Catholic Relief
Services
Motto – faith,
action, results
CRS was founded in
1943 by the United States of America Catholic Conference of Bishops to assist
the poor and disadvantaged, At the invitation of the Episcopal Conference of
Malawi (ECM), CRS commended its operations in Malawi in 1997 and with office in
Lilongwe and sub office in Blantyre, Main areas of focus include Food Security,
Health and nutrition, HI
V and AIDS prevention and Justice and Peace Building
Local Governance
Specialist – Country Program – Catholic Relief Services – Lilongwe
The goal of the
Strengthening agriculture and Nutrition Extension Service activity project is
to strengthen the capacity of the DAEs to facilitate coordination between
agricultural and nutrition extension actors to provide more effective
agricultural and nutrition extension services for smallholder women and men
farmers particularly in the Zol, This will require an improvement in
performance and transparency of all stakeholders, and increased
engagement/oversight for accountable service provision
Report to Chief of
Party, strengthening Agriculture and nutrition Extension Services Activity
Will be responsible
for providing technical leadership to a high quality, results oriented program
focused on improving agricultural and nutrition extension service provision,
The position will be primarily focusing upon strengthening the
Department of agriculture Extension services system (DAESS) to
promote demand driven and pluralistic agriculture and nutrition extension
services, through improved performance and transparency, increasing
engagement/oversight for accountable service provision and strengthening the
enabling for decentralisation
Is responsible for
the quality of the design and delivery of the project’s capacity development
and advocacy activities, s/he will work closely with logical govts and civil
society partners within the DAESS to strengthen community engagement with local
govt and improve participation of communities in decision making, management
and monitoring of local service delivery providers
Support the
department of agriculture and Extension Services Coordinating Committee and its
Secretary, the planning and implementation and monitoring of local govt
policies and programs, concerned with agriculture and nutrition extension
services delivery, Manage design and implementation of technical and
organisational training activities which increase the capacity of extension
providers to respond to demands from female, male and young farmers (female and
male)) Monitor grants for quality performance, Contribute to program
monitoring, evaluating and periodic reporting, Propose and oversee other
administrative and logistical aspects related to capacity development and
advocacy activities, Other duties as assigned
Masters level Degree
required in Public Policy, International development, Sociology, Political
Science, Gender and development or a relevant social science discipline
Applicant must have
a minimum of 7 yrs experience providing support to local government and to
civil society advocacy capacity building, including a minimum of 3 yrs of
demonstrated managerial and/or team leadership experience
A minimum of 5 yrs
experience providing capacity development and technical support in support of
improved local governance to other local govts or civil society organisations,
A minimum of 3 yrs experience in citizen empowerment, particularly empowerment
of rural female and male farmers and female and male youth to represent their
constituencies in stakeholders panels at the District and area levels, A minimum
of 2 yrs experience in grants management, proven experience building capacity
of formal and informal farmers associations for greater advocacy and govt
accountability, Demonstrated flexibility, adaptability and the ability to
perform and collaborate under challenging conditions, Ability to train and
develop capacity in DAES staff to remain accountable to female and male farmer
sand youth accessing agriculture and nutrition extension services, Strong
planning , community mobilisation and inter-cultural communication skills
required, Experience working on a USAID funded or other donor project
pertaining to technical and organisation capacity development, Previous
experience liaising with local and regional govts, Specific experience and
specialisation in promoting transparency and accountability of local govt
structures, including public fiancé and oversight, and private sector
engagement is strongly desired
Knowledge or
understanding of social economic, and political context governing local
governance policy issues in developing countries, Experience providing support
to strengthening institutional systems to improve transparency and
accountability, Knowledge of USAID and specific understanding of grants
management, Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills, creative problem
solving, conflict and ethical management skills, Fluency in English is
required, Excellent written and oral communication skills, Computer literate in
word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation software (Microsoft)
All applications
should include a cover letter, a detailed CV, names, active email, contact
phone numbers and addresses of at least 3 traceable refs, copies of Diplomas,
Certificates and Degrees, Applications should be submitted to The Country
Representative, Catholic Relief Services/Malawi, Manobec Complex, Plot no. 5/1,
Private Bag B-319, Lilongwe 3, Malawi email
is mw_recruitment@crs.org Deadline for all applications,
Applications should be received no later than Wednesday 30th March Please
note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for an interview, CRS
is an equal opportunity employer, Women are strongly encouraged to apply
