Chief of Party (COP) - PSSD2 Project

About IFDC

IFDC is a public international organization active in 27 countries in Africa, Asia, and America. IFDC uniquely approaches the global issues of food security and poverty by bridging the gap between research and impact, combining science-based innovations, holistic market systems development, an enabling policy environment, and strategic partnerships to assist farmers and countries to identify and scale sustainable agricultural solutions, including improved nutrient use efficiency. These approaches are needed to boost soil health and crop productivity while reducing the environmental impact of fertilizer use. IFDC translates research into action by using locally driven, environmentally sound, and impact-oriented solutions. With our partners, we seek to close the yield gap, eradicate global hunger, safeguard the soil on which our lives depend, and generate economic resilience for farming households and the countries in which they live.  

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Ensure compliance with all contractual obligations to the donor, particularly adherence to market systems approaches and transition strategies for private-sector ownership. This includes continuous monitoring of project outcomes to ensure alignment with donor expectations and program objectives;
2. Lead administrative and Financial Management of the project in close collaboration with the IFDC’s corporate services department/ structure;
3. Oversee recruitment, training, and daily management of project staff to ensure alignment with project goals and donor requirements.
4. Provide leadership to build a cohesive, high-performing team focused on delivering measurable outcomes. Facilitate a strong organizational culture rooted in accountability, collaboration, and innovation;
5. Prepare and submit high-quality annual work plans, budgets, financial reports, and narrative reports as required by the grant agreement between the donor (EKN) and IFDC;
6. Ensure transparent communication through information briefs on project progress and milestones, submitted by the IFDC Donor Liaison Officer to the donor;
7. Support the Country Director’s engagements with the Government of Burundi, ensuring that all project-related interactions, agreements, and collaborations are in alignment with national policies and goals;
8. Lead partnership development and oversee subcontracted partners on key activities, including seed production, marketing, seed quality assurance, brand development, and business development and manage the project’s grant fund to support seed sector actors, ensuring that all partners are aligned with project objectives and donor requirements;
9. Develop and refine the project strategy to support the long-term sustainability of Burundi's seed sector, with a focus on transitioning ownership to private or public - sector entities. Ensure that market systems approaches are embedded in the program design and implementation to promote resilience and sustainability;
10. Facilitate strong private - sector involvement in project activities, ensuring capacity building and knowledge transfer to drive sustainability. Support the development of private - sector actors to eventually take ownership of key components within the seed sector value chain, ensuring a smooth transition away from donor dependency;
11. Ensure compliance with donor policies, Burundian government regulations, and IFDC procedures in all aspects of project implementation, financial management, and reporting. Establish a risk management framework to identify potential challenges and proactively mitigate risks to ensure smooth project delivery;
12. Oversee the implementation of the project audit action plan (PAAP) and ensure continuous updates for donor reporting to both the Donor Liaison Officer and the Country Director (CD). This includes ensuring that audit recommendations are addressed promptly and effectively, with regular updates;
13. Ensure strict compliance with the key components of the PAAP, including adherence to contractual obligations, financial regulations, and programmatic targets. Develop systems to monitor compliance and provide timely feedback to the donor and Country Director on areas requiring improvement;
14. Ensure necessary support is provided to the Donor Liaison Officer and the Country Director in all Donor and Government-related engagements respectively.  Leading Coordination and synergy development with all relevant stakeholders working in the “private” seed sector in Burundi as well as with Dutch partners and Dutch funded project in line with EKN strategy and theory of change;
15. Provide MELS global overview and compliance in close collaboration with the MELS Officer;Leading global Communication strategy of the project in close collaboration with the Communication Officer and leading global Gender and Youth strategy of the project with the Gender Officer.Provide MELS global overview and compliance in close collaboration with the MELS Officer;
16. Lead global communication strategy of the project in close collaboration with the Communication Officer and lead global Gender and Youth strategy of the project with the Gender Officer.

Reporting and Work Relationships.

This position reports to the Director of Market Systems Development.

Location

This is a national recruitment with a duty station at the IFDC office based in Bujumbura, Burundi.

Benefits

IFDC's benefits include annual and sick leave, health and group life insurance coverage, a 13th-month salary, social security and pension contribution in compliance with local laws and end-of-contract benefits.

