Senior Program Specialist, Usaid Regional Food Fortification Activity

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The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing...when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better, they are able to access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off.

Summary:

The USAID Regional Food Fortification Activity (RFF) is a five-year Associate Award, under theUSAID Advancing Food Fortification Opportunities to Reinforce Diets (AFFORD) Leader with Associates program. RFF seeks to increase the availability of good quality, affordable fortified foods throughout West Africa by incentivizing regional multi-sectoral compliance with harmonized fortification standards and, as a result, strengthening national fortification programming. USAID RFF will facilitate advocacy for a policy environment that stimulates the uptake of improved large-scale food fortification (LSFF) technologies and best practices, and will work with key regional players to build private sector commitment for LSFF.

The activity will implement solutions including:

• Increasing private sector engagement, trade and investment in regional food fortification
• Improving existing and new policy frameworks to improve access to fortification
• Strengthening the knowledge sharing, coordination and adoption of best practices among key actors in the ECOWAS region.
  
  

TechnoServe seeks a Senior Program Specialist to support project management functions, including sub-award (partner) management, procurement of goods and services, s compliance, event planning and coordination, travel planning, and financial management support etc. This role will report directly to the Chief of Party, with a dotted line to the Finance Director.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Under the supervision of the Chief of Party and Finance Director, support project management activities from project start-up to closeout.
• Collaborate with project team members to coordinate the development and finalization of project documents on an on-going basis, including annual work plans and budgets, donor reports and deliverables, presentations, etc.
• Provide support to the Chief of Party and LSFF Technical Director in managing the timely coordination of the activities being undertaken by the project team members in Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire, managing deadlines for deliverables, and adherence to donor requirements;
• Support regular financial analysis, quarterly forecasts, and ad hoc financial reporting.
• Support sub-award (partner) management, including monitoring implementation and ensuring adherence to award rules and regulations.
• Lead procurement of goods and services for the project and monitor adherence to procurement timelines and budgets;
• Coordinate internal and external meetings and events – ie. project team meetings, stakeholder meetings, sector-wide training workshops, participation in global conferences – in collaboration with the technical team and Chief of Party;
• Coordinate travel for staff and select clients when applicable, for activities including: stakeholder meetings and events, technical training, team retreats, visits to clients, etc;
• Maintain extensive files and documentation that show full compliance of Project activities with both donor and internal TNS regulations;
• Actively participate in regular team meetings with administrative and technical staff.
  
  

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, International Development, Economics, Business Administration, or related areas and a minimum 5 years of professional work experience in West Africa or a Master's degree and a minimum of 3 years of experience.
• Strong experience in project coordination/management, including procurement and grants management on USAID funded projects.
• Proven organizational skills, with strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple moving pieces
• Excellent computer skills: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google Suite
• Exceptional interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills
• Expert problem-solver
• Self-starter, able to lead workstreams independently
• Collaborative team member
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Private sector or INGO experience in West Africa
• Experience coordinating and/or managing complex programs
  
  

Required Languages: Bilingual preferred - English & French

Travel: Up to 10% travel to field offices and project sites

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.

If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources at recruitment@tns.org or call +1 202 785 4515.










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