Senior Technical Advisor for Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods

BACKGROUND

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is one of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world providing relief, rehabilitation, and post-conflict reconstruction support to victims of oppression and violent conflict. IRC has worked for over seven decades and today is involved in over 25 conflict zones in the world. We address both the immediate, life saving needs of conflict-affected people and the reconstruction needs in post-conflict societies. IRC is committed to a culture of bold leadership, innovation in all aspects of our work, creative partnerships, and accountability to those we serve. IRC's London and New York offices provide technical support to field programs.

The Economic Recovery & Development Technical Unit (ERD) was created in 2006 to provide technical assistance to country programs as they seek to integrate economic and livelihood initiatives into their programmes. ERD identifies standards and models that can be used, based on the particular situation and environment, ensures innovation and informs the field of best practices for economic and livelihoods programming within the organization.

IRC is currently seeking a Senior Technical Advisor for the ERD Technical Unit to support its goal of increasing incomes, improving the utilization of resources, and creating jobs in conflict-affected communities.  The Technical Unit team is responsible for providing dynamic, innovative support to IRC's field offices in program design, strategy development, monitoring and evaluation, and new business development.  IRC seeks a Senior Technical Advisor to be directly responsible for program quality in the area of agriculture and rural livelihoods.  We are looking for individuals who display intelligence, good judgement, the capacity to anticipate, integrity, and high-energy drive.

This position will be based in London, with travel to the field approximately 35% of the time. The Senior Technical Advisor will report to the Head of Economic Recovery and Development, based in the London office.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leading the team in the development of strategies and tools;
• Representation on agriculture and rural livelihood issues, both internally and externally;
• Direct technical support to assigned countries, including assistance with project design, staffing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
• Management of agriculture and rural livelihood consultants.

COMPETENCIES

I.  Behavioral Competencies

• Vision: the capacity to envision outcomes different from those that seem obvious and develop plans to support those outcomes
• Intelligence and good judgement: the ability to prioritize successfully to meet objectives
• Foresight: the ability to anticipate issues and address them before they reach crisis level
• Demonstrate integrity in interactions with beneficiaries and donors
• High-energy drive and motivation
• Innovative and creative thinker: ability to problem-solve and incorporate new strategies into existing programs
• Strong team-building and people management skills: the ability to promote a pleasant work environment
• Flexible work attitude: the ability to travel to challenging environments and work under difficult circumstances

II. FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Strategy development: ability to create and articulate a strategic vision
• Training, presentation, and representation skills
• Coordination: ability to work collaboratively internally and externally to improve design and outcomes
• Monitoring and evaluation: ability to design indicators and systems that demonstrate the value added of IRC's work

III. TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

• Experience with micro and SME development, especially rural and agri-businesses
• Comfortable with a cross-sectoral approach to programming
• Well-grounded in field experience, especially in post-conflict settings
• Technical knowledge in at least 3 the following areas is expected:
  • Assessment Methodologies such as: value chain analysis, household economy analysis, and/or market surveys
  • Agriculture-related skills such as: development of producer and marketing associations, dissemination of improved agricultural practices, agri-business strategic planning and commercial management
  • Financial Access methodologies, such as: VSLA, microcredit, micro-insurance
  • Asset transfer methodologies, such as: cash for work, business start-up grants, vouchers, cash-based interventions, etc.
  • Enterprise development methodologies, such as: private sector partnership, creating an enabling environment, social entrepreneurship, job creation

REQUIREMENTS

• Graduate Degree in a related field;
• Min. 5 years progressive work experience in agriculture, economic programming, or food security programs in a post-conflict setting;
• Familiarity and successful collaboration with major donors such as DFID, the EU and USAID;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including experience in proposal development and drafting;
• Speaking proficiency in at least one foreign language; French strongly preferred.

APPLICATION PROCESS

To apply for this position, please submit your CV and cover letter with salary requirements through IRC's website http://ircjobs.org/. This position is found in the Economic Development department listings.  Applications must be submitted by 5pm, July 15, 2009. Due to limited resources, only short-listed candidates will be contacted after the closing date.

The IRC strives to be an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to equality of opportunity and to non-discrimination for all job applicants and employees, and we seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs, nationality, ethnic/national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.