Job details

Description

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of TechnoServe’s work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of businesses and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.

The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics, and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. Without resources to combat threats like volatile weather patterns, worsening natural disasters, and crop and livestock diseases, these small-scale producers face lower incomes and higher risks as they struggle to earn a good living.

TechnoServe is meeting this challenge with a bold commitment to help create a people-, nature-, and climate-positive world. Our Regenerate 30 initiative launched at COP27 aims to achieve the following impact by 2030: 30 million people with increased resilience, 30 million tons of CO2e mitigated or sequestered, 30 million acres of land under sustainable management or improved conservation and $300 million in private sector investment. The initiative will drive over $1 billion in financial benefits for smallholder farmers and businesses. Innovating with corporate partners to transform their global supply chains across their entire sourcing footprint while they work towards achieving net zero commitments is critical to achieving our Regenerate 30 vision. 

Program Overview:                     

The program donor has made a corporate commitment of protecting and regenerating 1.5 million hectares of land, forests, and oceans by 2030 and has partnered with TechnoServe to deploy the Regenerative Agriculture Program, inspiring and supporting farmers and agribusinesses to engage in the journey towards regenerative production systems.

This global program, funded through 2027, is an opportunity to collaborate with a leading company to demonstrate there is a future for a better, low-carbon, biodiverse, and profitable approach to farming. The program will collaborate with the donor’s suppliers across countries and various food ingredients and will make meaningful contributions to TechnoServe’s Regenerate 30 impact goals. This will require us to collaborate with the leading regenerative experts and practitioners in farming communities worldwide to support them in driving bottom-up change based on the local context. The program has a global scope and creates a unique opportunity to compare new regenerative farming practices and share insights and lessons across contexts.

Job Summary: 

TechnoServe seeks a Senior Specialist to lead our partnership with the donor to drive the transition towards regenerative farming models across countries and commodities in their sourcing footprint. The Senior Specialist will support the program's implementation, ensuring the achievement of impact goals and alignment with donor global priorities, suppliers, and the business case.

The Senior Specialist leads the management of administrative and financial processes and activities to support the program's operation and donor requirements; and coordinates and collaborates with the corresponding actors to conduct the processes under their responsibility. 

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Program Management and Reporting
• Coordinates the planning, implementation, and monitoring of regenerative agriculture projects across multiple countries and crops.
• Develops project plans and timelines and oversees project execution to achieve program objectives.
• Prepares regular technical (MRV, workplan) and financial reports for internal and external stakeholders, including liaising with country controllers to develop donor-facing reports.
• Communicates program achievements, challenges, and lessons learned to inform decision-making and improve program performance.
• Documents best practices, success stories, and lessons learned from program implementation.
• Share knowledge and insights with internal teams and external partners to facilitate learning and replication of successful interventions.
• Responds to requests related to the Regenerative Agriculture Program from HQ and other teams.
• Program Implementation
• Leads and facilitates meetings and workshops, including internal program implementation meetings, weekly team calls with supplier partners and project update meetings with client stakeholders.
• Conduct specific Technical Assistance activities directly (e.g., provide suppliers/farms with commercial business model expertise).
• Leads knowledge-building and sharing.
• Financial Management
• Supports the Program Director in developing annual bottom-up budgets that align strategically with work plans, targets, and deliverables and regularly conducts review meetings to ensure expenditures are maintained on budget.
• Manages financial projections and expenditure tracking in coordination with the Partner suppliers.
• Manages payment flows to suppliers & farms based on the achievement of deliverables at agreed-upon milestones.
• Ensures invoices are submitted accurately and on time and track disbursements as approved.
• Leads budget realignment and contract modification processes, as needed.
• Liaises with the finance, grants, and contracts departments at HQ and in-country offices to improve financial systems and ensure full compliance with donor reporting requirements.
• Contract Management
• Supports recruitment and contracting of consultants and experts as needed.
• Manages contracts, sub-awards, procurement, and payment processes in compliance with organizational policies and donor requirements.
• Ensures timely execution of agreements and monitors consultants and subcontractors' performance to deliver quality outcomes.
• Other duties, as assigned.

Basic Qualifications: 

• A bachelor’s degree in agriculture, development, economics, business administration, or other relevant subjects and at least five years of related professional experience are required, OR a master’s degree plus three years of experience.
• Strong project management skills, including anticipating demand and managing multiple tasks and projects while meeting tight deadlines.
• Strong budget management and financial analysis skills, including proficiency in Excel.

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Previous experience in the agriculture sector/business.
• Experience in contract management, procurement, and compliance with donor regulations and requirements.
• Experience working in cross-functional and multicultural teams across various geographic regions.
• Previous experience backstopping EU, USDA, and/or USAID-funded projects is a plus.
• Knowledge of regenerative agriculture principles and practices is highly desirable.

Required Languages: Fluency in Spanish and English languages. Portuguese is a plus.

Travel: International travel up to 30%.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to work independently and remotely and effectively manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship.
• Outstanding written communication skills, including prior experience writing and editing donor-facing deliverables.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and passion for identifying gaps and proposing solutions for continuous improvement.
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational skills.
• Proven team player with strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills.

This is a remote opportunity with a preference for candidates located in the Latin America/Caribbean Region. Candidates must have work eligibility from the country from which they apply. Application materials must be submitted in English for further consideration.

#LI-Remote

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability, and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.

If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources at recruitment@tns.org or call +1 202 785 4515.

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