Commercial Cassava Seed System Project Coordinator

The project leader will be based at IITA headquarters in Ibadan, Nigeria and report to both the Director of RTB and the IITA Director for West Africa. The project leader will facilitate project team building and serve as a dynamic leader for commercial sale of high quality cassava stems. The leader will organize and facilitate regular coordination meetings with project component leads, serve as the principal point of contact between the donor and sub-grantees, supervise financial and M&E staff, over-see financial and narrative reporting, and provide direct oversight and management support to grant activities related to promotion and cassava stem sales coordination. The principal tasks and responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

Duties and Accountabilities:

Program Coordination & Grant Management

• Provide necessary leadership to achieve the project’s primary goal: the development of an integrated and economically sustainable seed system for cassava capable of serving farmer’s needs for high quality planting material.
• Facilitate joint planning and operational integration through twice annual meetings.
• Ensure compliance with donor policies and procedures and the terms of the overall grant.

Communication & Reporting

• Facilitate communication among grant partners and with the wider Nigeria cassava community.
• Develop a communications strategy with full collaboration of program partners and lead its implementation.
• Coordinate the mid-term and annual grant reporting process to the donor and liaise between RTB/BMGF and partners for all communication and reporting issues. Supervise Financial and M&E Staff.
• Support the development and application of an integrated cross-component M&E system to inform program implementation and management decisions.
• Facilitate implementation of systems to account for costs and income at all levels of the cassava seed value chain.
• Provide regular mentoring and monitoring so that sub-grantee expenses are liquidated on schedule.
• Ensure timely and accurate financial and narrative reporting and compliance.Cassava Stem Sales Coordination and management of promotion activities
• Develop a promotion strategy with full collaboration of project partners to increase general awareness of the project and to promote brand identify of cassava seed producers.
• Coordinate with cassava stem buyers including from other cassava projects, to ensure strong linkages among seed producers (breeder, foundation, village level nurseries and commercial processors), seed buyers, the Nigerian government, and industry.

Selection Criteria:

• Candidates should have an advanced degree in agriculture, agriculture economics or a related area (with an MBA or PhD preferred) with specialized knowledge of commercial seed systems and the cassava value chain preferred.
• At least 8 years of experience in project management (direct staff management, financial management) and partner coordination (overseeing sub-grants, promoting strong collaboration among diverse group of partners).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to work in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams.
• Proactive approach, with ability to find creative ways to solve problems or exploit potentials.
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills in English.
• Experience with international agricultural research for development, CGIAR, and CGIAR Research Programs a plus.

HOW TO APPLY:

Applicants should apply online through our CIP’s Job Opportunities website (http://cipotato.org/open-vacancies/), including a letter of motivation, a full CV with names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable of the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience. Screening of applications will begin on 14 December 2015 and continue until the post is filled. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted.