Food Security Technical Coordinator

Job Description

Job Summary

The Food Security Technical Coordinator (FSTC) will provide technical advice, guidance, and support to a wide range of program design and implementation issues in line with CRS’ program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. You will be responsible for establishing and managing systems to ensure cohesion across and between all technical sectors. You will ensure interventions are integrated, layered and sequenced appropriately at all levels of implementation. Your technical knowledge, advice and guidance will contribute to determine the effectiveness, adaptive and innovative of this food security program.

Job Responsibilities:

Project Implementation

• Oversee the development and implementation of strategies, standards, tools, and best practices in the food security program that effectively engage partners, donors and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach integrating gender, protection mainstreaming, and disaster risk reduction.
• Provide technical solutions to the food security program on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply program design and implementation standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, ensuring high-quality implementation. Ensure technical interventions are integrated, layered and sequenced appropriately at all levels of implementation within the program.
• Ensure that food security and resilience approaches are in line with the Government of Zimbabwe’s strategies and priorities for the sector.
• Work closely with the Community Visioning Lead to ensure that the implementation meets the needs of the people in the targeted communities and aligns with participant aspirations.
• Lead any necessary adaptation to the technical approaches of activities to address challenges articulated by participants towards realizing their developmental aspirations, in collaboration with the Community Visioning Lead
• Work closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation Lead and Strategic Learning Lead to ensure that M&E and learning feedback loops are properly fed into and utilized by technical field staff.
• Conduct periodic project reviews to ensure alignment with the overall food and nutrition security strategy, learning and adaptation as necessary.
• Participate actively in food and nutrition security forums and platforms with government partners and other stakeholders.
• Establish and maintain relationships with donors, national and local government, research institutions, nongovernmental organizations and private sector stakeholders to advance the project’s strategic agenda to ensure sustainability of activities and results.
• Contribute to capacity strengthening, mentoring and coaching of project staff and partners through helping develop learning and training strategies and curricula.

Learning & Capacity building

• Contribute to design and planning of learning activities and technologies to ensure that results inform adaptive management. Support the documentation and application of lessons learned in food security
• Lead the development of practice guides, manuals and other technical resources to ensure the quality gender and diversity-sensitive food and nutrition security interventions in collaboration with governmental and other technical partners.

Budget management

• Manage program budgets, including tracking of financial and material resources, and providing regular forecasts.
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting of program finances and progress, regularly review financial performance against the budget and explain variances.

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

Education and Experience

• Master’s degree in Development Studies, International Relations, Business Management or a relevant technical area (agriculture, nutrition, public health, etc..)
• At least 5 years’ relevant experience preferably with an international NGO. with minimum of three years working for programming interventions in food security. Experience and skills in networking and relations with large donors such as USAID/FFP, USAID/FTF preferred as well as peer organizations, faith-based and civil society
• In-depth understanding of gender, age and other socio-cultural factors in the context of food and nutrition security programming. Demonstrated capacity to understand and advise on critical technical and operational issues related to food security, nutrition, agriculture and health.
• Highly experienced in a broad spectrum of food security technical areas and managing systems to ensure cohesion across all technical sectors in the program.
• Demonstrated experience in development and ensuring quality control over technically rigorous food security activity integration and collaboration.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies that capture gender and youth project-specific information to monitor change and outcomes, data analysis, and data presentation.
• Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation and training applying adult learning principles and practices.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management, knowledge-sharing networks.

Personal Skills

• Excellent relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings.
• Strong strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English
• Strong presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills

• Cultural sensitivity and ability to work well in a multi-sectoral and multi-cultural team and to support local Church partners.
• Ability to self-manage and succeed in matrix management model, with demonstrated proactive and flexible nature in resolving problems and leading a productive, committed team.
• Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language: English

Travel Required: Ability to travel for up to 50% of time.

Key Working Relationships

Supervisory: Sector Leads

Internal: Country Representative, All Departments of the Country Program, SARO Regional Technical Advisors and staff, HQ contacts

External: USAID, government officials, international and local partners, Research institutions, church partners and other NGOs.

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.

• Strategic Mindset
• Integrity
• Accountability & Stewardship
• Builds Relationships
• Develops Talent
• Continuous Improvement & Innovation

NOTE: Applications will be accepted until this position is filled.

About the Organization

Catholic Relief Services was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. Our mission is to assist the poor and disadvantaged, leveraging the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to alleviate human suffering, promote development of all people, and to foster charity and justice throughout the world. Working through local offices and an extensive network of partners, CRS operates on five continents and in 98 countries. We aid the poor by first providing direct assistance where needed, then encouraging people to help with their own development. Together, these approaches foster secure, productive, just communities that enable people to realize their potential. As the official international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community, CRS is also committed to educating the people of the United States to fulfill their moral responsibilities toward our global brothers and sisters by helping the poor, working to remove the causes of poverty, and promoting social justice.