Program Impact Advisor

• Land O'Lakes International Development
• Kigali, Rwanda
• Apply by 10 July 2017

• Mid-level, Full-time staff position
• Posted on 3 July 2017

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Job Description

Background:
Land O’Lakes International Development is a 501c3 nonprofit organization whose vision is to be a global leader in transforming lives by engaging in agriculture and enterprise partnerships that replace poverty with prosperity, and dependency with self-reliance. We leverage Land O’Lakes, Inc.’s near-century of history by engaging in international agriculture and economic development projects,
implementing more than 280 projects in 80 countries since 1981.
Position Summary:
The Program Impact Advisor is a leadership position that will provide technical direction to ensure maximum impact of programming in Rwanda of the Cooperative Development Program-3 (CD3). The primary role is to ensure that the program goals in Rwanda are met and maximum impact is achieved. The individual will have a role in contributing to the program objectives by working directly with consultants and contractors and ensuring the
program maintains solid relationships with key stakeholders, including representatives of the Government of Rwanda. The position will coordinate and work closely with the Cooperative Development Program Manager, Rwanda (CDP Manager-Rwanda) and other Rwanda staff as well as the Chief of Party of the CD3 program based at the headquarters in Minnesota, USA. The individual will provide expertise on areas of cooperative capacity strengthening for all three tiers of maize and dairy cooperative engagement in Rwanda- primary, union and federation. The individual will specifically support the expansion of and sustainability of the Cooperative Leadership Platform as well as lead
the activity to support capacity building of local cooperative research. General management duties will be required including but not limited to: ensuring required technical assistance is provided timely to our partners, responding to consultant and contractor deliverables, report writing and supporting the CDP Manager-Rwanda on day-to-day activity management when needed to ensure program activities are completed on time and on budget.
In addition to serving as the Program Impact Advisor, this position will also serve as Acting Chief of Party when the Chief of Party (COP) is on leave.
The position will be based in Kigali, Rwanda. This position will be hired for an 11-month period.
Primary Responsibilities:
Primary responsibilities of the position include but are not limited to the following:

• Oversee all aspects of program deliverables in Rwanda to ensure quality standards are met and program implementation will result in maximum impact;
• Develop and maintain relations with key government ministries and agencies to ensure continued partnership on collaborative activities and maximum sustainability of project impact;
• Provide guidance and support to the Rwanda program staff to ensure that activities are implemented successfully;
• Provide guidance to the Rwanda Administrative team to ensure program administrative is efficiently run to support project activities;
• Provide strategic leadership to activity plans and implementation of CD3 activities and support work planning, monitoring of indicators, reporting and evaluation;
• Provide feedback on consultant efforts to ensure that final deliverables meet or exceed requirements and provide maximum benefit to program stakeholders;
• Manage the locally-led Rwanda cooperative research activity to ensure that all components from capacity assessments, due diligence, awarding mechanisms and capacity building follow a thorough and timely work plan;
• Manage the cooperative learning platform activity ensuring that it meets program requirements and can be sustainably expanded, within budget, to meet the needs of the large cooperative community in Rwanda;
• Develop and maintain highly collaborative working relationships with academic institutions, researchers and other key implementing and collaborating partners;
• Provide support on logistics when necessary to ensure successful and timely completion of all activities in Rwanda, including but not limited to, coordinating meetings between stakeholders, planning events, recruiting technical support, and procuring services;
• Ensure documentation and dissemination of findings, impact, innovations, and lessons learned;
• Represent, along with the CDP Manager-Rwanda, program both internally and externally to other donors, stakeholders, implementing partners and government counterparts;
• Promote sustainability of program activities with effective networking, linkages to other projects, capacity building of staff, and institutional strengthening of implementing partners and community-based organizations;
• Keep information and documents up to date on the SharePoint site and utilize other Land O’Lakes systems;
• Collaborate with current Rwanda team to ensure that combined efforts produce greater results and there is no duplication of efforts on the above;
• Ensure that all activities of the position are undertaken in full compliance with Land O’Lakes standard operating procedures, donor policies and regulations, and national policies and laws;
• New business support when called upon for proposal with Rwanda activities;
• Other duties as to be assigned to support the program and/or the work of Land O’Lakes in Rwanda.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in international development, business administration, agriculture, or a closely related field is required.
• Demonstrated ability to create and maintain effective working relations with host country government personnel, stakeholders, NGO partners, and international donor agencies.
• 10 + years’ experience designing, implementing and managing large, complex projects involving multiple partners in Rwanda, of which at least five years has been spent in a position of leadership as a COP, Deputy COP or similar role of equivalent size and scope.
• Strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills, including proven ability to develop and communicate a common vision among diverse partners and lead a multi-disciplinary team.
• Strong technical and management expertise in agriculture and cooperative programming in Rwanda.
• Experience in systems strengthening, capacity building, service delivery, and quality improvement is highly desirable.
• Experience in presenting reports, project outcomes, success stories to the host government and USG is essential.
• Experience supporting USG proposal efforts.
• Management experience with a USG cooperative agreements preferred.
• Strong interpersonal, writing and oral presentation skills in English.
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team to manage a high volume work flow.

Relevant computer software skills (including, at a minimum, the standard applications in MS Office).

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About the Organization

Land O’Lakes International Development is a 501c3 nonprofit helping communities around the world building economies by strengthening agriculture from farm-to-fork, helping businesses grow, and linking farmers to markets. Since our start in 1981, we have been leveraging nearly 100 years of expertise in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs and agricultural insights from our close affiliate, Land O’Lakes, Inc., a
farmer-owned agribusiness committed to fulfilling its purpose of feeding human progress.
Our team is made up of nearly 350 employees who are committed to market-led approaches, and passionate about collaborating locally to create lasting inclusive economic growth. By unlocking the potential of agriculture for the last 36 years, the lives of more than 3 million people have been transformed through nearly 300 programs in more than 80 countries.