Chief of Party, Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity in Tajikistan

Job Description

POSITION TITLE: Chief of Party, Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity in Tajikistan

LOCATION: Dushanbe, Tajikistan

UNIT: Agriculture and Enterprise

REPORTS TO: Director, Enterprise and Agriculture

BACKGROUND:

Funded by USAID, the Agribusiness Competitiveness Activity in Tajikistan (ACAT) will increase the competitiveness, inclusiveness and resilience of the country’s market systems. Winrock International (Winrock), together with subcontractor Making Cents International (MCI), implements ACAT using a market-driven, private sector-led approach to stimulate economic growth, increase employment, and improve livelihoods, by enhancing the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the dairy and horticulture sectors, primarily in the Khatlon region. Opportunities for MSME expansion and diversification include leveraging Khatlon’s off-season production capacity, attaining price premiums for improved quality and value additions, and improving dairy productivity and aggregation of milk to enhances food safety.

ACAT has three objectives:

• Objective 1: Diversify the agricultural sector to include higher-value commodities and value-added products
• Objective 2: Strengthen linkages between aggregators, wholesalers, exporters, and international and domestic end-markets
• Objective 3: Partner and leverage resources to catalyze systemic change in the agribusiness sector

Winrock is seeking Chief of Party candidates for the ACAT project, which runs through June 2023. The Chief of Party will design and provided technical leadership to activities that will support agribusinesses in accessing and competing in the domestic, regional, and international markets. Through its market-driven interventions, ACAT incentivizes investment in business service provision and market infrastructure.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provide overall technical leadership to achieve the results of the project, including maintaining a collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) agenda to improve project performance.
• Oversee and be responsible for financial and administrative aspects of the project including managing the budget.
• Provide supervision, support, and direction to long- and short-term staff.
• Administer the project’s financial oversight and procedures, ensuring compliance with established Winrock accounting principles and USAID regulations.
• Manage subawards with international and local service providers, ensure all deliverables are provided.
• Monitor program indicators, evaluate program results, and make recommendations for improvement in program implementation.
• Analyze project impact and challenges to adaptively manage the project to meet or exceed results.
• Lead annual work plans and progress reports, and monitor the implementation of these plans. Ensure all deliverables are submitted to USAID are of high quality and on time.
• Establish contacts with partners and clients, including the private sector to ensure coordinated implementation of project activities and represent the Winrock Team at key meetings.
• Work and coordinate with government officials at the Ministry level and with oblast regional authorities to ensure collaboration with government activities.
• Represent Winrock and interact directly and on a regular basis with USAID and other stakeholders.
• Participate in regular field visits to the project areas to assure project progress towards activity objectives and goals.
• Coordinate and communicate on a regular basis with Winrock’s Home Office.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES: Represent Winrock at meetings and events as required and keep HQ informed regarding new opportunities in the country and region.

QUALIFICATIONS AND BACKGROUND:

Education:

• Master’s degree in business, horticulture, agribusiness, or related field

Work Experience:

• At least ten years of relevant experience working on agriculture, competitiveness and/or trade projects of similar size and scope, preferably in Central Asia including proven expertise in agribusiness competitiveness including product development, marketing, financing, partnerships, investment promotion, and trade facilitation.
• Experience as a Chief of Party or significant management responsibilities on a contract of comparable complexity; including experience managing project budgets of over $15M.
• Ten years or more of progressively responsible supervisory work experience including direct supervision of professional and support staff and assembling teams working on multi-faceted international development projects.
• Established record of achieving development impact in similar projects focusing on horticulture/dairy and market systems development.
• Must have experience with networking and cooperating with other USAID and donor-funded projects and high-level government officials.
• Proven ability to work with local and international private sector networks to develop effective market systems.
• Extensive experience in former Soviet countries desired.

Skills:

• Capacity to strengthen value chains and agriculture market systems in developing economies, including the understanding of strengthening stakeholder’s roles such as logistic services, market integration, association, and cooperative development.
• Ability to perform at a high level and apply diplomacy skills with a wide range of stakeholders (i.e., national, provincial, district and local government officials, private sector, NGOs, and FTF beneficiaries).
• Strong leadership, management, administrative, management, presentation, reporting, organizational, and communication skills are required.
• Excellent computer skills (word-processing, spreadsheets, and databases) are required.
• Must have the ability to build coalitions and networks that can provide synergies and sustainable solutions to food security issues.

Other:

• Women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.
• Fluency in English and strong written English is required.
• Russian, Tajik, and/or Uzbek languages desired.
• Ability to travel to and/or work in Tajikistan in spite of COVID-19 related restrictions.
• Preferred candidates will have experience integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment issues within agriculture value chain development activities.