The International Potato Center (CIP) is seeking a highly skilled, results-oriented Chief of Party to provide overall leadership and management for the implementation of the USAID funded Better Potato for Better Life (BPBL) project in Ethiopia. This position will also serve as the CIP Country Manager and represent CIP in Ethiopia to donors and partners. CIP seeks diversity and gender balance in its staff. Women and citizens of developing countries are particularly urged to apply.
The Center: CIP is a not-for-profit international agricultural research for development with a focus on potatoes, sweetpotatoes, and Andean roots and tubers. Its vision is to emphasize the use of roots and tubers to improve the lives of the poor. CIP is dedicated to achieving food security, improved well-being, and gender equality for poor people in root and tuber farming and food systems of the developing world. CIP is headquartered in Lima, Peru with staff and activities over 30 locations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CIP is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, a network of 15 research centers that are mostly located in the developing world and supported by more than 50 donor members.
The Project: CIP is implementing the $5 million dollar Better Potato for a Better Life (BPBL) project to enhance rural income, food security, and nutrition in four regions of Ethiopia (Amhara, Oromia, SNNPR, and Tigray) through resilient and profitable sweetpotato and potato value chains. The project builds on achievements and lessons learned from the previous phase of the project, and pursue linkages with “Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development” (GRAD) and other ongoing Feed the Future projects in Ethiopia. The 25-month cost extension with support from USAID/Feed the Future BPBL aims to improve production capacity of disease-free, tissue culture derived potato and sweetpotato seed, provide 140,000 households with access to quality seed of potato and sweetpotato, increase potato and sweetpotato production and productivity among 50,000 households, and improve diet diversity of 51,000 men, women, and children through consumption of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) and potatoes high in iron (Fe) and zinc (Ze). The project is implemented in partnership with the Government of Ethiopia, NGOs and emphasizes capacity strengthening and monitoring and learning across these partnerships. The project is closely aligned to the objectives and monitoring processes of the Feed the Future program in Ethiopia.
The Position: The Chief of Party will report to the CIP Regional Director, sub-Saharan Africa and to the CIP Program Leaders and will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Duties and Responsibilities:
· Project Management:
Provide management, leadership, and strategic vision in all aspects of project implementation. Ensure that project implementation is responsive to target communities and partners and aligned with CIP core values, strategic plan and guiding principles. Monitor adherence to grant agreement, CIP policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations including the CGIAR Consortium. Select, oversee and advise performance of partners and sub-grantees. As responsible manager for all technical and financial reporting to the donor, ensure timeliness, quality, and responsiveness to donor requests in all areas of reporting. Ensure that monitoring of project indicators is timely and of excellent quality to support reporting and adaptive management. Promote the project with stakeholders, the donor community, and the general public in Ethiopia through sound and innovative communications.
· Representation and Resource Mobilization:
Represent the project vis-à-vis USAID, Government of Ethiopia, and NGOs. Represent CIP in Ethiopia and develop and maintain a high level of understanding of donor priorities, country plans, and planned funding initiatives in Ethiopia. Build and manage strong and productive partnerships with GoE and implementing partners and facilitate learning and knowledge exchange across the entire project partnership. Participate in regular review meetings with USAID and ensure that the project is well understood and highly regarded by the donor and all project partners.
· Staff Management, Professional Development and Team Building:
Create a work atmosphere conducive to professional growth and development of excellent personnel at all levels. Promote accountability by conducting staff annual performance reviews with direct supervisees, and ensuring that all staff members are effectively using the performance planning and management system.
· Project Support Operations:
Ensure the development, implementation and monitoring of financial and operational policies and procedures for constant compliance with all CIP and donor policies, regulations, and requirements. Ensure project quality through implementation of country-specific project reviews and use of comprehensive M&E systems. Coordinate with finance, procurement, and M&E project staff to ensure operational systems are in place to support field offices and activities including logistics, procurement, security, administration, and human resources.
· Gender:
The Chief of Party is expected to take a leadership role in the mainstreaming of gender sensitive project interventions, through support and promotion of gender throughout all areas of the project.
· Safety, Security and Risk Management:
The Chief of Party is expected to oversee the implementation and continual review of the country security guidelines and security management plan, and manage all security issues in consultation with the regional and HQ. In coordination with the Safety and Security Manager ensure the consistent monitoring and analysis of the security environment and adherence by all staff to the CIP security protocols and procedures.Selection Criteria:
- PhD in agriculture, horticulture, economics, nutrition, or relevant biological or social science degree. Specific training related to potato, sweetpotato, nutrition, or gender is an added advantage.
- Strong experience of at least 15 years as a field-based project manager, with at least 5 years working as a Chief of Party on large-scale agricultural development projects, preferably in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Direct experience working on large USAID funded interventions, preferably focused in agriculture. Specific experience of Feed the Future is an advantage.
- Experience in improving seed systems and increasing agricultural productivity.
- Demonstrated ability to manage and motivate international and local staff into a cohesive team and proven record in effectively managing multidisciplinary partnerships.
- Demonstrated awareness and responsiveness to gender and social issues in cross-cultural and gender integration programming.
- Strong experience with communication technologies as research and development tools.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English are required.
- Willingness to travel frequently and work under field conditions.
Conditions:Employment contract will be for an initial two-year term (with a three month probation period) with possibility of renewal, subject to availability of funding. Salary will be internationally competitive, paid in US dollars, and commensurate with experience. CIP prides itself on its collegial and supportive working environment, which allows space for personal and professional growth.
Learn more about CIP by accessing our web site athttp://www.cipotato.org.
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications:Applicants should apply by email, sending a cover letter summarizing their relevance to this position, a full C.V. and the names and contact information of three referees knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to cip-recruitment@cgiar.org. The reference name of the position should be clearly marked on the subject line of the email message. Screening of applications will begin on 24 March 2015 and will continue until the post is filled. All applications will be acknowledged, however only short listed candidates will be contacted.
