Senior Technical Support Manager at TechnoServe

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Technical Lead, the Technical Support Manager will manage the project’s technical, engineering, and quality support to processors with an objective to develop a robust portfolio of modern processing units producing high quality kernels for the international market. S/he will identify the gaps in existing processing units to improve their productivity, efficiency, and capacity utilization and design an action plan for implementation which ultimately leads to cost and value optimization. S/he will support implementation of a tailored action plan with each processing unit to address those gaps as per agreed goals and milestones. S/he will oversee a team of technical specialists across the three domains (processing, quality, engineering).

Program/Practice/Department Overview:

Prosper Cashew is a five-year, $29 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Food for Progress Program that aims to catalyze investment for the West African cashew processing sector by strengthening cashew processing facilities across Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria. Over the next five years, the project will strengthen and revive existing cashew processing facilities and support the development of new processing facilities and other value chain enterprises as part of the project’s overall goal to increase the share of raw cashew nut that is processed in the region.

A key component of the project will be to strengthen and increase commercially viable cashew enterprises through technical support. The project will build processor capacity in business management, financial management, investment facilitation, HR and workforce management, marketing, and supply chain development. It will also identify and address specific constraints related to particular sections of cashew processing (raw cashew nut drying, warehousing, calibration, steam cooking, shelling, oven drying, peeling, grading, fumigation, packing, and storage) and provide support to processors to install food safety management systems, support the introduction of traceability, and support the introduction of environmental practices and effective waste management.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Provide technical oversight and quality control to a team of specialists who build the capacity of processing units to address specific constraints related to particular sections of cashew processing (raw cashew nut drying, warehousing, calibration, steam cooking, shelling, oven drying, peeling, grading, fumigation, packing, and storage)
• Compile, analyze, and report data on progress of processing units with key internal and external stakeholders
• Design the action-plan for improvement points based on the GAP analysis from information and data received from factories
• Ensure timely implementation, tracking, capturing, and reporting of the action plan and its final impact on the processing performance.
• Train and develop project staff as well as key participants of the broader cashew processing ecosystem
• Coordinate with different factories for technical training and support them to deliver curriculum for cashew processing operations
• Ensure that women and other disadvantaged groups are integrated into factory activities
• Support new processing units to procure and install proper equipment
• Support processing units to attain their traceability and certification objectives through the introduction of batch processing
• Support processors to implement improved environmental practices, including effective waste management
• Support existing local equipment repair services and manufacturers to improve their business offerings
• Support entrepreneurs to set up new equipment repair services and manufacturers in the project geography
• Support the establishment of processing units for cashew byproducts

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or technology with a minimum of 10 years’ experience in food processing, or Master’s degree with minimum 7 years of experience.

• Experience in food/cashew processing in Nigeria.
• A minimum of 5 years’ factory management experience including managing individuals and teams with diverse backgrounds.           

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in manual and mechanized cashew processing units (3-15K MT capacity).

Reporting Efficiencies

• Proficiency in MS Office and Excel

Travel: Willingness to spend up to 40% of time travelling domestically in Nigeria

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills (GAP analysis, action plan design etc.)
• Excellent oral/written communication and presentation skills
• Ability to balance multiple priorities and meet demanding deadlines
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Strong interpersonal and team-building skills

Supervisory Responsibilities 

• Represent TechnoServe and Prosper Cashew with processors and other industry stakeholders
• Lead, guide, and support team of process, quality, engineering specialists to achieve the targets
• Engage with external stakeholders to benefit the processors with regards to value enhancement and/or cost reduction.

• Ensure timely and quality data capturing, analysis, and reporting for internal and external reports