequent travel to program countries across Africa, to grantee locations, and to donors and other partners.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Supporting the Director of Communications and Public Affairs to develop and implement a global communications strategy aimed at explaining the AGRA mission, raising the profile of the organization and generating support for the green revolution concept in Africa;

• Producing compelling messages that highlight the challenges facing African agriculture, at the same time creating an evidence-based optimism that those challenges can be overcome;

• Developing and implementing communications plans for key national programs to disseminate key messages for maximum impact;

• Drafting speeches for AGRA’s senior management team and preparing effective public presentations;

• Managing production of key AGRA communications materials, including annual reports, newsletters and brochures;

• Supporting the communication team’s efforts to build public awareness through outreach activities and coordinating production of success stories of key AGRA projects;

• Managing the updating of the AGRA website, and ensuring the effective use of social media channels;

• Liaising with AGRA’s communications firms and consultants;

• Managing the Communications Specialist based in Accra as he/she organizes media activities in West Africa (including media round-tables, press conferences, media tours etc.);

• Assisting in the planning and implementation for various high profile events;

• Organizing appropriate networking visits with AGRA’s key partners and high profile guests visiting AGRA and AGRA projects in the region; and

• Organizing grantee communications capacity building workshops to enhance grantees’ media relations and general communications skills.

Key Qualifications, Knowledge & Experience

• A Masters’ degree in Communications, Journalism, Agriculture or equivalent;

• A minimum of 10 years’ successful post-qualification experience in communications, at least 3 of which should have been spent working on issues related to African agricultural development;

• Ability to develop and implement communications strategies effectively, working with a range of staff, consultants and partners; and

• Proficiency in IT, with a good understanding of web design techniques and the use of various social media channels.

The ideal candidates should be attentive to detail, have excellent oral and written communication, interpersonal and relationship-building skills with the ability to work analytically, both with autonomy and with a team in diverse cultural contexts. The candidates should also have high levels of integrity and objectivity. Attractive remuneration packages commensurate with the positions’ responsibilities will be negotiated with the successful candidates.

If you believe you can clearly demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for these roles, please submit your application with a detailed CV, stating your current position, remuneration, e-mail and telephone contacts and quoting the relevant reference number on the application letter.

To be considered, your application must be received by 16th April, 2012 addressed to:

The Director

Executive Selection Division

Deloitte Consulting Limited

Deloitte Place, Waiyaki Way

Muthangari, Westlands

Email: agra@deloitte.co.ke

Tel: +254 20 423 0000

Fax: +254 20 444 8966

Web Applications Officer

REF: WAO / 03-12

The Primary role of this position is to develop and support web-based software applications including AGRA’s MIS and website.

This position is nationally recruited and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, on a 3 year renewable contract and will report to the Manager, Information Technology Services.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Maintaining and enhancing AGRA’s multi-language website;

• Designing, developing and supporting web-based software applications as requirements arise to integrate packaged and customized applications;

• Maintaining and providing support for AGRA’s MIS, including data manipulation, creation and generation of reports;

• Performing SQL database administration duties;

• Maintaining AGRA’s Intranet and developing applications that allow interaction with each staff member;

• Maintaining and enhancing the existing web-based software applications and all internal systems;

• Performing complete testing of web-based software applications (unit, system, user acceptance etc.) and engaging users as may be necessary;

• Designing and implementing user-driven databases, templates and interfaces in response to staff requirements;

• Developing database-driven web interfaces for rapid, real-time information sharing;

• Developing external web portals allowing internal and external users to input and retrieve data accurately while ensuring information security; and

• Developing software applications as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Key Qualifications, Knowledge & Experience

• A Bachelors’ degree in Information Technology or equivalent qualification, with a significant amount of programming content;

• A minimum of 3 years’ professional web development experience with demonstrable web applications and technologies utilized;

• A good understanding of and experience in object-oriented programming techniques is crucial;

• A good understanding of and experience in the concepts underlying web applications development;

• Experience using a broad range of web technologies including, but not limited to: PHP, Java, CSS, HTML and JavaScript;

• Knowledge of MySQL or similar RDBMS;

• Deep understanding of OO technology and implementation techniques;

• Experience in open source components and frameworks;

• Knowledge of MVC based framework;

• Ability to use version control (Git or SVN); and

• Good knowledge of API integration.

Program Analyst - Soil Health Program

REF: PA / 03-12

The Program Analyst will be responsible for conducting strategic analyses that guide potential investment areas and impact levels with respect to the program’s impact targets. The analyses will be based on data from various sources. The outcome of the analysis will be used by the program to guide where investments are best made in order to achieve the highest value for money and sustainable impacts.

This position, which is nationally recruited, will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, on a 6 months to 1 year renewable contract and will report to the Senior Program Officer.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Conducting economic analysis of data and information available and generating summaries that guide future investments in a manner that is strategic, evidence-based and brings out the risks associated with the different choices as well as mitigation measures;

• Applying economic analysis to the specific country context;

• Evaluating the program impact by monitoring and analyzing the program environment, to facilitate timely re-adjustments in portfolio;

• Developing presentations and reports that utilize the outcome of the analysis to help inform stakeholders on the strategic choices the program is making towards achieving its stated impact goals; and

• Maintaining a database with the relevant data that contains the outcome of the analysis conducted, and develop a good working relationship with others within and outside AGRA that are needed to provide input into the data acquisition, analysis and interpretation.

Key Qualifications, Knowledge & Experience

• MBA or MA / MSc in Economics, Business Studies or equivalent;

• 1 year post-qualification experience in an agricultural program;

• Experience in data analysis especially using economic and business studies tools;

• Skills in risk analysis and mitigation;

• Communication skills using high impact presentations and reports;

• Computer proficiency and familiarity with a range of software applications including word processing, spreadsheets and databases;

• Excellent data management and analytical skills using various software and statistical packages; and

• Sound experience in business development.

For all positions, the ideal candidates should be attentive to detail, have excellent oral and written communication, interpersonal and relationship-building skills with the ability to work analytically, both with autonomy and with a team in diverse cultural contexts. The candidates should also have high levels of integrity and objectivity. Attractive remuneration packages commensurate with the responsibilities of the positions will be negotiated with the right candidates.

If you believe you can clearly demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for these roles, please submit your application with a detailed CV, stating your current position, remuneration, e-mail and telephone contacts and quoting the relevant reference number on both the application letter and envelope.

To be considered, your application must be received by 16th April, 2012 addressed to:

The Director

Executive Selection Division

Deloitte Consulting Limited

Deloitte Place, Waiyaki Way

Muthangari, Westlands

Email: agra@deloitte.co.ke

Tel: +254 20 423 0000

Fax: +254 20 444 8966