Market and Capacity Development Specialist

ILRI seeks to recruit a Market and Capacity Development Specialist for a temporary position.

This position would be part of the team developing, piloting, assessing the impact of, and scaling-up index-based livestock insurance IBLI products.  A comprehensive pilot has already been commercially launched in Marsabit county of Northern  Kenya and Borana Zone of Southern Ethiopia.  In executing its agenda, the IBLI project (www.ilri.org/ibli) works with an array of commercial, NGO, governmental, academic and donor partners.  We seek a well-rounded, experienced individual within the team to play a central project management role: supporting implementation activities of the team; managing project budgets; contributing to project reporting; managing communication and publicity among others.

ILRI works to enhance the roles livestock play in pathways out of poverty in developing countries. ILRI is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium, a global research partnership of 15 centres working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in West and southern Africa and South and Southeast Asia. www.ilri.org.

The Centre’s headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, and research is conducted in 31 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and receive funding from over 50 different donors.

CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org.

Responsibilities

1.      Partnership and stakeholder engagement:

• With the support of the program team and key partners, contribute to the market development and capacity building strategy in Mandera, Garissa, Wajir, Marsabit & Isiolo;
• Support in liaison with local government partners to promote their support and adoption of IBLI;
• Assist in coordinating partnerships that add both programmatic and strategic value to the implementation agenda and help achieve program objectives;
• Support in enhancing institutions for more cost-effective delivery of IBLI services (sales provision, information dissemination, extension and indemnity payments) and building their capacity.
• 2.      Capacity Development:

• Organize and facilitate training programs and the development of training materials (lesson plans, manuals, PPTs and Prezis, ToT materials, individual and group face-to-face training activities, scripts for multimedia products, etc.) adapted to the specific needs of each location;
• Support team members and partners in coordinating and delivering of capacity development programs as needed;
• 3.      Project implementation support:

• Oversee the planning and actual implementation of the project in the field;
• Support delivery channels and link them to the IBLI ICT based transactions platform;
• Support the commercial partners in the development of marketing and publicity materials, sales plans, etc.;
• Contribute to the development of project reports for donors and other partners;
• Contribute to the development of proposals to advance the teams agenda.

Requirements

•    A Master’s degree in a development-related Social Sciences, Business Administration, Education, Communication or related fields;

•    At least 5 years’ experience in the disciplinary area, e.g., international development / market development / sales & marketing / insurance   – with experience working in arid and semi-arid areas.

•    Demonstrated ability to develop and rally complex partnerships around a common objective, and managing the deployment and assessment of innovative programs, especially with regard to the Kenyan and Ethiopian government.

•    A proven skill-set in the area of outreach and extension development of learning courses, training and technical assistance materials, needs assessments, and other capacity development products.

•    Excellent organizational, interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills in English and Kiswahili.

• Ability to speak Somali and/or Boran would be an added advantage.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate training sessions and make presentations to diverse audiences.
• Relevant publication record would be an added advantage

•    Familiarity with aspects of livestock production, and/or agricultural systems in developing countries a plus.

Terms of appointment:

This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) positions based at ILRI’s Nairobi campus and is for a six months contract period.

Job level and salary:

This position is job level 3A with a starting salary of KES173,617 per month. This is exclusive of other benefits provided within ILRI’s National Recruited Staff Scheme.

How to apply:

Applicants should send a cover letter and CV combined together 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 Human Resources Director through: http://ilri.simplicant.com/ before 7 March, 2014. The position title and reference number REF: MCDS/IBLI/02/14 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the online application.