South Sudan: Technical Officer (Rural Finance)

Job Title:

Technical Officer (Rural Finance)

Division/Department:

FAO Representation South Sudan (FRSSD)

Programme/Project Number:

GCP /SSD/009/EC

Location:

Wau, South Sudan

Expected Start Date of Assignment:

ASAP

Duration:

11 months with possible extension

General Description of task(s) and objectives to be achieved

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The FAO Representation Office in South Sudan (FRSSD) is responsible for leading FAO’s response to country priorities for food security, agriculture and rural development through the identification, planning and implementation of FAO’s priority activities in the country. FRSSD has provided support to emergency agriculture programmes to ensure food security and improve agriculture production. Through its emergency and rehabilitation programmes, FRSSD has supported vulnerable crop, fish and livestock dependent households with technical support while also promoting sustainable land management practices, improved production technologies and marketing opportunities.

Under the overall supervision of the FAO Representative in South Sudan, the direct supervision of the Project Manager for the Project “Improved Food Security and Income for Rural Smallholders in South Sudan” under the Zonal Effort for Agricultural Transformation - Bahr el Ghazal Effort for Agricultural Development Programme (ZEAT-BEAD), the functional guidance of the Lead Technical Officer (LTO), and in close collaboration with relevant FAO technical and support staff, donors, implementing partners and government, the incumbent is responsible for the implementation of the Project Rural Finance component (Result 3). In particular, the incumbent will:

· Identify and engage national or international implementing partners and technical service providers with sound capacities in order to execute the three sub-components of the rural finance component, namely Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), Matching grant scheme, and Voucher system and related financial arrangements;

· Monitor and supervise the development and performance of implementation partners and beneficiaries of the sub-components;

· Be responsible for rural finance related reporting from implementation partners to the Project Office and from the project to FAO Lead Technical Unit (LTU) and LTO and the funding partner;

· Support and assist implementation partners in the execution of their duties and responsibilities under the ZEAT BEAD project;

· Monitor the timely execution of project related activities of the implementation partners and provide timely guidance, advice and feed back to project management in case of implementation challenges or delays;

· Identify and maximize synergies among sub-components of rural finance (result 3) and with other project activities;

· Contribute to the overall project work and budget planning, monitoring and evaluation, assessing results, communication and visibility;

· Oversee and provide guidance to state level rural finance staff deployed by the project;

· Provide technical advice to the project team, implementing and strategic partners, as required; and

· Perform other related duties, as required.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

· Advanced university degree in economics, agricultural economics or finance from a recognized university;

· Seven years of relevant experience in rural development and finance, including promotion of access to finance and market for the rural poor;

· Working knowledge of English; knowledge of Arabic is an advantage

SELECTION CRITERIA

· Extent and relevance of experience in rural development and finance in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in the areas of supervision of voucher systems, VSLA development, matching grant and promotion of financial services for the rural poor;

· Extent and relevance of experience in East Africa with different types of financial schemes, and with various international and regional service providers in rural and agricultural finance;

· Extent and relevance of experience in managing technical assistance projects in rural and agricultural finance in several institutional and country contexts;

· Extent and relevance of experience in developing and monitoring collaborative agreements for voucher systems, matching grants, or similar;

· Demonstrated ability to establish capacity building and training activities;

· Excellent communication, facilitation and presentation skills, including ability to write concise technical reports;

· Work experience in South Sudan is considered an asset

key performance indicators

Expected Outputs:

Required Completion Date:

A mobilization meeting is organized with implementing partners and state level rural finance project staff to organize the field implementation of the rural finance component

Rural finance component section of the Project monthly report is available

Rural finance component section of the Project quarterly report is available

Rural finance component section of the Project semester report is available

Rural finance component section of the Project annual report is available

Back-to-office reports are available

Technical assignment reports are available

An end-of-assignment report is available

2 weeks within duty assumption

Every 05 of the following month

Every 10 days before the end of quarter

Every 10 days before the end of semester

10 days before end of the yearly period

5 days upon return from mission

Upon completion of every assignment

2 weeks within end of contract

• Interested applicants are required to create an online Personal Profile form (PPF) in iRecruitment. To create the PPF, please follow the instructions available at: http://www.fao.org/employment/irecruitment-access/en/

• Please upload to your Documents section an application letter stating your expression of interest and qualifications as well as a CV.

• In order for your application to be properly evaluated, please ensure that all sections of the on-line profile are completed. The PPF should be sent via e-mail to: VA-SouthSudan-TCE@fao.org

• Deadline for submission of your application: 31 January 2016

• Applications received after the closing date will not be given consideration. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.