USAID/Niger Agriculture and Resilience Advisor Consultancy

About Us

We are International Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. (IBTCI), a global consulting firm working some of the most complex and impactful development problems worldwide. We work on programs that help government agencies, private companies and donors improve the lives of others. At IBTCI you will be part of an inclusive team that provides expert solutions and advice to understand and address critical problems while giving you opportunities to succeed and grow.

Assignment Title:                         USAID/Niger Agriculture & Resilience Advisor 

Department/Location:                 USAID Mission Niger 

Technical Point of Contact:          Project Manager, Institutional Support & Program Implementation (ISPI)

Type:                                             Consultant

Classification:                              Consultancy

Category:                                     Ongoing Project 

Overview:

This position will be embedded within USAID/Niger and will have USAID.gov email address. Therefore, the candidates MUST be able to obtain USAID Facilities Access Clearance.

In August 2020, USAID swore in its first Niger Mission Director in 24 years, transitioning the USAID Limited Presence Country Office to a USAID Mission. The recently approved 2022-2027 Country Development Cooperation Strategy for Niger guides USAID’s annual budget of approximately $200 million, half of which is humanitarian assistance. USAID programs focus on youth and women with activities in good governance, rule of law, countering violent extremism, conflict prevention and mitigation, health, education, water and land management, community resilience to natural disasters and man-made shocks, food security, and agriculture and economic growth.

USAID/Niger’s Office of Agriculture and Resilience manages the Mission’s activities in agriculture, food security, water security, adaptation, and resilience, as well as nutrition in collaboration with health and BHA colleagues.  Niger is a Resilience Focus Country, Feed the Future target country, and a newly designated nutrition priority country.  Niger also receives water and adaptation funding.  Current programming is guided by the regional, multi-sectoral Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced (RISE II) program, which aims to build resilience to recurrent crises. In the agriculture space, USAID is working on several fronts: increased access to finance; more economic opportunities; improved natural resources management; increased farm production; and better access to nutritious foods. In addition, USAID is working with farmer groups to improve the competitiveness and inclusiveness of three value chains: cowpeas (black-eyed peas), small ruminants (goats and sheep), and poultry. Resilience activities combine humanitarian and development assistance to implement a multi-sectoral, coordinated approach toward enhancing people’s ability to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from climate, conflict, and economic shocks and stresses. By focusing on priority geographies and enabling linkages and support to stakeholders across the country, the  activities support improved products and services offered by financial institutions, prepare smallholder producers and other stakeholders to better receive and manage financing, and work across the value chain to identify and mobilize new sources of financing for farmers.

On behalf of USAID/Niger, IBTCI seeks to engage an Agriculture and Resilience Advisor on a consulting basis to fill a staffing gap in that office and provide management advice, staff mentoring, coaching, and technical guidance to the resilience and agriculture team and portfolio within Niger Mission.

The STTA will work closely with the Mission Director or her designee, and will work in close collaboration with staff across all offices within the Mission.

Responsibilities

Roles and Responsibilities:

The STTA will serve as part of the Agriculture and Resilience team of the Mission and will provide technical expertise and oversight, strategic leadership, and personnel and activity management support/mentoring/guidance and recommendations to management regarding USAID’s resilience and agriculture programming.  The STTA will regularly interact with USAID Senior Management and Embassy leadership in Niamey and with high-level government representatives, donor community counterparts, key civil society members, and other stakeholders in Niger.

Specific Responsibilities Include:

1. Manage day-to-day work planning and coordination of staff and resilience and agriculture programs in coordination with other staff in the office.
2. Contribute to weekly and monthly reporting to Mission leadership on the part of the resilience and agriculture team.
3. Contribute to preparation of briefing materials for USAID or other USG stakeholders, as needed.
4. Contribute to proposals to apply for additional USAID resources for USAID/Niger.
5. Assist with the development of the new Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) Country Plan for Niger in collaboration with Mission colleagues, the interagency and Bureau for Resilience and Food Security
6. Advise PO, MD, and Embassy leadership as well as Washington stakeholders and host country officials on key issues, achievements, and opportunities for Mission Niger.
7. Conduct field visits inside and outside Niamey with other USAID staff focused on oversight as well as collaborating, learning and adapting. These visits may include travel to remote communities with long travel times, harsh physical conditions, and very limited services under security protocols determined by the US Embassy Regional Security Officer. At least one field visit per quarter will be required.
8. Assist with orientation and mentoring of Foreign Service National (FSN) staff
9. Represent USAID externally
10. international and Nigerien organizations
11. Contribute to USAID/Niger’s localization efforts
12. Other duties as assigned.

Specific Deliverables Include:

1. Briefing materials, proposals and other programmatic documents as assigned
2. Draft GFSS Country Plan for Niger
3. Weekly and monthly reporting to Mission leadership and RFS Country Support Team in DC

Qualifications

Qualifications:

Education: The applicant should have a Master’s Degree in economics, agricultural economics, agronomy, business administration, or a related field.

Work Experience: Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible professional or program experience in agricultural development, food security, and/or rural development programs with international donors, non-government organizations (NGOs), and/or government. Prior experience with international development agencies procedures and operations (e.g., development approaches, procedures for programming funds, defining objectives, and monitoring results, and procedures for awarding grants and contracts) is highly desired. Prior experience working for USAID and/or a USAID partner is strongly desired. Prior experience working in Sahel countries is highly prefered.

Job Knowledge required: Significant technical knowledge related to agriculture-led development, including resilient agricultural value chains development and water security, is required. Expert knowledge of best practices in agriculture development program design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and learning, including collaboration, learning and adapting strategy is necessary. Experience in climate change adaptation and mitigation preferred. Knowledge of strategies, programs, and working methodologies of other donor agencies in the livelihoods sector is desired. Knowledge of the structure and workings of the USG broadly and USAID specifically is strongly desired.

Skills and abilities required: Strong analytical, management and organizational skills are required. The position requires demonstrated ability in strategic planning, technical and socio-economic analysis, and budget preparation and reporting skills. Considerable confidentiality, sensitivity, poise and maturity are mandatory as the applicant will represent USAID in meetings with mid- to senior-level Nigerien government officials and with private sector and donor partners. The applicant should possess strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills, the ability to work within a team setting and with minimal supervision, and coordinate across sectoral teams. Strong leadership and negotiating skills are required. Demonstrated knowledge and proficiency in Microsoft Windows, Word, and Excel are required. Familiarity with Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Applications is desired.

Language proficiency: Excellent English writing and speaking ability is required. French writing and speaking ability is required. The candidate should have a demonstrated capacity to communicate complex policy, strategy, and program issues orally and in writing in a clear, concise, and well-organized manner.

Medical clearance: The incumbent must be able to acquire and maintain worldwide medical clearance from the Department of State’s Medical Bureau to qualify for the position.

This position is open to U.S. citizens.

Supervisory Responsibilities:  This position does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Travel:  International travel may be required within Niger.

About the Organization:

IBTCI has been in business since 1987. We specialize in Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL), Institutional Support (IS), Financial & Risk Management (FRM), Supply Chain Management & Procurement (SCMP); Social & Behavior Change (SBC) and Capacity Building.   We provide these services across many sectors including, but not limited to, agriculture, resilience & food security, conflict & crisis, democracy & governance, economic growth & trade, education, energy & Infrastructure, environment & climate change, global health & WASH and humanitarian and disaster assistance. At IBTCI, our colleagues are encouraged to collaborate and be part of the solution while getting the tools and guidance needed to grow and support our clients’ missions.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

IBTCI is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identification, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran, or any other classification protected by applicable anti-discrimination laws.  We prohibit and do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment.  VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

If you are an applicant with a disability that requires a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process or are limited in the ability, or unable to use the online application system and need an alternative method for applying, you may contact the Talent Acquisition team at TalentAcquisition@ibtci.com (Do not send your resume to this account, for consideration please apply in our career page).