JOB VACANCY
| Job Title: Technical Advisor I- Agriculture/ Small Holder Production | Reports to: Head of Office- Mbeya |
| Location: Mbeya, Tanzania | Salary Grade: 9 |
About CRS
Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work are accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance, and peacebuilding.
Country Background
CRS in Tanzania works in close collaboration with the catholic Church and implements programs through both local Caritas’s, and local secular partners. CRS has been assisting poor, vulnerable families improve their livelihoods through agriculture, nutrition, early childhood development, WASH, and health since 1962.
Job Summary:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) seeks a qualified candidate for an Agriculture advisory role to support smallholder farmers in Songea, improve agricultural productivity and livelihoods in maize, soybean and sunflower crops while practicing CSA and GAPs as a sustainable production model. CRS Tanzania is engaging in a PPP in collaboration with a large Tanzanian company based in the Southern Highlands as well as church, and relevant District Councils to implement a scalable agricultural hub model (Agrihubs) in Ruvuma region with plans to expand to other regions of the Southern highlands of Tanzania. The aim of this initiative is to sustainably increase productivity/production and procurement of grains by linking smallholder farmers with improved agricultural technologies, climate smart agronomic training and demonstration and stable offtake markets of specific value chains. The agriculture advisor will also be responsible for other agricultural initiatives including working with local church partners on business planning and other business development efforts in the Ag/Livelihoods space for CRS Tanzania.
Roles and Key Responsibilities:
- Facilitate private sector partners as they map local assets, farmer groups, and farmer plots into a digital value chain management system to be able to support and monitor 10,000+farmers engaged in commercial smallholder agriculture.
- Strengthen and or establish a fee-for-service agent network, leveraging existing church and former project agents, to deliver critical services to farmers to enable them to observe, test and adopt hybrid seeds and climate smart production practices, including crop rotation, to double yields of maize, soybean and sunflower.
- Develop a comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and learning framework with clear performance indicators that assess the performance and impact of Agrihubs, oversee baseline, midline and endline assessment and conduct routine monitoring.
- Ensure coordination of data collection from all partners (private sector, church and PASPs), leveraging existing digital management systems.
- Facilitate PSAPs as they strengthen existing farmer producer groups and where necessary establish new farmer producer groups within targeted communities to benefit from the agent network and Agrihubs.
- Support capacity building of local private agricultural service providers (PASPs) to provide agricultural services, including advisory, demonstration, input and marketing services to farmers.
- Provide PASPs with tools and capacity to train farmer producer / marketing groups via Agrihubs and aggregate demand for improved inputs
- Link farmer facing advisory services to aggregation hubs to enable more efficient collective marketing.
- Monitor, supervise and assure quality services to small scale farmers, that cascade from the Agrihub(s), down to community plots and on-farm production.
- Develop services with private sector companies to enhance input and output markets for improved farmer productivity.
- Work with the private sector to create and maintain management of the Agrihubs to farmer learning strategies.
- Coordinate and maintain a healthy relationship between partners including CRS,private sector company, local church entities and government partners.
- Monitor marketing and farmer organization interventions and be able to advocate on behalf of farmers.
- Monitor and report on key challenges and/or gaps identified in terms of financial performance, changes in productivity at farm level and ongoing adjustments to maintain scaling of plans and implementation schedules.
- Support accountability through coordinating project implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting.
Basic Qualifications
- Master’s degree in relevant field, including but not limited to Business Administration, Agriculture, Agribusiness or Agriculture Economics, Marketing/Marketing and Value Chains, Environmental Science/Climate Science and Cooperative Management
- Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in Business Administration, Agriculture, Agribusiness or Agriculture Economics, Marketing/Marketing and Value Chains, Environmental Science/Climate Science and Cooperative Management
- Minimum of five years of relevant field-based, business, program and/or MEAL management, at least three years of middle/senior management experience.
- Experience in contributing to successful proposals, reports, strategic alliances, project design, project management, and monitoring and evaluation.
- Experience in partner capacity strengthening, staff development, training, and mentoring, as well as in team building and strategic planning initiatives. Experience working with Church partners a plus
- Experience in project grants management, including project design, budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, reporting, etc., preferably for donor-funded projects is a plus.
- Experience with successful business development activities capturing public and/or private donor funding.
- Demonstrated experience engaging with or managing private sector business or public-private partnership with multiple stakeholders.
- Experience Business model development and other agriculture innovations is a plus.
- Must be able to work under minimum supervision and be able to engage with various stakeholders including government, church, and community-based agents.
Required Languages – English and Kiswahili both spoken and written. Travel – Must be willing and able to travel up to 40 % of the time.
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Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Excellent strategic, systems thinking, and problem-solving skills, with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment and decisions.
- Highly analytical with a strong data orientation. Ability to analyze data, develop reports and present data in visually compelling ways.
- Strong business and financial modeling experience.
- Strong relationship management Ability to relate to people internally and externally. Strategic in how you approach each relationship.
- Team and relationship building abilities.
- Proactive, resourceful, solutions oriented, and results oriented.
Preferred Qualifications
- Excellent English writing skills.
- Experience and abilities in capacity strengthening – developing curricula and facilitating trainings.
