Livestock value chain manager

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Livestock value chain manager to lead the implementation and monitoring of a livestock value chain development project in selected counties in Kenya (Garissa, Marsabit, Wajir, Isiolo and Turkana).

As part of a larger USAID-funded agriculture development program, ILRI is leading a project to accelerate the impact of livestock market interventions on household incomes, with the goal to reduce poverty and hunger in these five USAID Resilience Zones of Influence counties of Kenya. The focus is on taking successful interventions to scale to achieve broad impact on agricultural incomes and nutrition. The interventions span four areas:Enhancing market access, increasing livestock productivity, enhancing the enabling environment and improving nutrition for women and children.

ILRI works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia. The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries keep their farm animals’ alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases. www.ilri.org

ILRI is a not-for-profit institution with a staff of about 700 and in 2015, an operating budget of about USD 83 million. A member of the CGIAR Consortium working for a food-secure future, ILRI has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in other countries in East, West and Southern Africa and in South, Southeast and East Asia. www.cgiar.org

Responsibilities

The Livestock Value Chain Manager will coordinate the overall project with responsibilities as follows:

Lead the identification and development of appropriate technological and institutional innovations required to achieve the project set targets, working with stakeholders, partners and researchers.
Coordinate the implementation of the agreed interventions by developing contracts with local partners and monitoring partners’ interventions.
Ensure that USAID and county government’s priorities are included in the design and implementation of the project.
Liaise with the USAID Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth.
Coordinate Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) activities with the lead M&E team at the consortium level, in particular in relation to the design and collection of monitoring data at partners’ level, as well as for the overall monitoring surveys.
Lead the write up of the livestock value chain reports and other M&E activities as per the set M&E framework.

Requirements

PhD in Agricultural Economics, Agri-business, development studies or related field and 4 years field experience OR MSc in relevant field plus 8 years field experience.
Experience in designing and/or implementing value chain development interventions for livestock in developing or emerging economies.
Experience working with implementing development partners.
Excellent inter-personal skills and proven ability to lead a team.
Good knowledge of monitoring & evaluation framework and systems. (Knowledge of USAID Feed the Future M&E framework will be an advantage).
Willingness to travel frequently in rural areas in Kenya.
Spoken Kiswahili skills strongly desired.

Post location: The position is based in ILRI Nairobi, Kenya.

Position level: Scientist Level 1, dependent on qualifications and experience.

Duration: 3 years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and continued funding.

Benefits: ILRI offers a competitive salary and benefits package which includes 15% Pension, Medical insurance, Life insurance and allowances for: Education, Housing, Relocation, Home leave, Annual holiday entitlement of 30 days + public holidays.

How to apply: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development. The position title and reference number REF: LSE/ 07/2015 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.

All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com by 21 August 2015.

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org