About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

For nearly 60 years, CRS has taken the lead in responding to natural and man-made disasters affecting Ethiopia’s most vulnerable communities. Moving beyond emergency response, CRS’ disaster mitigation and recovery projects in drought and flood-prone areas have rebuilt individual and community assets through non-food aid in the form of agriculture, livestock, health, nutrition, and water and sanitation assistance. CRS’s humanitarian work in Ethiopia also provides livelihoods support to farmers and entrepreneurs, promotes gender equality, mobilizes for immunization and mitigates the impact of HIV.

 As part of CRS family, you will join the more than 5000 strong and vibrant individuals working globally to accomplish the mission of CRS. CRS/Ethiopia invites you, the qualified candidate, to apply for the following two different positions.

Position Title:  Technical Advisor I – Agriculture Production and Marketing

Duty Station:  Addis Ababa

Employment Term:  Indefinite Term contingent upon funding of the RFSA program

Reports to:  Economic Livelihoods Program Manager

Job Summary:

You will provide technical advice and support to a range of program implementation issues in the area of agriculture and marketing in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor and Government of Ethiopia guidelines, and industry best practices to CRS’ Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) program teams. The overarching goal of this multi-sectoral program (RFSA) is improved food security of vulnerable households in targeted Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) communities, contributing to a sustained reduction in rural poverty in Oromia. Your advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ agriculture and marketing programming is across the RFSA in Ethiopia and also across CRS’ programming globally.

Job Responsibilities:

·       Support the development and contribute to the implementation of RFSA strategies, standards, tools and best practices in agriculture production and marketing that effectively engage partners, donor, and Government of Ethiopia.

·       Work with the RFSA Economic Livelihoods Manager and field-based Agriculture Production and Marketing Officers in preparing RFSA work plans with clear objectives and achievable benchmarks, reflecting strategic long-term and short-term priorities.

·       Provide technical solutions to RFSA teams (including partners), remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.

·       Provide technical support for the establishment and functionality of Livelihoods Groups’ livelihoods pathway selection, the Lead Farmers/Lead Herders extension approach implementation/guide, Producers Marketing Group (PMG) formation and ensure market linkages for products. Work with the RFSA Access to Finance team to ensure value chain financing for PMGs and support business plan development.

·       Advise RFSA Livelihoods/Agriculture/Marketing teams on integrating donor and Government of Ethiopia livelihoods (agriculture and marketing) strategies, priorities and technical requirements into CRS’ RFSA program approach.

·       Support capacity strengthening initiatives in agriculture production and marketing programming for staff and partner through development of learning and training strategies and agendas/curricula, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching. Conduct market assessments for crop, agro dealers and market barrier analyses. Oversee development of training curricula on crop production and management techniques, crop business and marketing skills.

·       Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the agriculture production and marketing learning agenda.

·       Ensure that activities have a strong private sector orientation so that all income generation activities chains make progress towards becoming market-oriented and financially sustainable.

·       Contribute to maintaining relationships with the donor, Government of Ethiopia, peer organizations, research and other institutions, participate in forums in the area of agriculture production and marketing to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Scope: Supervise two Agriculture Production and Market Project Officers, based in Dire Dawa

 Job Requirements

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

Education and Experience

·       Master’s Degree in Agriculture/Crop Production, or Agronomy Agriculture Economic or Value Chain Management.

·       Minimum of seven years of relevant work experience in Agriculture Production and/or Marketing with progressive responsibilities.

·       Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in agriculture production and marketing. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.

·       Experience in project design and proposal development. Experience in writing content for proposals.

·       Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.

·       Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.

·       Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.

·       Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Personal Skills

·       Strong relationship management skills with ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings

·       Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment

·       Good technical writing skills

·       Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills

·       Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language

·       Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Afaan Oromo

·       Written and verbal communication skills in Amharic a plus

Travel Required: Field travel to and within East Hararghe

 Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

·       Strategic Mindset

·       Integrity

·       Accountability & Stewardship

·       Builds Relationships

·       Develops Talent

·       Continuous Improvement & Innovation