Field Manager / Agriculture Specialist

Field Manager / Agriculture Specialist

Number of Vacant Position:1
Location: Dhangadhi
Position Status: Short -time, Regular

Current Team Member: N/A

About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In a disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action – helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future. Mercy Corps has been operating in Nepal since 2005, implementing programs in food security, agriculture, market development, financial services, youth engagement, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. We take a systems-based approach in our programming, with the aim of improving the lives and potential of vulnerable individuals and communities across Nepal.

Program / Department Summary
World Food Program (WFP) Nepal as the lead/prime organization, in partnership with Mercy Corps and other partners, is going to implement a four-year School Feeding Program funded by USDA/FFE. In the program, Mercy Corps provides strategic leadership for two of the sub-activities ‘Local Purchase of Food: Hybrid Food Basket’ and ‘Home Grown School Feeding: Technical Assistance Post-Hand Over’.
The aim of the Mercy Corps’ interventions is to facilitate the development of a fully sustainable and locally managed food system for schools. This includes designing and implementing the strategy and detailed roadmap for schools to self-manage cash-based programs where they locally procure and manage relationships and contracts with local producers, cooperatives and suppliers to supply the appropriate and necessary school meal food items during relevant timeframes. The program activities will link school feeding programs to smallholder farmers, farmer’s cooperatives, school management, community groups and local government to enhance the program’s long-term sustainability. The target area of the program covers five districts in the Sudurpaschhim Province (Darchula, Bajhang, Doti, Achham, and Bajura) and one district in the Karnali Province (Jajarkot).

General Position Summary
Mercy Corps is looking for an Field Manager/Agriculture Specialist with experience managing agricultural activities on similar large, donor-funded integrated nutrition and agriculture development projects, who is capable of leading multiple partners and a large field team in the development of a sound agriculture system. The Field Manager/Agriculture Specialist will provide capacity building training for local farmers and farmer cooperatives on the cultivation of nutritious, locally suitable vegetables, fruits and cereals, Home Grown Garden technology and supply chain management. S/he is responsible for providing technical oversight to all agriculture and horticulture-related activities. These activities should be in line with government policies, Mercy Corps strategic plan, and agriculture strategies. S/he is also responsible for the field office management and oversees the program implementation at the field level, directly supervises the field office administration and acts as a focal person for problem solving at the field. As gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), safeguarding, governance and environmental sensitivity are cross-cutting and core components of all MC programs, the Field Manager/ Agriculture Specialist is required to own these components and ensure these components are integrated into his/her work area.

Description

Essential Job Responsibilities

STRATEGY & VISION

• Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
• Ensure clear, consistent vision behind the technical design is articulated and rolled out across the team.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

• Lead agriculture sector activities under the program (in coordination with program partners and staff) and facilitate integration within other targeted sectors.
• Develop detailed program work plans, approaches and relevant tools based on overall strategy (theory of change, pathways, approaches) for agriculture; and agribusiness.
• Lead, in collaboration with the Programme Manager,, the development of an activities plan, targets and processes on interdependencies of agriculture with other technical areas, primarily with agribusiness, local cooperatives, and nutrition.
• Develop standard operating guidelines (SOG) for use of field staff and partners for each of the major interventions of agriculture (i.e. permagardens, home gardens ).
• Develop strategy for hitting targets for various activities in the agriculture sector and specifically identify milestones for each year.
•  Train and build the capacity of field staff and partners to ensure consistent delivery of focused agriculture interventions.
• Support M&E team in developing MIS for agriculture and identify action researches that will help to identify efficiency of agriculture implementation.
• Serve as a focal person for problem solving at regional level.
• Provide and/or identify technical support and resources in agronomy, market assessments, cooperative sector and private sector engagement
• Lead in managing MERCY CORPS field staff, national partners, and district implementation teams through agriculture technical working groups
•  Ensure uniformity and standardization between consortium members.
• Develop systems of reporting, monitoring and targeting in consultation with the M&E team.

COORDINATION AND REPRESENTATION

• Develop scope of work and major milestones in collaboration with each respective partner to facilitate an enabling environment, including targets, program quality parameters and DIP for each partner’s activities.
• Identify and build relationships with private sector partners.
• Provide technical support to partners at the district level and across all project sectors.
• Build the capacity of agriculture partners in market system development.
• Under the leadership of the Programme Manager, coordinate linkages with the project’s agriculture focused local implementing partners through established systems and processes.
• Share learning with the similar community within Nepal as well as regionally and globally as relevant.

FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT

• Manage the procurement plan and any other operational planning needs in coordination with the Programme Manager and Procurement Specialist.
• Participate and co-lead BVA meetings with the Programme Manager.
•  Manage project agriculture budget for each specific activity and ensure timely procurement of materials and service.
• Monitor quality adherence to grant and sub grants agreements, Mercy Corps’ policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations.

TEAM MANAGEMENT & CAPACITY STRENGTHENING

• Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance & reach programme objectives.
•  Ensure systematic roll-out of agriculture trainings.
• Play an active role in providing regular mentoring support to the program field team.
•  Provide ongoing technical assistance to local partner staff, MC staff and community stakeholders on the implementation of the activities.
• Identify technical skills gaps of project staff to provide necessary support through training, workshops, and materials as per need.
• Regularly convene partners and Mercy Corps team to monitor progress against project milestones and share lessons learned.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• Senior Technical Officers, Also manages HGSF field level staff based in Dhangadhi and programme implementation areas

Accountability

• Reports Directly to: This position reports directly to the Programme Manager
• Works Directly with: HGSF Programme Team, MEL Specialist, Monitoring and Data Management Assistant, Procurement Specialist, MC Dhangadhi finance and Operations team, Mercy Corps Nepal’s operations, HR, finance and other program teams; Mercy Corps’ HQ teams including technical advisors in cash and governance, gender, protection, and M&E. Additionally communicates with Funding Partner (WFP) in matters related to HGSF implementation.

Knowledge and Experience

• Must have a Bachelor’s degree, preferably a Master’s degree, in an agriculture or economic development related field.
•  Must have a minimum of 8 years professional experience working on similar, large-scale, donor-funded agriculture development projects, preferably in Nepal; at least 4 years of progressive senior management experience on same projects.
•  Must have proven experience managing large teams and coordinating effectively with multiple partners and stakeholder groups.
• Must have specific technical skills and significant experience with agriculture systems, with a good understanding of both the production and the market sides.
• Preferred experience in climate smart agriculture (CSA) and conservation agriculture (CA) approaches, including a familiarity with related initiatives in Nepal.
• Good understanding of basic nutrition requirements to be embedded within agriculture programs
• Ability to write and communicate effectively in English.
• Understanding of local structures and processes in Nepal; understanding of current agriculture related Government policies and programs is also desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to create and maintain effective working relationships with national level ministries, NGO partners, international agencies, and U.S. government agencies
•  Excellent analytical and self-motivation skills; excellent advocacy and persuasion skills; able to think critically.
• Demonstrated skills in capacity building, mentoring, leadership, and organizational development.

Success Factors

• The successful Field Manager/Agriculture Specialist will combine exceptional management skills and experience with their technical sector. S/he will have an outstanding ability to develop, implement and manage innovative programs within the current and future program structure of Mercy Corps in the region. S/he will also have proven experience with cross-cultural teams and capacity building, individual staff development, and strong mentoring skills. Multi-tasking, prioritizing, problem solving and simultaneous attention to detail and strategic vision are essential. The most successful Mercy Corps staff members have a strong commitment to teamwork and accountability, thrive in evolving and changing environments and make effective written and verbal communication a priority in all situations. Mercy Corps Team members represent the agency both during and outside of work hours when deployed in a field posting or on a visit/TDY to a field posting. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

SECURITY

• Ensure compliance with security procedures and policies as determined by country leadership.
•  Proactively ensure that team members and community operate in a secure environment and are aware of policies.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

• As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve, we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

•  Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field programs.
• Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC’s policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

• Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together.
• Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges.
• We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.
• We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity

• Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer that does not tolerate discrimination on any basis. We actively seek out diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be collectively stronger and have sustained global impact. We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding, Ethics & Integrity

All Mercy Corps staff members are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate the highest integrity in their professional and personal life. Mercy Corps has zero tolerance to any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination.

Mercy Corps has zero tolerance for abuse, sexual misconduct and sexual exploitation (PSEA) of the people we work with and our own staff members. All staff must commit to internal policies.

Application Deadline: Friday 9th June, 2023

Source: The Himalayan Times, 27 May, 2023

Tagged as: Dhangadhi, Mercy Corps, NGO INGO