Job Description
COORDINATOR
II – IITA KENYA
THE
ORGANIZATION
The Alliance of Bioversity International delivers research-based
solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food
systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises
of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.
The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners
across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public
and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research
partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing
food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem
services.
THE
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (IITA)
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
(IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations
to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and
natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan
Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase
employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR,
a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Please
visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information on IITA.
ABOUT
THE POSITION
This assignment is for a Country
Coordinator for Kenya and South Sudan that will lead and coordinate IITA
supported country-level implementation under the Enabling Sustainable Regional
Agricultural Extension (ENSURE) Project being implemented by IITA in seven East
Africa Community countries. Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer and overall
ENSURE project coordinator, this role will translate approved regional plans
into practical country workplans, coordinate with EAC National Focal Points,
Ministries, National Research and Extension Systems, private sector actors, and
other partners, supervise implementation and field delivery, and ensure timely
monitoring, documentation, and reporting.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:
1.The role
covers ENSURE implementation in Kenya and South Sudan, with Nairobi as the duty
station and regular travel to project locations.
The
role will:
Coordinate
preparation, consolidation, and routine updating of country workplans,
implementation schedules, budgets, milestones, and risk actions in line with
approved ENSURE plans.Support
formal country entry and follow up engagement with EAC National Focal Points,
ministries, research and extension agencies, regulatory bodies, and private
sector partners.Coordinate
stakeholder mapping, awareness creation, and the establishment and
operationalization of national and local Innovation Platforms, including
platforms organized around relevant Agro-Ecological Zones.Coordinate
country implementation of digital advisory activities, including localization,
deployment, user onboarding, monitoring, and scale up of AKILIMO, AgWise, and
other relevant CGIAR and existing in-country tools.Coordinate
capacity building for public and private extension agents, lead farmers, farmer
promoters, cooperatives, youth entrepreneurs, and Innovation Platform
facilitators, including Training of Trainers.Plan
and support field supervision, demonstrations, partner delivery, and corrective
actions.
2.The Coordinator
will be IITA's day to day country coordination focal point for Kenya and South
Sudan.
The role will:
Maintain
effective working relationships with the EAC Secretariat and Project
Implementation Unit (PIU), National Focal Points, national and subnational
authorities, NARES, extension services, farmer organizations, CGIAR Centers,
development partners, and private sector actors.Convene
and document country coordination meetings, workshops, consultations,
supervision missions, and partner follow ups.Align
partner contributions with country workplans, technical standards, reporting
requirements, and ENSURE output indicators.Support
appropriate governance arrangements for Innovation Platforms and other
collaborations.
3.Country
Implementation, Monitoring, Reporting & Knowledge Management
The role
will:
Maintain
country implementation trackers covering milestones, deliverables,
dependencies, risks, decisions, partner commitments, procurement needs, and
expenditure follow up.Monitor the quality and timeliness
of field activities and partner outputs, conduct supervision visits, document
findings, and follow corrective actions through to closure.Coordinate
collection, validation, and timely submission of country data to the harmonized
MEL systems, including disaggregated beneficiary and training data.Prepare
concise monthly internal updates and timely country inputs to quarterly
technical and financial reports, annual reviews, and field supervision reports.Support
visibility and knowledge sharing by documenting lessons, results,
implementation adaptations, and success stories.
REQUIREMENTS:
Education
and Experience
Master's
degree in International Agricultural Development, Crop Science/agronomy,Agribusiness, Project or program management
certifications, Agricultural Economics, Rural Development, or a related field.At
least eight years of progressively responsible experience coordinating
agricultural research for development, extension, agribusiness, digital
agriculture, innovation scaling, or related programs.Demonstrated
experience coordinating multi-country or multi-partner initiatives and
translating approved plans into tracked implementation.Experience
working with government ministries, national research and extension systems,
farmer organizations, private sector actors, development partners, and research
institutions.Experience
establishing or supporting multi-stakeholder platforms, partnerships, or
collaborative governance arrangements.Experience
coordinating capacity building activities, field implementation, and
supervision across dispersed locations.Experience
with monitoring, evaluation, learning, data quality assurance, and donor or
institutional reporting.Experience
working in Kenya is required. Experience in South Sudan or comparable fragile
and conflict affected settings is an added advantage.
Technical Competencies
Strong
project coordination, work planning, facilitation, and follow through skills.Strong
partnership and stakeholder management skills.Ability
to interpret results frameworks and maintain practical implementation, budget,
risk, and reporting trackers.Strong
analytical, writing, synthesis, and presentation skills.Ability
to work independently, manage competing priorities, travel frequently, and
operate effectively in multicultural and interdisciplinary teams.Excellent
written and spoken English is required. Proficiency in Kiswahili is desirable.
Expected Deliverables
Approved
and regularly updated implementation workplans for Kenya and South Sudan,
aligned with the ENSURE project milestones and budgets.Current
stakeholder maps, engagement plans, meeting records, action logs, partner
follow-up matrices, and country risk registers.Documented
establishment and operational support for national and local Innovation
Platforms, including governance and participation records.Coordinated
country delivery of awareness, facilitator training, Training of Trainers,
cascade training, on-farm capacity building, digital advisory deployment, and
field supervision activities.Validated
country data submitted on time through the integrated MELIA reporting platform.Monthly
internal country progress updates and timely, inputs to quarterly and annual
ENSURE reporting.Quarterly
field and Innovation Platform supervision reports with corrective action plans
and follow up status.Country
level documentation of results, lessons, adaptations, implementation risks, and
success stories.
Key Performance Milestones
Within
30 days, complete onboarding, validate stakeholder and activity maps, and
establish integrated workplan, action, risk, and reporting trackers for both
countries.Within
60 days, agree country coordination routines with National Focal Points and
IITA project coordination team and document priority partners, field sites,
dependencies, and delivery risks.Within
90 days, demonstrate effective coordination of country meetings, partner follow
up, reporting inputs, and initial field or Innovation Platform activities.Quarterly,
complete planned supervision visits, submit validated monitoring data and
country report inputs on time, and track corrective actions to closure.By
the annual progress review, provide a synthesis of results, challenges,
adaptations, partnerships, and the following year’s priorities for both
countries.
TERMS OF
EMPLOYMENT
This position is a National recruited position based in Nairobi, Kenya. The project runs for a period of 3
years.The initial contract will be for 1 (One) years subject to a probation
period of 3 (three) months and is
renewable depending on performance and availability of resources.
The Alliance Bioversity-CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and
inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation,
contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and
mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global
character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races,
colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability
statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities. Female
candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.