some 60 countries. Our integrated development solutions turn ideas into impact by bringing together fresh combinations of expertise and innovation across multiple disciplines—crisis mitigation and stability operations, democratic governance and public sector management, agriculture and agribusiness, private sector development and financial services, economics and trade, HIV/AIDS and disease control, water and natural resources management, and energy and climate change. Our clients include international development agencies, international lending institutions, private corporations and philanthropies, and national governments.
Description: Enterprise Development Specialist, Monrovia Liberia
DAI leads the USAID-funded Liberia Food and Enterprise Development (FED) program, a comprehensive and market-driven effort to improve food security—in terms of food availability, utilization, and affordability—by building indigenous incentive structures that assist a range of agricultural stakeholders to adopt a commercial approach.
USAID Liberia’s programs operate within the US Foreign Assistance Framework for ‘rebuilding countries’ with the respective goal to: “Assist in the construction or reconstruction of key internal infrastructure and market mechanisms to stabilize the economy.” The Mission’s strategy focuses on ‘lifting Liberia’ to the next tier: i.e., from a rebuilding country to a developing country and beyond. As a contribution toward the achievement of this goal, the Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program will be implemented to achieve the following component objectives:
• Component 1: Increase agricultural productivity and profitability and improve human nutrition;
• Component 2: Stimulate private enterprise growth and investment; and
• Component 3: Build local technical and managerial human resources to sustain and expand accomplishments achieved under objectives one and two.
The FED program is the USAID Mission’s principal mechanism to achieve the goals of its Feed the Future 2011-2015 Multi-Year Strategy.
DAI is seeking a long-term, resident Enterprise Development Specialist to provide leadership to the design, development, and implementation of activities to strengthen businesses and improve workforce development to contribute to the FED program’s overall objectives. The Enterprise Development Specialist will lead a technical component, including managing a team of expatriate and local professional staff, contributing to monitoring and evaluation, and ensuring timely and effective implementation of activities.
Responsibilities:
– Direct FED program activities under this Component, ensuring targets are achieved;
– Collaborate with, and coordinate and contribute to other FED technical Components’ activities/targets;
– Improve access of FED partners to business development and financial services;
– Oversee the provision of sustainable enterprise services to partners throughout Liberia;
– Work to build technical and managerial human resources capacity across all the FED program activities and FED partners, especially for youth and women;
– Coordinate these activities via FED program staff in Monrovia and the County Offices;
– Contribute to data collection and reporting in coordination with the FED M&E team; and
– Other duties as assigned and agreed to with the FED Chief of Party.
Qualifications:
– At least ten (10) years of professional work experience establishing and growing agricultural or other rural small and medium-sized enterprises;
– At least five (5) years of professional work experience in developing and implementing training and capacity building programs to strengthen rural businesses;
– Demonstrated strong leadership experience in designing and implementing technical activities, including managing local staff and partners, contributing to monitoring and evaluation, and ensuring timely and effective implementation of activities
– Demonstrated experience with gender mainstreaming in agriculture projects and practical knowledge of value chain development is required;
– Experience working with low literacy and/or ultra-poor communities is highly advantageous;
– Excellent verbal and written communications skills;
– Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, agribusiness, agricultural economics, or related field is required; and
– Experience working in Africa and post-conflict countries is desirable; experience in Liberia is preferred.
The Enterprise Development Specialist position is available immediately and DAI hopes to mobilize a candidate to Liberia in May 2012.
How to apply:
Interested candidates should apply directly to: http://sj.tbe.taleo.net/SJ1/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=DAINC&cws=1&…
Closing Date: Saturday, 19 May 2012
