Vacancy: OB/OB Network Capacity Building Specialist

Job Description

A reputable local NGO operating in northern Ghana is seeking dynamic professionals to be recruited for the under-listed job vacancies within the USAID-funded Ghana Market Systems Resilience (MSR) Project in northern Ghana.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Ghana Market Systems and Resilience Activity (MSR) is a five-year USAID-funded follow-on project to USAID/Ghana ADVANCE II. MSR will leverage over a decade of experience linking smallholders to markets, inputs, and services in Ghana. The project will strengthen commercial relationships between market actors, improve the rural entrepreneurship ecosystem to enable greater market participation, particularly for women and youth, expand the availability of agribusiness services, and link targeted policy initiatives to improved local economic governance. These activities will result in competitive, stronger, and more resilient markets, thus increasing inclusive agriculture-led economic growth in northern Ghana.

• Job Title: OB/OB Network Capacity Building Specialist


• Reports to: Capacity Building Team Lead


• Location: Tamale

Summary of Responsibilities

The OB/OB Network Capacity Building Specialist (OBNCBS) is field-based position in USAID’s GFSS Zone of influence and reports to the Capacity Building Team Lead.  The OB/OB Network Capacity Building Specialist provides technical support to ensure Market Systems and Resiliency (MSR) activity participants/stakeholders/actors, especially Outgrower Business (OB) owners and Network members/executives acquire the capacity to enable them to implement business and network activities in a professional manner.

The capacity required includes, but is not limited to entrepreneurial, commercial, business, ICT4Ag, and network management skills. The OB/OB Network Capacity Building Specialist ensures that qualified women and youth are prioritized and provided opportunities to improve and/or secure employment opportunities. In addition, the OBNCBS is expected to contribute fully to the overall objectives of the Ghana USAID MSR activity, always conducting him/herself in a proper manner as a representative of the project and is responsible for the safe keeping and care of project assets assigned to his/her care. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Supports the adaptation and expansion of the Outgrower Business (OB) model to new crops and new value chain actors for greater inclusion of women, youth, and other marginalized groups. This will entail, but not limited to:

1. Detailing and developing new/specific supply chains for groundnut, cowpea, selected irrigated vegetable crops and shea. 


2. Strengthening existing supply chains for maize and soybean to ensure that SHFs are linked to OBs/farm service providers, and regularly receive optimum farm services.


3. Innovating to create women and youth specific supply chains/groups in maize, soybean, cowpea, shea and other horticulture crops and collaborating with other MSR Objective Leaders to ensure they obtain the skills and resources to thrive and function.


4. Employs the appropriate technical strategies and methodologies to training programs designed by the MSR Activity and/or consultants targeted at behavior change towards improved and regular professional practice. This includes, but not limited to:


5. Long and short-term (annual) planning geared towards growth, encompassing financial, managerial, operational, marketing, contingency, and succession. 


6. Adoption of new technologies and other innovations by value chain actors that improves productive investments, productivity, management, and produce quality, leading to increased competitiveness of firms and functioning of organizations and networks.


7. Building and sustaining business and socio-economic relationships that results in improved business and financial transactions, overall business operational efficiency and value chain and market performance. 


8. Supports the activities of the Collaborative Learning and Adaptation (CLA)/Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning department by undertaking the following (but not limited to):


9. Supporting the input, tracking and analysis of business and network records, project indicators, and other useful statistics to prepare quality and timely periodic reports. 


10. Monitoring closely and reporting the performance of their assigned actors and documents all changes (both qualitatively and quantitatively) in line with the program’s M&E framework and guidelines for tracking the transformation process and ensures that all such data and information is shared within the program.  Assists the M&E Officers and M&E Coordinator to feed data into the MIS system.


11. Participate in evaluations, selected research activities, and baseline surveys by providing the necessary program and organizational support.

Required Skills or Experience

• Degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness or Socio-Economics with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in a relevant role, with emphasis on TOT or direct training experience. A Master’s degree in any of the above fields will be an advantage.


• Strong experience in organizational capacity building and development especially related to farmer-based organizations (FBO’s), NGOs, and trade associations. 


• Strong skills in Microsoft business software (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint) and the use of smart mobile devices.


• Knowledge of gender and youth issues in agricultural markets, value chains and rural development as they apply to the agricultural sector in northern Ghana.


• Knowledge in the application of ICT for agricultural.


• Must be a team player and team builder.