Position: Technical Operations Officer
Background: The
AgResults Kenya On-Farm Storage Pilot is a multi-year project,
anticipated to run until approximately December 2018, that aims to
address post-harvest losses by facilitating the development, marketing
and distribution of on-farm storage solutions to smallholder farmers.
The AgResults Kenya
On-Farm Storage Pilot is just one of many activities of the AgResults
Initiative financed jointly by the governments of Australia, Canada, the
United Kingdom, and the United States, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation.
Agribusiness Systems
International (ASI) serves as Pilot Manager for the AgResults Pilot
Project in Kenya, under contract with Deloitte Consulting LLP (United
States), which serves as the Secretariat for the AgResults Initiative
and reports to the Steering Committee of donor representatives.
A key feature of this
pilot is that pull mechanisms will create incentives for target private
sector manufacturers of storage technology to innovate, adapt existing
on-farm storage technologies and supply them to smallholder farmers.
Note that pull mechanisms overcome market failures by using
results-based payments to incentivize innovation and kick-start markets.
They offer ex post
payments for results defined ex ante. The pilot will offer
performance-based grants to those private sector companies
(“Implementers”) for storage devices sold to smallholder farmers.
The role of the Technical
Operations Officer is to oversee the work of an independently
contracted firm(s) to verify the sales that Implementers make, ensure
quality of data collection of verifier firm, support preparation of all
project reports, and conduct administrative tasks as requested by the
Team Leader.
Purpose / Overview of Assignment: The Technical Operations Officer fills a pivotal role in the Kenya On-Farm Storage Pilot requiring a wide range of technical, management and interpersonal skills.
In general, the Technical
Operations Officer will support Pilot planning, operations and
communications among project stakeholders including maintaining the
pilot work plan and reporting in the Secretariat’s project management
portal.
The Technical Operations
Officer will be responsible for overseeing the Pilot Verification
activities carried out by an external organization(s) contracted
independently by the Secretariat.
The Technical Operations Officer will also be expected to conduct administrative activities such as inventory management, procurement and other tasks required to carry out pilot activities.
Responsibilities / Tasks:
Specifically, the Technical Operations Officer’s responsibilities will include the following: Project Activities:
- Serve as Acting Team Leader when the Team Leader is absent.
- Liaise closely and oversee the work done by the organization(s) hired for Pilot Verification services, which are anticipated to include a randomized rural household survey, two market share surveys, and two rounds of sales audits over a period of approximately three and a half years.
- Responsibilities may include providing input, conducting spot checks and overseeing the following: sales audits and development of indicators to identify potential misreporting; fieldwork and data collection for the surveys; data cleaning, data analysis and reporting.
- The Technical Operations Officer may also develop, in collaboration with the Verifier, any necessary templates for data collected from the Implementers.
- Liaise with the Pilot Verifier organization(s) to ensure consistency in work plans and reporting.
- Support analysis of LGB testing being conducted on the storage products in the Pilot, as needed
- Support operations, particularly weekly, monthly and quarterly management reporting to the Secretariat and/or Steering Committee.
- Provide operational support including: administrative tasks, communications & reporting, outreach and research as may be required.
- In collaboration with the Team Leader, liaise with project stakeholders including Advisory Council members, Implementers, the Pilot Verifier organization(s), and government officials.
- Maintain all project documentation at the Kenya country office.
- Other duties as assigned by supervisor or his/her designee.
Qualifications
To perform the role of
Technical Operations Officer successfully, an individual must be able to
perform each activity described above with a high level of quality and
attention to detail.
The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
- Minimum of five years of experience overseeing surveys and data collection, preferably in the field of agriculture or agribusiness.
- Bachelor’s degree required in research methods, statistics, economics or other related field; master’s degree preferred.
- Demonstrated experience and effectiveness developing and overseeing surveys, data collection, survey protocols, data cleaning, and data analysis and reporting.
- Excellent communicating and problem solving abilities.
- Demonstrated excellence in oral, written and reading comprehension abilities.
- Training and/or experience with SPSS, Stata, SAS, LIMDEP or other appropriate statistics software packages.
- Proficient with Power Point, MSProject and other Microsoft programs.
Applicants should respond via e-mail to ASIKenya@joinav.org.
Closing date for receipt of the applications will be Friday, 13th February 2015.