THE ORGANIZATION The Alliance of Bioversity International (www.bioversityinternational.org) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (www.ciat.cgiar.org) 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.
POSITION SUMMARY The Program Associate will support Bean program in Africa, working closely with the Program Leader and the Program Management Officer (PMO) to support management of activities and staff all of which will contribute to the efficient and professional operation of the various projects. The position will be full-time, in presence and based in Nairobi (Kenya).
RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Research facilitation and project management:
- Manage requests for support between the various research teams of the program and the administrative support units (HR Africa, PLANS Africa, Legal, IT, etc.), helping to maximize the time researchers spend on science and minimize the transaction costs.
- Facilitate connections with PLANS Africa on budgeting, with GMU Africa on grant opening and monitoring, with HR on contract processing and/or renewing, with PISA on data submission in the M&E, and institutional support systems for science-quality assurance and data/information management.
- Liaise with the Program Leader and various principal Investigators on overall program coordination on a daily basis.
- Assist the program in the preparation of budget estimates and expenditure forecasts by analyzing and monitoring the situation of resources as compared to planned activities.
- Prepare recurring reports as scheduled and special reports for the Program Leader, PMO and project leaders, maintaining and updating spreadsheets and databases for internal control purposes.
- Monitoring project pipeline and PABRA member country owned projects.g) Providing guidance and collaborate with the Research Assistants of Bean Africa.
- Work closely with the Bean LATAM team to support project execution.
2. Proposal management and development: Supports Bean Africa's proposals pipeline by collecting proposal information, connecting with the Partnerships and Communications team to obtain information on partners, and shepherding strategic proposals through the various units and stages.
3. Financial and Budget management: Work in close coordination with the respective Program Management Officers to provide information on and monitor the Program's funding pipeline, ongoing portfolio and Program staff time coverage, in coordination with the regional Finance and HR teams.
4. External Communications: Work closely with Alliance communications team and Lever 6 communication team to plan and execute an internal and external communications strategy for the above program in Africa.
Requirements
- Bachelors in business management and administration with experience working in interdisciplinary programs related to agriculture, environment and development studies preferred.
- Minimum 3 years of relevant work experience, with proven capacity for program coordination/management, project design, monitoring & evaluation, and external engagement with partners.
- Experience with financial management and designing and managing budgets.
- Broad understanding of agricultural research-for-impact challenges in Africa; any region-specific work experiences and professional networks would be considered an advantage.
- Professional exposure to an international institutional/program setting, including multi-cultural and interdisciplinary working environment.
- Excellent English communication skills, both written and oral, for diverse audiences including technical specialists and decision/policymakers.
- Excellent Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Power Point and Excel.
- Interest in and proven editing and proofreading skills.
- Proof of outstanding communication skills, to be applied in dialogues with a wide array of actors, such as international organization representatives, members of national governments members, research and private sector representatives, experts, and farmers.
- Collaborative yet entrepreneurial, with demonstrated interest in agricultural development in Africa, and the ability to provide thought leadership on a range of agricultural development challenges.
Terms of Employment
This is a nationally recruited position based in Nairobi, Kenya. The contract will be for one-year period, subject to a probation period of three (3) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources.
This position is graded at BG06 level, within a scale of BG01 to BG14 (BG14 being the highest level according to the Alliance job classification framework policy). We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefits including but not limited to insurance, retirement plan, staff training and development, paid time off and flexible working arrangements.
APPLICATIONS
Applicants are invited to visit https://www.bioversityinternational.org/jobs/ to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number Ref: 103359-PROGRAM ASSOCIATE as the position applied for. Application and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate's last name, first name for ease of sorting.
- Collaborative yet entrepreneurial, with demonstrated interest in agricultural development in Africa, and the ability to provide thought leadership on a range of agricultural development challenges.
- Proof of outstanding communication skills, to be applied in dialogues with a wide array of actors, such as international organization representatives, members of national governments members, research and private sector representatives, experts, and farmers.
- Interest in and proven editing and proofreading skills.
- Excellent Microsoft Office skills, including Word, Power Point and Excel.
- Excellent English communication skills, both written and oral, for diverse audiences including technical specialists and decision/policymakers.
- Professional exposure to an international institutional/program setting, including multi-cultural and interdisciplinary working environment.
- Broad understanding of agricultural research-for-impact challenges in Africa; any region-specific work experiences and professional networks would be considered an advantage.
- Experience with financial management and designing and managing budgets.
- Minimum 3 years of relevant work experience, with proven capacity for program coordination/management, project design, monitoring & evaluation, and external engagement with partners.
- Bachelors in business management and administration with experience working in interdisciplinary programs related to agriculture, environment and development studies preferred.