Latest Jobs at Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)

Type of role: Agriculture and natural resources
Start Date: 15/07/2019

Description
As a VSO volunteer you’ll live and work in some of the world’s poorest communities. By sharing your unique skills and experience you’ll help generate new ideas and new ways of doing things, helping the communities you work in lift themselves out of poverty. We’re not about delivering quick fixes, but instead we focus on long-lasting, sustainable change, that will impact generations to come. Join us as a VSO volunteer and help us work towards our vision of a world without poverty.

Job Purpose

• The goal of this role is to increase income and income security for the poor and marginalized through more equitable participation in value chains.
• You will be part of the implementation of the integrated livelihoods V4D grants through changes in selected value chains and training in Agriculture Extension Services with focus on value chain crops such as Cowpea, groundnut, millets and maize.

Job Responsibilities

• Provide best practice agronomy training to farmers and farmer cooperatives
• Contribute to the promotion of extension reforms and capacity development for partners with special attention to market-orientated, and participatory approaches that meet the diverse needs of smallholders and rural people, especially women and marginal groups.
• Formulate and implement training that strengthen agricultural/rural extension and provide technical assistance in capacity development of agriculture innovation systems.
• Prepare advocacy materials and documents to support the strengthening of agriculture innovation systems and support services.
•  Provide support in the organization and delivery of technical workshops, consultations, seminars and training sessions on conceptual and practical aspects of extension and rural knowledge institution improvements.
• Contribute to the preparation of studies, position papers and conceptual frameworks that strengthen extension systems and agriculture innovation systems. 
• Maintain networks of collaboration with technical specialists.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Internal Reporting:

• Submit monthly plans and reports to VSO livelihoods Program Manager as well as VSO Project officer
• Document and share successes and case stories, best practices and lessons learnt.
• Input into quarterly donor reports
• Participate in project planning and review meetings
• Jointly with other VSO volunteers identifying and sharing areas of good practice acrossVSO V4D integrated Livelihoods program

Key Performance Indicator
The Key performance indicators of this placement are that:

• Target beneficiaries are able to sustain their livelihoods and the livelihoods of their families. This includes managing their own businesses, supply their produce to the markets and are always able to meet the market demands by having adequate produce for identified markets. 

Below includes number indicators:

• Number of beneficiaries who have increased produce for the markets as a result of agriculture extension support and trainings received.
• Number of beneficiaries who have increased their income and have businesses as a result of training and support received.
• Number of beneficiaries able to reach the market demands through supplies of their produce.
• Number of beneficiaries supported/reached. 
• Number of linkages along the value chain crops and value chain markets identified. 

Competencies

• Building and Sustaining working relationships:The social skills to build and actively maintain working relationships that foster teamwork and collaboration with others for the benefit of a common goal.
• Open Minded and Respectful: A non-judgemental approach that values other people and culture.
• Seeking and Sharing Knowledge: Recognition that learning is a twoway and continuous process.
• Facilitating Positive Change: The ability to analyse problems and develop lasting solutions in line with VSO approaches.
• Adaptability: A flexible approach and the ability to adapt behaviour to different situations.
• Resilience: The self-confidence to work with a variety of situations, diverse people and ambiguity.

Skills and Knowledge
Professional qualifications and experience:

Essential:

• A degree in the field of Agriculture, Business, other related field or equivalent experience
• Minimum of 5 years relevant work experience
• Experience and knowledge in agri-business sector, agricultural markets and value chains and marketing
• Experience in supporting organisations to develop and  implement strategic and business plans
• Experience of working with/training low capacity teams
• Proven coaching and mentoring skills
• Effective communications skills (report writing, verbal)
• A self-starter
• Cultural sensitivity
• Motorbike skills or a willingness to learn

Desirable:

• Able to speak hausa
• Experience in related field
• Lesson planning and course development skills
• Monitoring and evaluation; documentation and information sharing skills
• Experience in supporting market-linkages and value addition in agricultural markets

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Start date: 17th June, 2019

Job Purpose

• The goal of this role is to increase income and income security for the poor and marginalized through more equitable participation in value chains.
• You will be part of the implementation of the integrated livelihoods V4D grants through changes in selected value chains and training in Agriculture Extension Services with focus on value chain crops such as Cowpea, groundnut, millets and maize.

Job Responsibilities

• Provide support to VSO and its implementing partner’s intervention areas: Context Analysis (data collection), Good Agronomic Practices (GAP), Group Strengthening, Value Chain Linkages, Commercial Enterprise Development and Advocacy.
• Actively engage with all key stakeholders who support activities and contribute to the overall success of the programme and assist community level project advocacy and resource mobilization.
• Participate in and provide feedback to VSO and its implementing partners on all capacity building activities in the programme. 
• Assist with Project Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Knowledge Management activities.
• Reporting on weekly and monthly (Written Reports) activities of Cooperative groups. Contribute case studies to periodic programme publications.
• Participate in project planning and review meetings
• All other responsibilities and commitments as adjusted to the need of our communities by VSO

Key Performance Indicators
The Key performance indicators of this placement are that:

• Target beneficiaries are able to sustain their livelihoods and the livelihoods of their families. This includes managing their own businesses, supply their produce to the markets and are always able to meet the market demands by having adequate produce for identified markets. 

Below includes number indicators:

• Number of beneficiaries who have increased produce for the markets as a result of agriculture extension support and trainings received.
• Number of beneficiaries who have increased their income and have businesses as a result of training and support received.
• Number of beneficiaries able to reach the market demands through supplies of their produce.
• Number of beneficiaries supported/reached. 

Professional Qualifications and Experience
Essential:

• A degree in the field of Agriculture, Business, other related field or equivalent experience
• Experience and knowledge in agri-business sector, agricultural markets and value chains and marketing
• Experience of working with/training low capacity teams
• Ability to take initiatives, team player who is able to work with minimum supervision
• Coaching and mentoring skills
• Effective communications skills (report writing, verbal)
• Practicinggender & cultural diversity –essential

Desirable:

• Able to speak hausa
• Experience in related field
• Monitoring and evaluation; documentation and information sharing skills
• Experience in supporting market-linkages and value addition in agricultural markets 

Competencies:

• Building and Sustaining working relationships: The social skills to build and actively maintain working relationships that foster teamwork and collaboration with others for the benefit of a common goal.
• Open Minded and Respectful A non-judgemental approach that values other people and culture.
• Seeking and Sharing Knowledge Recognition that learning is a twoway and continuous process.
• Facilitating Positive Change: The ability to analyse problems and develop lasting solutions in line with VSO approaches.
• Adaptability: A flexible approach and the ability to adapt behaviour to different situations.
• Resilience: The self-confidence to work with a variety of situations, diverse people and ambiguity.

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Responsible to: Senior Business Pursuit Lead
Contract type: Fixed Term
Full Time: 35 hours per week
Start date: 06/06/2019

Purpose of Role

• Provide business pursuit leadership and secure funding to deliver VSO’s global products in Nigeria and support large, significant impact opportunities in the West African region from time to time. The position will focus on Nigeria, 80-90% and other countries, 10-20%.

No. of direct reports:

• No permanent reports, but manages partner relationships and proposal development processes with 8-10 senior level colleagues operating as bid team members

Role Overview

• The Business Pursuit Manager (BPM) will be a key part of the senior management team and lead on all fundraising activities.
• S/he will provide business pursuit leadership and secure funding to deliver VSO’s global products in Nigeria, delivering £5-10 million in secured funding per year.
• The BPM will also support large, significant impact opportunities in the West African region from time to time. As an expert in your field, you will be responsible for optimising income generation and business development from a range of institutional donors (e.g. EU, UN, DFID, USAID etc) in support of VSO’s programmes.

Responsibilities
Funding strategy aligned to programme priorities:

• Understand and act on donor trends in the country/region and identify new opportunities for funding for VSO’s global products;
• Contribute to a global funding strategy as required from time to time and ensure consistency coordination and coherence in funder and partnership engagement across the funding portfolio in the country/region;
• Drive VSO’s business pursuit activities including ensuring a strong opportunities pipeline and healthy portfolio of proposals and ensuring BP data is accurately reflected in our systems.

