Chief of Party, Nigeria Feed the Future Agriculture Extension Services and Advisory Services at Winrock International

Group: Agriculture & Volunteer Programs

Background

• Winrock is seeking an experienced and dynamic Chief of Party to lead a USAID funded project that will support agriculture extension & advisory services in Nigeria.
• The Chief of Party will design and provide technical leadership to activities that will support increase to smallholder farmers’ productivity, incomes, and household nutrition status in seven Feed the Future (FTF) focus states across four geographic zones in Nigeria (Kebbi, Niger, Kaduna, Benue, Ebonyi, Cross-River, and Delta) through strengthening sustainable agricultural extension and advisory services. The project will particularly focus on aquaculture, cowpea, maize, rice, and soybean value chains.

Essential Responsibilities

• Lead program implementation, coordinating with a wide range of stakeholders – including government agencies, international and domestic buyers, processors and traders, academic institutions, farmers/farmers groups, agribusinesses/service providers, financial institutions, and others – to achieve lasting impacts in Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
• Oversee program administration, operations, and budget management, aligned with Winrock and donor policies and regulations.
• Provide technical and administrative direction to project staff, consultants and partners.
• Apply adaptive management and learning to evaluate program results and impact. Institute adjustments to replicate and scale successful activities and course correct activities that are not yielding desired results.
• Work in close partnership with the donor to ensure alignment of project with the donor’s strategic goals and objectives, and application of program-wide learning and collaboration.
• Coordinate and collaborate with host government programs and other donor projects to leverage resources and maximize results.

Qualifications And Background

• Education: Academic degree in Agricultural Economics, Agriculture Education, Extension Education, Business, or other relevant field. Master's degree preferred.

Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of experience managing complex agriculture, value chain development, or agriculture extension/education programs required. Africa experience strongly preferred.
• Previous COP experience on USG funded projects is required.
• Demonstrated experience and impacts related to agriculture extension/education, agriculture value chain development, private sector engagement, and women and youth engagement.
• Experience integrating social and behavioral change communications into the design of training, capacity building, and extension activities.
• Experience operationalizing the collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) framework in project implementation.

Skills/Knowledge:

• Ability to diplomatically supervise staff and coordinate activities with partners from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.
• Ability to build coalitions and networks with public and private sector actors that can provide synergies and sustainable solutions.
• Must be comfortable in high-level representational role as well as interacting with beneficiaries.
• Demonstrated understanding with USG M&E frameworks and reporting systems. Skills in knowledge management, qualitative and quantitative analytical methods, data analysis, collaboration, learning and adaptation (CLA) approach preferred.
• Excellent management, communication, and organization skills are required.
• Excellent computer skills (word-processing, spreadsheets, and databases) are required.