About AVRDC:
AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center is a non-profit, autonomous international agricultural research and development center with headquarters in Taiwan and regional offices around the globe. AVRDC conducts research and development that contribute to improved income and balanced diets m the developing world vegetables.
About USAID Project:
AVRDC seeks to implement the “Deploying Vegetable Seed Kits to Tackle Malnutrition in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda” Project funded by USAID. The target is to scale up and enhance widespread and adoption of AVRDC’s validated home garden concept and associated production and processing technologies by target households in Uganda. Through deployment of vegetable seed Kits with complementary training and technical backstopping across the entire value chain, over 8,000 target beneficiaries in Uganda are expected to improve their household nutrition, diversify their incomes and improve their social capital.
Job Summary: The Project Site Coordinator will be responsible for the overall coordination of activities in three focus regions of Uganda, liaising with the Project Manager, country Site Coordinators for Kenya and Uganda, AVRDC scientists as well as national implementing partners in Uganda.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Day-to-day coordination and oversight of demonstration trials, farmer training, seed distribution, surveys, administrative and logistical activities and to build strong relationships with local implementing partners; jointly responsible for implementing field activities and meeting program targets in Uganda.
Plan and facilitate workshops, maintain project schedules, deliverables and evaluation activities, and prepare and submit in-country technical project reports, success stories for submission to the Project Manager.
Support in providing information for development of monitoring and evaluation analytical tools, serve as lead field monitor when necessary and facilitate subsequent data collection aimed at documenting outcomes and impact of the program. Ensure good coordination of research delivery, transfer of technology and promote gender equity within the project as well as in its outcomes and impacts.
Identify options for improving vegetable seed access to smallholders by building and strengthening partnerships with the public and private seed sector for impact at the household level.
Support in organizing and conducting demand creation, outreach and promotional activities, such as seed fairs and community field days to promote the development and adoption of improved vegetable-based practices.
Work closely with country Site Coordinators for Kenya and Tanzania and the Project Manager to harmonize project activities, share lessons learnt and represent the Project Manager on in- country project-related issues.
Perform other duties as may be assigned by the Project Manager or his/her appointed representative.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
All applicants for the USAID AVRDC Project Coordinator vacancy must have a minimum of M.Sc. in social or agricultural science disciplines
Two or more years of extensive project coordination experience in food (nutrition) and agriculture.
Good agro-economic background with focus on horticultural value-chains is a plus.
Strong written and spoken English language skills.
Extensive knowledge of and work experience in Uganda.
Possess the ability to oversee development/implementation of work plans, reports and presentations; ability to write clear and concise technical documents; strong organizational and networking skills.
Past exposure and experience with national partners is a plus.
Capacity for strong teamwork, partnership building and project management skills as well as supervisory and mentoring skills
Proven skills to work independent for most periods of time.
Proven interpersonal skills and ability to interact with public, private and civil society leaders and groups on data collection and surveying for project monitoring is an advantage.
Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint).
Flexibility to travel extensively within the three focus project regions of Uganda.
How to Apply:
All candidates should send;
A letter of application indicating qualifications, suitability to the outlined deliverables, expected salary, earliest joining date and.
A curriculum vitae with three names of professional referees including contact address, phone number and e-mail.
The complete applications should be sent by e-mail only to info-esa@worldveg.org with the title of the position in the heading. Only applications sent by e-mail will be considered.
Deadline: 22nd April, 2015