Program Officer – Capacity Development Employment Opportunity – Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
Job Title: Program Officer-Capacity Development
Organization: Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)
Duty Station: Entebbe, Uganda
Report to: The Theme Leader – M&E and Knowledge Management.
About US:
The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) is a sub-regional not-for-profit organisation covering eleven countries in Eastern and Central Africa, comprising Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Component development and management: Support the Project Coordinator in:
- Strengthening the internal capacities of ASARECA and its regional and country level partners
- Undertaking capacity gap assessments as well be directed by the Project Coordinator
- Establishing a staff development program for the Secretariat
- Upgrading operational systems, especially Financial, Knowledge Management, Procurement and MEL systems.
- Developing an implementation framework to strengthen partnership and collaborative capacities of the organizations and their engagement at the national, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the African Union Commission (AUC and the European Union (EU) levels to promote climate relevant science, technology and innovation
- Reviewing ASARECA regional implementation framework to strengthen collaborative capacities of selected institutions in ECA and to establish effective engagement approaches with national, RECs and AU
- Participating in the co-development of a continental implementation framework
- Convening sub-regional workshop to provide practical guidance on the use of tools and systems.
- Strengthening the enabling environment for effective implementation of the program
- Developing and activating instruments and processes of engagement with authorizing institutions, especially the RECs
- Undertaking high-level policy dialogue and strategic meetings within the sub-region
- Developing an accountability framework for the programme and providing input to regional accountability framework in order to integrate them.
- Promoting, facilitating the formation of, and operationalization of multi stakeholder partnerships for innovation that focuses on climate change
- Mobilizing international expertise and exchange and working collaboratively with international organizations to strengthen capacities of the targeted organisations to realize the outputs of the program
- Representing ASARECA at high-level meetings such as with EU, COMESA, EAC, and within the countries
Project monitoring: The candidate will work closely with the Theme Leader for Knowledge Management to:
- Develop policy analysis and implementation data collection tools
- Support data collection, analysis and dissemination of policy-related data / information
- Effectively manage data and knowledge.
Reporting: The candidate will work closely with the Project Coordinator to:
- Ensure accurate and timely reporting of project activities
- Prepare quarterly, semi-annual and annual and technical reports.
- Gather and submit human interest stories
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The ideal candidate must hold a Master’s degree in Development Studies, Agriculture, Economics or related field
- At least 5 years of relevant experience in capacity strengthening for development programs
- Experience in advocacy for enabling environment on markets and trade and in engagement of private sector or wider stakeholder networks in national and multi-country dialogues and other policy-enactment processes
- Knowledge of and experience with project cycle management and management of personnel
- Experience in working in the ASARECA region
- Experience working on agriculture is a must.
Required Skills
- Strategic and Systems thinking as well as Project Management skills
- Financial management skills including management of aid project finance
- This position requires a fluency in both written and spoken English, but knowledge of French is an added advantage.
- Ability to multi-task, set priorities, and work under tight deadlines.
- Excellent conceptual, analytical and problem solving skills
- Excellent networking ability with stakeholders (government agencies, NGOs, private organizations).
- Experience in diversity and inclusion (gender mainstreaming, participatory policy processes)
- Computer literacy especially strong knowledge of MS Office applications and relevant analytical software
How to Apply:
Interested applicants should submit a confidential cover letter and detailed CV with names and addresses of 3 referees (including e-mail address and telephone numbers) to the attention: Head, Human Resource and Administration, ASARECA Secretariat, Plot 5 Mpigi Road,
P.O. Box 765 Entebbe, Uganda (hr@asareca.org).
Deadline: 30th October 2019.