Technical Specialist – Livelihood & Market Development (Kakamega) NGO Job BRAC

Job description

Project Management Jobs. BRAC Jobs. Technical Specialist – Livelihood & Market Development leading market access strategies, micro-enterprise growth, and economic empowerment programs, requiring a relevant degree and 3+ years experience in livelihood development within an NGO setting.

Job summary

• The Technical Specialist – Livelihood & Market Development will manage the overall planning, coordination, and implementation of the AIM Livelihood pathway . This exciting role involves the overall management, leadership and oversight of the livelihood pathway, under the direct supervision of the AIM Programme Manager, BRAC Maendeleo Kenya, and with technical and programmatic support received from BRAC International’s (BI’s) Ultra Poor Graduation and Livelihoods, Agriculture and Food Security, and the AIM Central team. This will be a full-time position based in BRAC’s country office in Kenya. This role will provide overall technical coordination and leadership to the AIM country team to ensure all livelihood and market development activities, including implementation of livelihoods, market development and market facilitation activities, are effectively delivered and on time.
• Apart from the overall management, coordination, leadership, and oversight of the livelihood pathway, the role includes direct and indirect management, coaching, and capacity building of BRAC AIM program implementation staff, budget management, internal and external stakeholders, and partnership management, effective communication and reporting, and promotion of safeguarding in the program.
• This role will work closely with the relevant technical sector officers (TSOs), BRAC International (BI) technical anchors and other internal and external technical experts to develop country and asset-specific training modules; train frontline staff on the newly developed training materials; finalize the detailed participant training rollout plans and provide hands on support to the cascading down of the training. 
• The Technical Specialist – Livelihood & Market Development will also play a critical role in identifying existing capacity challenges in effectively delivering the livelihood and market development related interventions under the AIM program and will be proactive about addressing them in an efficient and timely manner. The role will also support the operations team in budgeting, in ensuring quality procurement, asset distribution and asset management support. An ideal candidate for this role must have previous experience in implementing livelihoods or related programs. 

Key Duties/Responsibilities

Technical Support for the AIM livelihood pathway

• Lead the AIM livelihood pathway in the attainment of measurable impact in the lives of AGYW to engage in dignified livelihoods, with access to markets and financial services to ensure their incomes sustain and grow.
• Lead the overall planning, coordination and execution of the livelihood support pathways including agriculture/farming; livestock and poultry; apprenticeship; entrepreneurship; TVET, with focused technical support to the program team.
• Lead the development of specific livelihood pathways training modules, train front line staff on the newly developed training materials; finalize the participant training rollout plans and provide support to the cascading down of the training.
• Provide technical leadership to budget, plan and deliver the livelihood interventions, including conducting localized market assessments; value chain analysis; training on chosen livelihood pathways; asset mapping, procurement, distribution and management support.
• Lead the training of branch staff to capacitate them to conduct participant needs assessment and market assessments.
• Coordinate the training and sensitization of market actors and steer the formalization of relationships with service providers to support market development and facilitation efforts.
• Lead the training of community-based Community Agriculture and Livestock Promoters (CALPs) and ensure they are well-equipped to start providing services to program participants.
• Support and provide indirect/dotted supervision to the AIM Technical Sector Officers for Livestock and Agriculture to ensure smooth, timely, and quality implementation of the livelihood pathway.
• Coordinate closely with the TSOs and provide on the job training/ technical oversight to ensure all livelihoods interventions are delivered in a strategic and timely manner.
• Where needful, contribute to country-level contingency plans and support the integration of contingency planning for the AIM program.
• Lead on the effective implementation of the cost-sharing modality of the livelihood support to the AIM participants.

Stakeholder Coordination and Networking Support 

• Liaise with key stakeholders (government and non-government) and collect relevant training materials that can be used to develop/strengthen/ contextualize BRAC’s training materials.
• Support coordination with a range of stakeholders, including government entities, INGOs, CSOs, youth development committee (YDC) members, service providers, to support delivery of interventions as well as the program’s grassroots advocacy and partnerships work.
• Maintain a close working relationship and ensure alignment with the country’s program team, AIM central team and BI technical anchors and consultants (as needed).
• Collect different levels of government approval needed for the implementation of the AIM Livelihood pathway.
• Manage day-to-day coordination with country support teams in areas of human resources, finance, procurement, administration, IT, communications, eTS.
• Support the AIM program manager to oversee BRAC and relevant partner staff involved in the livelihood pathway to ensure effective coordination of integrated programming and multi-sectoral interventions.
• Support technical donor reviews and external engagement activities, including meetings with implementation partners, government agencies, civil society, and local community-based Organizations,  organizing learning and knowledge-sharing sessions.
• Strengthen/create a local and national-level advocacy network to support AGYWs’ economic empowerment.

