Winrock International is a non-profit organization that works with people around the world to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment. Winrock International is currently recruiting for the position of full-time Nutrition Specialist in its Tamale office to support the five-year, USAID-funded Feed the Future Ghana Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Project (USAID AgNRM).

AgNRM seeks to provide a scalable, integrated landscapes approach to support sustainable economic development and rural livelihoods, improve nutritional outcomes, expand climate change related risk management options, and strengthen northern Ghana’s natural resource base. As part of this, AgNRM is supporting community-based natural resource management in the Black Volta Basin and in the Western and Eastern Biodiversity Corridors.

The project activities are being implemented within the Forestry Commission’s Community Resource Management Area (CREMA) framework under four project outcomes: 1) Increased Incomes from Natural Resource Products; 2) Improved Food and Nutritional Security; 3) Increased Farmer and Community Security/Access to Land and Natural Resources; and 4) Strengthened Environmental Stewardship.

Winrock International is seeking applicants for the position of Value Chain Expert as part of USAID-funded Feed the Future Ghana Agriculture and Natural Resources Management project.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

• LOCATION: Tamale, Ghana
• POSITION TITLE: Value Chain Expert
• STATUS: Full time
• REPORTS TO: Chief of Party

POSITION SUMMARY

The Value Chain Expert will play a leadership role on the USAID-funded Feed the Future Agriculture and Natural Resource Management project in Ghana. This project is a five-year program focused eight landscapes in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana. The project will improve incomes and nutrition while holistically addressing the related challenges of the environment, agriculture, governance, and NRM.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• Under the supervision of the Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party, lead value chain activities focused on tree crop products in eight targeted landscapes in northern Ghana and coordinate these activities with other project activities;
• Increase income from natural resource products (NRPs) through increased understanding of the income generation potential of tamarind, dawadawa, and moringa;
• Oversee efforts to ensure that the quality of shea and moringa products are improved and meet international standards;
• Provide strategic direction and management of value chain activities that increase revenue received by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from aggregated, processed, and sold NRPs;
• Ensure value chain activities are well-designed by taking an active role in work planning, task management, and the implementation of the same;
• Play a lead role in coordinating AgNRM activities with identified local groups, communities, government, and private sector partners on value chain development;
• Ensure effective linkages and integration of activities with the other AgNRM components, including agriculture, value chain activities, natural resource management and improving CREMA governance capacities.
• Manage a field team of five to ten staff to successfully implement all value chain activities;
• Supervise site-level implementation of value chain activities, which will require local travel;
• Provide writing and data inputs for project reports on a regular basis;
• Anticipate challenges in project implementation, identify solutions, and communicate and resolve those challenges with the team, keeping senior management informed;
• Other duties as assigned.

SALARY & BENEFITS

• The annual salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.
• Excellent benefits include life, disability, and medical insurance, retirement, and other normal Winrock benefits.

Qualification Required & Experience

Education

• Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business or related fields.

Work Experience

• Minimum seven years professional experience with value chain approaches in the agricultural and natural resources sectors, including fostering vertical and horizontal relationships in the industry to increase quality of services and products, especially for smallholder farmers, and promote competitiveness of the industry.
• Experience in working closely with producers, traders, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers.
• Experience facilitating relationships between private sector and government.

Skills

• Strong skills in strategic planning, technical knowledge and market analysis of tree crop value chains in northern Ghana.
• Ability to work well within a team and take responsibility to deliver results. Excel at fostering private sector partnerships to strengthen local and global value chains for rural communities.

Other

• Fluency in English and strong written English is required. Willingness to relocate to Tamale, Ghana.

Location: Tamale

How To Apply For The Job

All interested candidates shall submit their applications (maximum 5 pages including resume, two references and one-page cover letter) in English to:

Ghana.Recruitment@winrock.org indicating “Value Chain Expert” in the subject line.

Closing Date: 16 March, 2018

Qualified applicants will be invited for an in-person interview.

Winrock would like to graciously thank all applicants for their interest but only candidates who meet all requisite criteria and are short listed will be contacted. EEOE/AA.