DAI is an employee-owned global development company. For 40 years, we have worked on the frontlines of international development, tackling fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governments, and instability. Currently, DAI is delivering results that matter in 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.

Job Summary

Africa Lead II Agricultural Development Young Professionals Internship Program

Africa Lead II—the Feed the Future: Building Capacity for African Agricultural Transformation Program—supports the advancement of agricultural transformation in Africa as proposed by the African Union Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). Simultaneously, Africa Lead II contributes to the Feed the Future (FTF) goals of reduced hunger and poverty by building the capacity of Champions—defined as men and women leaders in agriculture—to develop, lead, and manage the policies, structures and processes needed for the transformation process.

The scope of Africa Lead II is divided into three components, as follows:

•   Component One: Establishing and Improving Effectiveness of Institutional and Organizational Architecture for African-Led Agricultural Transformation.
•   Component Two: Strengthening Capacity to Manage and Implement the Policy Change and Alignment Process.
•   Component Three: Promoting the Effective Participation of Non-State Actors  (NSAs) in the Policy Process and Providing Capacity Strengthening Support when Necessary.

Africa Lead II’s Agriculture Internship Program aims to facilitate more efficient agricultural production, stronger agribusinesses and agricultural development institutions, a more direct link between NARS and farmers, and greater value addition in the agriculture sector across Africa. The broad goal is to support skills transfer and technological know-how that will help African agribusinesses and organizations to innovate, improve their commercial viability and catalyze agricultural transformation, thus contributing to improved food security.

The Africa Lead II Program welcomes applications from candidates interested in pursuing these young professionals development opportunities. Placement terms will be for a period of 12 months with anticipated postings  in  ECOWAS member states :Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Cape Verde.

Housing, monthly stipend, living allowances, round-trip airfare and related travel expenses to worksite  will be covered by the program. These 12 month young professionals development opportunities are not guarantees for full time employment upon successful completion of the placement.

Responsibilities

•   Provide technical assistance and support to the design and implementation of organizational related M&E activities, including performance monitoring plan development, indicator definition, data collection tools and methodologies, data entry, analysis and reporting
•   Assist in monitoring, documenting and communicating the processes, challenges, and achievements of implementation of the organization’s activities in both qualitative and quantitative dimensions
•   Ensure timely collection (e.g., surveys, interviews), storage and processing of data in electronic applications systems
•   Develop organization’s M&E application standards and procedures and tools
•   Keep stakeholders (e.g. Supervisors, Directors, Stakeholders) informed of all program results and challenges identified in the M&E process
•   Assist in developing and writing up results and success stories for organizational reports, and any marketing materials for the project
•   Assist in the dissemination of various program documents such as newsletters, success stories and other related documents to various stakeholders when required
•   Support the M&E team with entry and management of data by ensuring that data entered is accurate, timely and of the required quality
•   Provide support during assessment activities, meetings and workshops carried out by the organization in capturing key data and entering data on results of  institutional assessments and capacity building needs
•   Communicate and interpret between English and French speaking individuals as necessary with external and internal stakeholders
•   Transcribe reports, documents, forms and other technical materials between English and French as necessary
•   Suggest overall M&E system improvement tools and procedures
•   Perform other related duties as assigned

Qualification Required & Experience

•   A minimum of Bachelor’s degree in social science, agricultural science or related field
•   Strong written & verbal communication skills, demonstrated research, data collection, report writing skills
•   Creating, compiling, or presenting report skills is a plus
•   Comfort with numbers, calculations, statistics and analytical skills is a plus
•   Computer skills, comfort with the ability to develop forms as well as data entry and analysis
•   MS Office (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access) preferred
•   Attention to detail, ability to monitor own work and ability to work in a team environment
•   Ability to manage own workload, handling multiple tasks simultaneously, prioritizing and responding in a timely manner on monitoring & evaluation issues
•   English/French Bilingual required written and oral communication.

General Minimum Required Qualifications

•   Bachelor’s degree Minimum , plus 2 years of relevant administrative or technical professional experience; or  a Master’s degree preferred with 1 year of relevant administrative or technical professional experience
•   Strong organizational skills and attention to detail
•   BS/BA degree required, advance degree preferred
•   Excellent oral and written communication skills
•   Must be able to travel and be based within Regional Institution in West Africa during the entire duration of the placement (minimum 1 year assignment)

General Preferred Qualifications

•   Experience in West African regional agricultural development A plus
•   International Travel and field related experience in urban and rural African settings desirable
•   Fluency in both French and English required

Location: Accra

How To Apply For The Job

General Application requirements
All candidates must submit the following required documents:

•   Curriculum Vitae
•   1-Page Cover letter highlighting your ability to contribute your skills towards enhancing capacity of a regional organization involved in Food security. Kindly specify your strengths and weaknesses and ability to adapt to new mutli-cultural environment.
•   3 References: kindly provide 2 professional references and 1 personal reference

Please send applications to:

AfricaLEAD_Internships@dai.com

Closing Date: 05 September, 2014

Nationals of ECOWAS countries welcome to apply.