About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners, people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
CRS has worked in Kenya since 1965. Over the years, CRS’ focus shifted from direct relief and food distributions to a comprehensive development program that works with partners and enhances local capacity. CRS Kenya programs now support children affected by HIV, and community-based efforts to increase household incomes, improve family health and sanitation, and enhance agriculture livelihoods.
Background:**
CRS is implementing a 5 year orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program, Mwendo, which seeks to empower local and county-level OVC stakeholders to strengthen the formal and informal HIV and child protection systems and services and the linkages between them, including cross-sectoral service referrals and coordination to ensure quality service delivery for OVC and their HHs.
Job Summary:**
Reporting to the HES Advisor, the Project Officer – Household Economic Strengthening (HES) will support HES capacity strengthening by providing training, accompaniment, and technical support to LIPs focusing on implementing and managing farm enterprises, financial education, market opportunity identification/assessment, and entrepreneurship and business development services. S/he will support LIPs to liaise with relevant government ministries and programs, other technical experts and agencies, and the private sector to support household graduation and transition.
Specific Responsibilities:**
• Work closely with the Case Management and System strengthening Project Officers to adapt existing case management approaches to better support HES and develop tools and benchmarks to track household progress.
• Provide capacity strengthening to LIP staff through trainings, workshops, facilitated group interactions, as well as accompaniment through regular communication, and site visits to support the successful implementation of HES project activities across Local implementing partners.
• Support LIPs to coordinate with government officials at all levels, strengthening appropriate coordination and technical support in implementation and follow-up of HES activities.
• Ensure that HES related activities are appropriately planned and costed in the County and LIP sustainability plans.
• Build capacity of LIPs on CRS’ SMART skills to better manage enterprises and engage with established markets.
• Build capacity of LIPs and PSPs to train farmer SILC groups in 7 Steps of Marketing (market analysis, access to information and inputs, working with financial institutions, business plan development) and link them to local markets, existing associations, financial institutions, and companies working in the agriculture sector.
• Work closely with Farmer to Farmer to provide technical assistance to farmer-focused SILC and caregiver groups where appropriate.
• Coordinate with Social enterprise service providers in provision of livestock and crop products in order to encourage farm and off farm enterprises
• Support LIPs in identification of Government Procurement Opportunities for youth, women, and persons with disabilities
• Use appropriate project management tools to plan, review, and track implementing partners’ progress on HES project implementation and use of project resources.
• Develop and maintain linkages with governments, organizations, and projects that can support HES activities supported by LIPs
• Ensure high quality facilitation of training and systematic post-training supportive supervision and mentoring to LIP staff.
• Support development of scopes of work in relation to HES activities.
• Ensure a culture of accountability and learning through regular monitoring to project sites, providing oversight of studies and assessments, and proper documentation of tools and promising practices to contribute to learning and building the evidence around household graduation, transition, and economic strengthening.
• Document project results and impacts in various forms, including media stories, lessons learned, case studies, client satisfaction, etc.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning
Competencies Relevant for the Specific Position:
These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by the Project Officer – HES to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results:
• Knowledge of microfinance;
• Networking skills;
• Strong organization skills;
• Ability to work independently, think innovatively and strategically, and work effectively within a team;
• Fluency in written and spoken English;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills;
• Ability to work under pressure and deadlines.
Supervisory Responsibilities (if none, state none):
None
Key Working Relationships:**
Internal: Mwendo leadership, Mwendo program staff.
External: Private Sector Providers, Community, LIPs.
Required Qualifications and Experience:**
Education
• Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, Agricultural economics, Natural resource management, Social sciences, or a closely related field.
Knowledge
• At least a minimum 5 years’ experience in house hold economic strengthening programming.
• Experience working with small scale farmers and/or value-chain development, business development, entrepreneurship, financial services with a focus on vulnerable populations
• Demonstrated experience in community mobilization, organization, management and mediation among local actors and partner capacity building
• Demonstrated experience in training design, delivery and mentoring in subject matter relevant to this position
Skills and Abilities
• Demonstrated strengths in relationship management; able to work with diverse groups of people in multicultural, team-oriented environment
• Skilled in influencing and obtaining cooperation of individuals and managing relationships to achieve results
• Ability to support partners to ensure adherence to financial guidelines
• Self-motivated and able to work with minimal supervision
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in multi- cultural environment
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint
Required Foreign Language:**
None
Required Travel:**
Travel within Western Kenya at least 50%
Disclaimer:
This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
HOW TO APPLY:
Written applications indicating the reference number of position applied for and CV including day-time contact phone numbers, as well as names and contact information of three references should reach the below-mentioned by Close of Business Saturday, October 07, 2017.
Human Resources Manager
Catholic Relief Services – Kenya Program
E-mail : hr@ke.earo.crs.org
Note: Catholic Relief Services (CRS) does not charge any fees from applicants for any recruitment. Further, CRS has not retained any agent in connection with this recruitment
CRS’ recruitment and selection procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation