FROM: Clemencia Acacha, Supervisory Executive Specialist

TO: All qualified Applicants

FROM: Clemencia Acacha, Supervisory Executive Specialist

Subject: Job Opportunity Announcement Solicitation #: 680-15-005

Date: February 27, 2015

USAID is accepting applications for the following local-hire position

POSITION TITLE: USAID Project Management Specialist (Agriculture and Economic Growth)

NUMBER OF POSITIONS: One (1)

GRADE: FSN 11 (FCFA 18,472,540 to FCFA 32,899,204)

FSN 10 (trainee level FCFA 14,836,154 to FCFA 26,171,884)

OPENING DATE: March 2, 2015

CLOSING DATE: March 20, 2015 at 12:00 p.m Cotonou time

WORK HOURS: Full-time: 40 hours/week

Applicant must be a Foreign Service National or ECOWAS Cooperating Country National (CCN).

Definitions:

Foreign Service National Personal Services Contractor (FSNPSC) employee is a non-U.S. citizen employee hired by a USAID Mission abroad, whether full or part-time, intermittent, or temporary, and inclusive of a Third Country National (TCN) who is paid under the local compensation plan (LCP), and who entered in a contract pursuant to the AIDAR, Appendix J.

Cooperating Country National (CCN) is an individual/employee who is a Cooperating Country citizen or a non-Cooperating Country citizen lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the Cooperating Country.

USAID/BENIN is an equal opportunity organization. We encourage full participation of all qualified and interested persons. Persons with disabilities will be assisted and receive reasonable accommodation.

USAID/Benin anticipates awarding one Foreign Service National contract (FSNPSC) as a result of this solicitation, subject to availability of funds. USAID/Benin reserves the right not to award a contract as a result of this solicitation. This solicitation does not represent a commitment on behalf of USAID. The US Government is not obligated to make an award or to pay any costs associated with the preparation and submission of an application in response to this solicitation.

I.  BASIC FUNCTION OF POSITION:

The FSN Project Management Specialist position is located in the USAID/Benin Security, Equity and Prosperity Team (SEP). The office’s objective is to promote a more secure, equitable, and prosperous Benin. The team’s strategy focused on the following areas: 1- Security: by educating communities in disaster preparedness to mitigate the effects of floods so that they can protect their communities. 2- Equity: by supporting greater participation in decision-making at all levels by women and other disadvantaged groups and by increasing the rights and resources available to such groups. 3- Prosperity: by engaging in all the activities above because once security and equity are ensured economic gains will likely follow.

The incumbent will also serve as the major point of coordination/communication for USAID/West Africa activities including, but not limited to the regional Cotton Partnership Program (C4CP), the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF), the Trade Hub and Partners Network, the Transportation Corridor and/or other initiatives. S/he will participate in and report on Regional Fora for Agriculture and Grow Africa, USDA and liaise with the US Embassy. He she may be called upon to act as the Mission’s activity manager for one or more USAID/West Africa programs in Benin under the Feed the Future, Power Africa, Water and Sanitation Activities, Trade Hub, or Cotton–4 initiatives or other agriculture, trade, energy, and environment programs.

II.  MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The primary purpose of this position is to serve as the Project Management Specialist for USAID/Benin’s programs, especially the agriculture and economic growth programs. He/she shall report directly to the SEP team leader. The Project Management Specialist is responsible for managing the implementation of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Benin. These activities include: 1.) Establish private sector partners through a Global Development Alliance, to strengthen one or two key value chains; 2.) Strengthen the private sector’s ability to advocate for needed policy reforms; 3.) Foster increased collaboration amongst private sector actors; 4.) Strengthen the National Council for Food and Nutrition’s (CAN) ability to fulfill its coordination mandate; 5.) Assist Benin’s “Agence de Promotion de l’Investissement et des Exportations (APIEX)”, the investment promotion agency, to address the real needs articulated by the private sector; 6.) Work to address bottlenecks within the Benin-Nigeria trade corridor. The incumbent is responsible for supervising and coordinating these program activities—in close collaboration with USAID/Washington’s Bureau for Food Security and with USAID/West Africa.

In the capacity of Project Management Specialist, s/he is responsible for the following:

1.  Activity Management (65%)

a.  Manage USAID/Benin’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition activities. Regularly convene with New Alliance Letter of Intent (LOI) companies to foster collaboration across companies, to build their capacity to advocate for policy reform, to solicit feedback on the pace and the nature of policy reforms and on obstacles to investment.

b.  Regularly liaise with and collaborate with Grow Africa to ensure that efforts to help catalyze sustainable investment and growth in Benin’s agriculture sector are closely coordinated with USAID activities.

c.  Support the USAID/Washington’s Investment Support Program to help integrate the group of LOI companies into CIPB as a sub-agribusiness chapter of the association.

d.  Regularly meet with CAN leadership to keep track of progress made against GoB New Alliance commitments as well as other necessary reforms to support food security and the growth of Benin’s agriculture sector. Meet with relevant Ministries to tack progress against the policy matrix in the cooperation framework as needed.

e.  Regularly meet with APIEX to keep track of activities to promote investment and to build the capacity of this agency to address the real needs of the private sector, articulated through the Grow Africa Platform and through regular meetings with USAID.

f.  Keep track of Benin’s trade obstacles and meet regularly with private sector, government, and donor actors to remove bottlenecks and to facilitate access to trade.

g.  Provide advice and assist local partners on developing programs for agriculture and rural development related activities. In this context, liaise with other mission staff and partners to ensure USAID agriculture activities in Benin and implementing mechanisms used by local partners are realistic and follow the mission regulations.

h.  Act as an Activity Manager, Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR) or Contract Officer’s Representative (COR) for Benin’s Global Development Alliance (GDAs) and capacity building activities, and for selected agriculture, trade, energy, or environment activities implemented by USAID/West Africa in Benin if so designated.

i.  Oversee all resources and implementation documentation required, including all scopes of work, for the technical assistance contracts and grants which will implement the range of programs and activities related to the agricultural production and water management sectors. Take the lead in developing technical assistance work plans in collaboration with GoB counterparts and negotiate the content of the work plans with senior representatives of the technical assistance teams and grantees. S/he provides technical and financial monitoring of all activities.

j.  Ensure activity implementation achieves planned results, document developmental impacts and resolve any implementation issues in an efficient and professional manner.

k.  Perform Monitoring & Evaluation function: The incumbent will be responsible for performance monitoring, and regular evaluations of USAID-managed activities. This includes: review of quarterly and annual program and financial reports from program partners; review the reports paying particular attention to the data pertaining to:

·  Activity performance indicators as identified within the Performance Management Plan (PMP) and Operational Plan;

·  Program objectives achievement, methodology and lessons learned, paying particular attention to inputs, output and expected outcomes including economic, social, cultural, and technical factors; and

·  Financial indicators (e.g., expenditures, burn rate/pipeline analysis and congruity of expenditures against activities) and the need for incremental funding.

2.  Mission Technical Advisory and Contact 35%

a.  The incumbent serves as the lead analyst and negotiator for USAID/Benin economic growth programs. S/he maintains extensive contacts with senior GoB policy makers and is the USAID representative and chief spokesman at policy Forums. S/he conducts various policy studies and analyses and identifies key policy issues impeding effective implementation of the USAID programs.

b.  Researches and develops thorough analyses of opportunities and constraints to improve agriculture, trade and environment. Closely follows current political, social and economic trends in Benin and provides analysis on how these trends affect the development and implementation of the Mission’s agriculture programs. Gathers both published and raw data on agriculture from a wide variety of sources both nationally and internationally. Maintains up to date, accurate information on trends, opportunities, international businesses active in the agriculture sectors in Benin, and key international and regional players in the sectors. This includes preparing analytical reports on agricultural trends.

c.  Participates actively in the mission agriculture program designs, including the design for activities related to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. In this capacity, s/he interacts directly with USAID Washington and USAID/West Africa to identify and program technical assistance resources to assist the mission. Participates in the USG procurement process, including program advocacy, design, communication with USAID and USG stakeholders, to gather consensus and develop alliances in effective foreign assistance programming.

d.  Provides expert advice to USAID, GoB and local official entities on best agriculture, trade, and environmental practices, policies, and related international agreements or conventions. Provides analysis and proposes policy reforms to the mission and partners including effective means to promote policy changes.

e.  Maintains active dialogue with other donor programs, local organizations, and various GoB offices, building contacts to facilitate dissemination of information and coordination of activities.

f.  Facilitates public/private partnerships and/or global development alliances.

3.  Other Tasks as Assigned

Perform other tasks assigned as needed

III. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

a.  Education:

Masters Degree is required. It may be in economics, agricultural economics, or a related field of the social sciences and agriculture such as rural sociology, rural development, agronomy, natural resources management, etc.

b.  Prior Work Experience:

At least 5 years of prior work experience in the management and implementation of development projects is required. Extensive knowledge of Benin's agricultural sector and natural resource base and related conditions is needed. Experience working with local communities and farmer’s associations, development organizations, information dissemination and communication of agriculture issues is desirable.

c.  Post Entry Training:

Programming Foreign Assistance, COR/AOR training, Financial Management Overview as well as any relevant training available.

d.  Language Proficiency:

Advanced professional fluency in English and French is required (Level 4). This includes ability to use the languages fluently and accurately on all levels normally pertinent to professional needs with a high degree of effectiveness, reliability, precision for all representational purposes. This means that s/he can understand and participate in conversations within the range of his/her own personal or professional experience with a high degree of fluency and precision of vocabulary; can respond appropriately with rare errors of pronunciation and grammar; can write with sufficient skill for professional purposes to produce documents which do not require extensive editing.

e.  Job Knowledge:

·  A thorough knowledge of the principles, concepts, techniques, and procedures of program management, evaluation, reporting and budgeting is a minimum requirement. Thorough knowledge of development theory, programming in agriculture programming is required.

·  Comprehensive knowledge of agriculture programs and policies, agricultural trade and food policies, land tenure and macro-economic, legal and policy framework of the GoB, specifically as it is related to agricultural development is a must.

·  Incumbent should demonstrate a broad knowledge of current political, social, economic and strategic factors in Benin and an excellent understanding of the complexity of Beninese organizational structure, bureaucracy and the reform processes which are on-going.

·  Relevant knowledge of USAID rules and regulations is highly preferred.

f.  Skills and Abilities:

Analytical and Writing Skills

·  Capacity for critical analysis of current agriculture issues and initiative in carrying out assigned tasks and strong interpersonal qualities are essential. Originality of ideas and creative thinking highly desired.

·  Plans, organizes, and executes complex activities. Incumbent should demonstrate the ability to obtain, evaluate and interpret data, and to prepare precise, accurate and complete reports, including program budget documentation. S/he should be able to conceptualize and design activities by creating concept notes and filling in proposal applications.

·  S/He will manage and evaluate activities providing extensive and accurate reporting to ensure proper documentation and records are kept. S/He will prepare internal reporting documentation, establishes and maintains professional and effective contacts with GoB counterparts, other donor technical staff and implementing partners.

·  S/He is primarily responsible for developing actions to address weaknesses arising through activity implementation.

Interpersonal Skills

Strong interpersonal skills are required. This includes the ability to communicate effectively with a broad range of individuals and organizations, including mid-level to senior officials of the host government, the private sector, donors, and other implementing partners.

Computer Skills

The ability to operate efficiently through the use of word processors, office information systems and personal computers is a minimum requirement.

IV. POSITION ELEMENTS

a.  Supervision Received:

The incumbent will work under the direction of the SEP team leader and will report from time to time to the Chief of the Office of Trade and Investment and to the Regional Economic Growth and Resilience Office Director in USAID/West Africa. Performance will be evaluated on the basis of the ability to get results on SEP’s agriculture, trade, energy, or environment portfolio and selected agriculture, trade, energy, or environment activities implemented by USAID/West Africa in Benin, and to leverage other resources. The incumbent is also evaluated for his/her understanding and ability to apply a highly technical body of knowledge, including applicable US Government laws, USAID policies and Mission procedures, his/her judgment, quality of written and oral communication, and interpersonal skills.

b.  Supervision Exercised:

The incumbent does not supervise staff.

c.  Available Guidelines:

1.  Employee implements activities in accordance with applicable ADS regulations and Mission guidelines which includes Mission Orders. Employee develops working knowledge of Mission and USAID Operating policies, Project documents.