Grants, Knowledge, Risk management and Reporting

• Proactively monitor the AIM livelihood pathway performance, identifying and mitigating programmatic and organisational risk, and escalate as necessary.
• Support the AIM program manager in the implementation of standard award contracts, coordinate approval of agreements and sub-agreements, amendments, and extensions, where applicable related to the AIM livelihood pathway.
• Support and coordinate with country-level Grants Managers, M&E, and Finance teams to ensure timely submission of quality narrative and financial reports quarterly. Additionally, frequently (at least monthly) monitor the AIM livelihood pathway budget intake.
• Support the AIM program manager in the AIM program database management, including updates for pipeline reports, grant stewardship, and prospect research relevant to the AIM livelihood pathway.
• Lead and contribute to the  capturing and documentation of the AIM livelihood-related knowledge and learnings, and contribute to process development and documentation
• Manage and strengthen MIS, program/management data collection, and reporting on economic empowerment activities.
• Help the AIM program manager to prepare timely and high-quality program and donor reports on project activities in compliance with internal requirements and any relevant external donor requirements.

 Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning 

• Enhance quality programming in the livelihood pathway through incorporating quality planning and system monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
• Ensure appropriate, timely, and accurate data collection against agreed indicators to enable both internal and external reporting.
• Work closely with the M&E and knowledge management teams to collate lessons learnt and best practices among internal and external stakeholders.
• Work with the MEL team to identify and incorporate project-suitable accountability mechanisms for the AIM livelihood pathway.
• Regular visits to monitor and verify program performance.

Team management and overall stewardship

• Support and coordinate the AIM livelihood team, ensuring competent and motivated staff, as well as manage the performance of the AIM livelihood staff, and encourage on-the-job coaching, identify and address learning and training needs and opportunities.
• Support the development of capacity-building plans for the AIM livelihood team
• Manage external technical consultants and partners involved in the AIM livelihood pathway in the country. 
• Support the AIM communication team with up-to-date content to create presentations and marketing materials to showcase program and project successes.
• Act as a mentor and role model for less experienced staff.

Key Duties/Responsibilities

• Provide leadership in managing and implementing Monitoring & Learning (M&L) activities throughout relevant project cycles, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in alignment with BRAC International’s M&L policies, procedures, practices, and reporting guidelines.
• Ensure country teams utilise appropriate Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) systems and tools.
• Provide strategic direction for developing and maintaining M&E systems and implementing new initiatives at the country level.
• Collaborate with the senior management team to identify and pursue strategic opportunities for program expansion.
• Lead mandated monitoring activities and assessments.
• Ensure the quality of collected data by managing tools and methods to assess data accuracy across all indicators.
• Organise and oversee data quality assessments, jointly develop corrective measures and action plans, and follow up on the action plans.
• Contribute to donor reports by providing high-quality project data interpretation and report inputs.
• Lead the M&L team in strategically preparing and reviewing M&E calendars and work plans.
• Ensure the M&L team actively participates in joint monitoring visits.
• Support BI’s digital programmatic activity reporting and monitoring platform by ensuring necessary support at the country level. Maintain strong collaboration with the country IT, BI IT, and T4D teams.
• Support is needed to conduct pause-and-reflect sessions to promote adaptive management and document the lessons learnt for program design and implementation in collaboration with the knowledge management focal point.
• Orient new program staff on the key M&L resources.
• Provide mentoring and capacity-building support to staff to enhance their skills and ensure the achievement of annual performance and development goals.
• Any other tasks assigned by the supervisor

Safeguarding Responsibilities

• Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation to achieve the program’s goals on safeguarding implementation
• Act as a key source of support, guidance, and expertise on safeguarding for establishing a safe working environment
• Practice, promote, and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action
• Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place, and encourage others to do the same

Education

• Degree in Veterinary Medicine /Animal husbandry/Forestry/Crop Production/Business Development/ Agribusiness/ Social Sciences or any other related subject. Masters degree will be an added advantage.
• Minimum 8 years work experience with at least 3 years of managerial/leadership experience in managing and implementing livelihood or economic development program(s), working with ultra-poor and marginalized communities to implement livelihood and/or girl’s and women’s empowerment programs
• Experience in project management and coordination, including supervision and monitoring, administration, finance, and logistics
• Demonstrated ability to navigate cultural sensitivity and maintain collaborative working relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders.
• Familiarity with graduation approach is preferred
• Experience of working in integrated programming, particularly for adolescent girls and young women is a plus. 

Knowledge,Skills and Competencies

• Experience in representation and negotiation with government, donors, partners and other stakeholders
• Ability to interpret financial data and prepare budgets and financial grant reports
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, especially Excel
• Strong problem-solving skills, highly organized, strategic thinker with a strong attention to detail.
• Strong sense of teamwork and collaboration and demonstrated ability to build relationships with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
• Diplomatic and highly effective on an interpersonal level in addition to cross-cultural sensitivity
• Personal qualities of integrity, credibility, and dedication to the mission of BRAC.

How to Apply

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