Agriculture and Natural Resource Adviser

Job Purpose

To support effective programming to promote resilience and elimination of extreme poverty in disaster-prone, fragile contexts through the provision of technical and strategic support to country programmes on climate-smart agriculture and natural resource management and through the generation and sharing of evidence and learning within Concern and beyond. Focal countries currently include Chad, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Niger, CAR, Afghanistan & Pakistan (but are subject to change).

Reports to: Senior Nutrition Adviser & Resilience Team Lead

Liaises with: Other units in the Strategy, Advocacy and Learning department, Country Offices, International Programmes and Emergency Directorates.

Substantial (30%) overseas travel is a part of this role.

Contract Details: Two Year Fixed term contract

Pay Band: Dublin: €40,928 – €48,151; London: €38,165 – €42,182

Main duties & Responsibilities:

• Provide technical and strategic support on climate-smart agriculture and natural resource management to country teams to ensure programmes are designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated to ensure optimum impact on the extreme poor.
• Build the technical capacity of Concern country teams through formal training, webinars, remote mentoring, and production and sharing of key technical resources.
• Synthesize and document practical evidence and learning from our programmes; identify ways to apply it in a timely fashion to improve policy and practice within and beyond Concern.
• Support and develop relationships with other agencies, including research institutes, technical working groups and represent Concern in national, regional and international fora as required;
• Support Fundraising and the New Business Development Directorates to develop relationships with donors and support the development of new proposals in line with the organizational strategic plan.
•  Support the Advocacy unit to feed into international policy discussions related to resilience, agriculture, climate change and pastoralism.
• Support the prioritization, design, implementation and dissemination of operational research undertaken within Concern programmes – in collaboration with field teams and research partners.
• Support the recruitment of country programme staff, support development of programme proposals and engage in multi-sectoral/ inter-departmental initiatives such as staff induction, M&E guidance, etc.
• Potentially be deployed to support emergency responses for up to six weeks

Person specification:

Essential

• A postgraduate degree in agriculture, crop science, animal production, veterinary medicine, soil science, natural resource management, environmental science or related field
• A minimum of five years’ experience working in the area of agriculture and livestock in an NGO, development agency or the private sector, three of which should have been based in a developing country in Sub Saharan Africa or Asia
• Strong understanding of how agriculture, livestock and natural resource management fits within the wider framework of promoting resilience and positive climate change adaptation, particularly in drought-prone contexts.
• A strong understanding of gender issues in relation to agriculture and livelihoods programmes and practical ways to promote gender equality within them;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work well as part of a multi-disciplinary team;
• Excellent organisational skills
• Ability to work in French
• Excellent verbal and written English skills
• Ability to engage with researchers to steer research towards relevant and practical outputs

Desirable

• Experience in dryland agriculture, soil and water conservation and rangeland management.
• Experience working with research institutions, including CGIAR institutions and relevant national agriculture and livestock institutions.
• Experience working in integrated, multi-sectoral programmes; A specialization in livestock production and animal health; and experience or knowledge of issues facing pastoralists.
• Experience in livelihoods analysis, field surveys, use of PRA tools, and GIS / mapping software.