Pre-positioning, donor and partner engagement:

• Continuously build a strong brand position for VSO and our Volunteering for Development approach among donors and partners in the country and region;
• Deliver strong relationships via frequent meetings/interaction with institutional, foundation and corporate donors and partners including commercial contractors, INGOs, government regional government entities and other development actors, governments in support of joint programming and consortia opportunities;
• Prepare materials needed to facilitate donor engagement and leverage the use of VSO’s microsite for external meetings and communications;
• Provide leadership and support to advance VSO’s visibility and reputation with identified strategic partners globally (among donor communities, private sector and development networks) in support of joint-proposal opportunities at the national and regional levels.

Pre-positioning: internally:

• Work with programmatic and implementing teams to understand our strengths and align proposed solutions with funding opportunities;
• Conduct country level analysis to understand the funding environment / trends and inform the direction of programming to ensure alignment with donor priorities;
• Share analysis on funding opportunities and pipeline health (proposal tracker) with country, regional and global teams to inform planning and pre-positioning;
• Ensure accurate and timely overviews of funding priorities and pipeline analysis are shared;

Bid Development:

• Deliver confirmed funding through strategic positioning and submission of high quality, large ticket (£Ms) proposals;
• Lead development of specific proposals, coordinating with donor management, proposal development and programme teams;
• Provide leadership to country teams on bid development processes and ensure laid out procedures are followed for each proposal submitted at country level;
• Lead negotiations with partners to ensure financial and programmatic needs are met;
• Review proposals and provide assurance to ensure quality submissions;
• Write specific proposals and provide content/input when required.

Marketing:

• Liaise with marketing teams so that they support the delivery of a strong brand position for VSO and our Volunteering for Development approach in country and region;
• Ensure visibility of VSO in the region/selected countries by attending/or ensuring attendance of workshops, meetings and networking events that provide an opportunity to showcase its work, provide leadership in the volunteering for development space and build new partnerships.

Capacity building:

• Build country office capacity to network, engage and pre-position through own efforts or in collaboration with other business development team members.
• Work proactively with Country Directors and other country/regional leadership in Business Pursuit, Programmes, CPAs/Global Products and Finance to successfully grow VSO’s opportunities and programming in Nigeria and West Africa.

Business development coordination:

• Coordinate the activities and contribution of various business development teams in the region/countries including public fundraising, marketing, and donor teams.

Qualifications Required

• Educated to post-graduate degree level in International Development, Business or related discipline;
• IT skills including fluency in Microsoft Office suite and database usage;
• Experience of living and working internationally (4+ years required);
• Fluency in English (written and spoken);
• Ability to travel locally and globally.

Skills/Experience Required:

• More than 6 years managing business pursuit activities within the international development sector for an INGO or development consulting firm;
• Experience developing funding strategies and delivering £5-10 million annually;
• Proven ability to identify new funding opportunities and to make appropriate judgements about their potential to realise significant restricted income;
• Experience of establishing and cultivating strong donor relationships that have delivered substantially increased income;
• Proven track record in writing winning donor proposals for donors including DFID, USAID, EC, SIDA and UN Agencies - including proven ability to develop log frames, monitoring frameworks, and theories of change;
• Familiarity with M&E tools; theories of change, monitoring frameworks, and basic evaluation techniques;
• Strong interpersonal skills, including written, verbal and presentation skills used in international settings – experience of leading and facilitating workshops and training;
• Ability to be self-directed and take initiative within organisational mandates;
• Experience of establishing partnerships between organisations including teaming agreement and consortia bid development;
• Strong analytical and financial and skills;

Performance:

• Deliver £5-10 million in secured funding per year. Other performance metrics for this position include maintaining a healthy pipeline of opportunities, number and quality of proposals submitted, proposal conversion rates, proposal/award value, donor/partner engagement and events participation among other metrics as agreed from time to time.

Salary
Annual Salary N13,101,849.