Cooperative Strengthening and Marketing Officer

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WFP encourages female candidates and people with disabilities to apply. WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis. We are committed to promoting diversity and the principle of equal employment opportunity for all our employees and encourages qualified candidates to apply irrespective of religion or belief, ethnic or social background, gender, gender identity and disability.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Job Title: Cooperative Strengthening and Marketing Officer Grade: SC8 Type of contract: Service contract Duration: One year Duty Station: BRECSA PMU, Samtenling, Sarpang Vacancy Number: 829820 Date of Publication: 10 October 2023 Deadline of Application: 05 Nov 2023 at 23:59 Bhutan time

This vacancy announcement is for Nationals from Bhutan only.

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been in Bhutan since 1974. After almost 50 years of support to school meals in Bhutan, WFP, through the country strategic plan (2024–2028), will strengthen and support government efforts to deliver equitable and inclusive economic growth and support human capital development. Key contributions will include expanding investments and capacities in resilient food systems, integrating food security and nutrition considerations into social protection, and strengthening systems for emergency preparedness and response. All WFP activities will continue to operate with and through WFP’s partnerships with the Government. A prominent feature of the country strategic plan will be to expand WFP’s capacity strengthening of government institutions and engagement of private sector partners while adopting a sharper gender focus.

The WFP is partnering with IFAD and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MOAL) in implementing the Building Resilient Commercial Smallholder Agriculture (BRECSA) Project. The project is supported by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and IFAD and aims to to catalyze a 30% increase in resilient commercial agricultural production and improve food and nutrition security in 4 target Districts if Bhutan (Trongsa, Tsirang, Sarpang and Zhemgang) by 2030. The objective is to transform smallholder agriculture into inclusive and resilient agri-food systems that are increasingly profitable and food and nutrition secure. BRECSA targets subsistence, semi-commercial and commercial farmer households. The total direct beneficiaries of BRECSA interventions are 12,074 farmer households (47,088 beneficiaries), out of which 60% will be women and 30% youth.

The purpose of the assignment is to build the skills of women, men and youth farmer groups and cooperatives and provide them with access to assets for diversification and commercialization of farm systems and products, including off-farm businesses. Capacity of government officials (DAMC/ RAMCO, districts, geogs) will also be strengthened in areas of cooperative development and farm business management.

WFP seeks a suitable national cooperative strengthening and marketing officer for a period of 12 months. The project document and annual work plan and budget will guide the main areas of work and activities.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive)

Under the supervision of WFP Programme Manager. The candidate will carry out following responsibilities:

a) Support WFP project coordinator in drafting WFP TA Annual Workplan and Budget (AWPB) and support PMU on the effective implementation and monitoring of the project activities. b) Provide project management support to WFP TA coordinator and staffs of project management unit, while ensuring a coordinated approach with wider programmes that complies with WFP standards and procedures. c) Follow data gathering and monitoring systems ensuring that rigorous quality standards are maintained.

OTHER SPECIFIC JOB REQUIREMENTS (details to be determined by Post Managers):

a) Lead the formation of National and Dzongkhag level multi stakeholder platforms (MSPs) b) Coordinate the meeting of the national level and dzongkhag level MSPs to identify and address priority bottlenecks and actions identified by the participating actors. c) Preparation of Strategic Investment Plan for value chain commodities identified by the project. d) Coordinate and support activities related to women and youth smallholder farmers and agri-processors. e) Review and revise farmer to business marketing strategy including cooperative training modules to make it appropriate and applicable for use by farmer groups and cooperatives. f) Build capacity of government officers (DAMC/RAMCO, district, geogs) in group mobilization, strengthening and cooperative business planning. g) Build capacity of government officers (DAMC/ RAMCO, district, geogs) in providing market-based and tailored services to farmers. h) Facilitate effective market linkages between farmer groups and local market actors, leading to scaling opportunities for business products and services. i) Lead activity on aggregation or federation of farmer groups/ cooperatives for scale and commercial viability. j) Strengthen business-oriented cooperatives through coaching and mentoring on their group management skills, leadership, group cohesion, business planning, decision making, and marketing.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Master’s or bachelor’s degree in the field of agriculture, Life Sciences, BBA, development studies, social studies or related field.

Experience: • At least 1 year of professional experience (for master’s degree) and 3 years for bachelor’s degree in strengthening cooperative and marketing and/ or implementing or supervising agriculture marketing and marketing projects.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Experience in working with farmer groups and cooperatives and rural based enterprises. • Good knowledge and skills in providing capacity-strengthening services. • Skills in capacity strengthening of farmer groups and cooperatives in agriculture marketing and rural business development. • Experience working in collaboration with a diverse array of development stakeholders, including government, UN, development partners, civil society, etc. • Good communication skills including report writing. • Experience in coordinating the work of others and self and training and supporting others. • Ability to maintain confidentiality.

Languages: Fluency in both oral and written communication in English (Level C) and Dzongkha

HOW TO APPLY

To be considered, interested candidates are invited to apply via (https://www.wfp.org/careers/job-openings). Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

WFP will not request payment at any stage of the recruitment process including at the offer stage. Any requests for payment should be refused and reported to local law enforcement authorities for appropriate action.

Request for Disability related Reasonable Accommodations: It is important to WFP to create an accessible and inclusive workplace for everyone. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the selection and hiring process, please direct your request and inquiries to the Diversity and Inclusion team on: [email protected] or [email protected] . A member of the reasonable accommodation team will contact you to confidentially discuss your needs.

This email is only to be used for any disability related accessibility requirements, and not for sending the application itself. Due to volume of applications, any applications or CVs sent through this email address will not be considered as a formal application and will not receive a reply from WFP.

ABOUT WFP

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. The mission of WFP is to help the world achieve Zero Hunger in our lifetimes. Every day, WFP works worldwide to ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly women and children, can access the nutritious food they need.

WFP is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce. WFP has zero tolerance for ****sexual**** ****exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including**** sexual harassment, abuse of authority or discrimination. All selected candidates will, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

No appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.