- Experience using MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, and knowledge sharing networks.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
- Integrity
- Continuous Improvement & Innovation
- Builds Relationships
- Develops Talent
- Strategic Mindset
- Accountability & Stewardship
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Supervisory Responsibilities: None Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Head of Office Mbeya, CM, HoP, MEAL Coordinator
External: Local authorities (LGA) , private sector and church partners
***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
CRS JOB VACANCY
| Job Title: Senior Project Officer (MEAL) | Reports to: MEAL Manager |
| Department: Program -Dar es salaam | Salary Grade: 8 |
About CRS
Catholic Relief Services is the official humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS carries out the commitment to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas whereby it works to save, protect, and transform the lives in need in more than 100 countries without regard to the race, religion, or nationality. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. CRS’ relief and development work are accomplished through programs of agriculture, health, emergency response, education, microfinance, peace building, and WASH programming in Tanzania since 1962.
Job Summary
As a senior monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning (MEAL) project officer, the successful candidate will facilitate the achievement of objectives through coordinating all projects MEAL activities and providing MEAL-related technical guidance and advice to staff and implementing partner(s) advancing CRS’ work serving the poor and vulnerable. The senior MEAL project officer’s well-rounded MEAL competencies will ensure that the projects for which he/she is responsible for comply with internal CRS MEAL Policies and Procedures (MPP) and with donor requirements. The successful candidate shall also apply best practices in Collaborating Learning and Adaptating to improve program quality and strengthen the capacity of the program teams. The senior MEAL project officer’s knowledge, skills, and support will ensure quality data is readily available to use as foundation for evidence-based decision-making and programmatic adjustments, and contribute to CRS Tanzania’s effective, adaptive, and innovative country programming (CP).
Roles and Key Responsibilities
- Manage and implement all MEAL activities throughout relevant project cycles – project design, startup, implementation, and close-out – to ensure efficient and effective implementation in line with CRS principles, standards, and the CRS MPP, donor MEAL requirements, and good industry practices.
- Lead the development and implementation of project MEAL systems and practices while advancing the use of Information Communication Technology for MEAL (ICT4MEAL) that effectively engage partners, donors, and other stakeholders and are compliant with CRS and donor MEAL requirements.
- Contribute to accountability by ensuring effectively communicate findings to diverse stakeholders for timely response and evidence-based decision-making.
- Facilitate set up, roll-out, and implementation of and the complaint, feedback, and response mechanism (CFRM) at the project levels. The senior MEAL project officer must actively seek and respond to feedback from all members of targeted communities and other stakeholders as defined by the CFRM and safeguarding policies.
- Analyze complex datasets and provide insights using agency standard tools and technique such as dashboards and infographics tools.
- Assist the CRS program teams with the documentation of case studies, impact stories and best practices.
- Equip and mobilize the program team to intentionally reflect and learn from the project implementation and promote collaborating learning and adapting management culture within the CRS Tanzania CP.
Basic Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Sciences, Social Sciences, Statistics, Health, Nutrition, or another related field is required. Master’s degree would be a plus.
- Minimum of four (4) years of work experience in MEAL for an NGO or private sector,
- Demonstrated experience with Collaborating Learning and Adapting approaches.
- Quick learner of new projects, MEAL concepts and tools.
- Strong sense of responsibility, accountability, and ownership
- Excellent writing and communication skills.
- Experience in generating data analysis and insights (dashboards) using standard data management and visualization tools such as (e.g., Commcare, Kobo Toolbox, ODK, PowerBI, Arch GIS, Tableau and other related tools)
- Excellent in complex data analytical skills using the common tools such as Excel, SPSS, and/or Stata.
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Required Languages
Must be fluent in English and Kiswahili.
Travel
Must be willing and able to travel up to 40% of the time.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Analysis and problem-solving skills with ability to make sound judgment.
- Good relationship management skills and the ability to work closely with local partners.
- Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented
- Attention to detail, accuracy, and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in partnerships, participatory action planning and community engagement.
- Experience working with all levels of stakeholders, such as the program teams, communities, donors, and partners, with a focus on capacity strengthening while employing adult learning principles.
- Good understanding and experience in project design and MEAL in proposal development.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
- Personal Accountability
- Acts with Integrity
- Builds and Maintains Trust
- Collaborates with Others
- Open to Learn
- Strategic Mindset
- Develops and Recognizes Others
- Leads Change
Supervisory Responsibilities
Periodically oversee work of MEAL Assistants, enumerators, and data clerks
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Key Working Relationships Internal
Other MEAL (CP, EARO, Global) staff, Non- MEAL Project Officers, and Managers
External
Community members, partner staff, other local stakeholders, MEAL staff from peer agencies
MEAL Competencies (for CRS MEAL Program Staff)
Each staff member in this position is expected to have solid knowledge and ability and can apply the following competencies with minimal or no guidance, in the full range of typical situations, while requiring guidance to handle novel or more complex situations:
- Monitoring
- Accountability
- Learning
In addition, each staff member in this position is expected to have basic knowledge and ability and, with guidance, be able to apply the following competencies in common situations that present limited difficulties:
- MEAL in Design
- Evaluation
- Analysis and Critical Thinking
- ICT4MEAL
- Management in MEAL
***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position. CRS Tanzania strives to be a place where a diverse mix of talented people want to come and work, stay, and do their best.
HOW TO APPLY:
- Interested qualified candidates should submit their letter of application together with their CV in PDF or Word format in a single attachment which outlines their experience and sustainability of the position applied to email address TZ_HR@crs.org not later than 16th May 2023.
- The applicants should clearly state the Job title applied for in the subject line of the email.
- Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Female candidates, people with disability and people from other recognized marginalized backgrounds, are strongly encouraged to apply for this position. CRS Tanzania recognizes many people do not have access to university education, limited capacity to travel, women take career breaks to care for family, and physical access for people with disability is limited in some workplaces including in the field. In all recruitments, CRS Tanzania uses a competency-based selection process. This ensures that if a candidate does not have a university degree or many years of experience, their competencies and existing expertise is assessed and valued.