Salary Clause

The salary grade for this position is BG 11 with a proposed starting salary range of Min BIF 5,735,170.00 -6,786,393.00 /Month).

The determination of new employee salaries takes into account various factors. These include the salary range linked to the assigned job grade, the candidate's qualifications in relation to the job's responsibilities and prerequisites, internal fairness, the competitive state of the job market, as well as potential organizational and budgetary considerations.

Diversity Clause

IFDC is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, and offers equal employment opportunities based on ability, performance, and potential. Equal opportunity is integral to the recruitment and selection practices at IFDC. IFDC recognizes the value in recruiting employees with different backgrounds, knowledge, experiences, perspectives, and beliefs. IFDC recognizes and values the contribution of people with a diverse background in capabilities, experience, and perspectives. Diversity encompasses gender, age, experience, education, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and cultural backgrounds as well as other dimensions such as lifestyle and family responsibilities.

 About Program/Project

The Private Sector Seed Development Project - Phase 2 (PSSD2) aims to double the productivity and income of 80,000 family farms. To achieve this goal, 213,200 family farms will see their productivity (and/or income) increase by ensuring access to inputs for 266,500 family farms. This impact and these results will be reflected in the four components described below:

Component 1: Continuing the development of the seed sector by scaling up and industrializing seed businesses to produce and sell seeds of beans, corn, potatoes, and vegetables. In this area, the PSSD will:

·       Increase seed volumes by developing technologies, infrastructure, and irrigation among major seed producers and seed companies;

·       Expand geographical access to quality seeds by co-financing the production, sales, and distribution of seeds with seed companies through a network of agro-distributors;

·       Strengthen collaboration between international and national seed companies to stimulate the transfer of technologies and capacities for seeds (hybrid potato seeds, hybrid corn, and vegetables) and suppliers of agricultural technologies and infrastructure in the East African Community and Burundian seed companies.

Component 2: Strengthening the business-enabling environment. The PSSD, in collaboration with public institutions such as the ONCCS and ISABU, will ensure a favorable business environment for companies by carrying out the following activities:

·       Harmonizing the mechanisms, systems, and processes for coordinating advance orders;

·       Ensuring the implementation of the National Seed Plan for the multiplication and availability of pre-basic, basic, and certified seeds;

·       Training farmer-researchers to conduct research on participatory variety selection for cassava in PAGRIS areas, with ISABU, while introducing and testing new crop varieties (sunflower and sorghum);

·       Ensuring the implementation of the updates to the regulations approved between 2019 and 2022;

·       Strengthening the inspection capacity of the National Seed Trade Association (COPROSEBU), its financial viability, and the regulatory framework for seed pre-orders.

Component 3: Improving the resilience of farming households. The PSSD will ensure the resilience of households by carrying out the following activities:

·         PSSD partners will establish plots to demonstrate climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), alongside demonstration and promotion plots;

·         Promoting high-yield and drought-tolerant varieties;

·         Experimenting with post-harvest handling, aggregation, and marketing of agricultural products.

Component 4: Leveraging collaboration with projects funded by the Netherlands. The PSSD will expand access to seeds, diversify seed varieties, and reach new beneficiaries by connecting seed companies with households located in the areas surrounding other projects funded by the Dutch Embassy.

 Note: The application deadline for this position is 25th November 24. 

Required Experience

1.  Minimum 10 years of work experience in a leadership position in private-sector facilitation;
2. Minimum 5 years of work experience in leading the delivery of programs with strict adherence to compliance;
3. A relevant Master’s degree or its equivalent in Agricultural related field; Proven experience in leading Market System Development Projects with a focus on transitioning Project component ownership to Private Sector actors for sustainability;A relevant master's degree or its equivalent in Agricultural related field;
4. Proven experience in leading Market System Development Projects with a focus on transitioning Project component ownership to Private Sector actors for sustainability;
5.  Proven experience in project management and leadership roles in international development projects, preferably in agricultural or seed sector-related programs;
6. Demonstrated expertise in donor reporting, compliance, and partnership management;
7. Strong experience in market systems development and private sector engagement;
8. Familiarity with Burundian government regulations, particularly those related to agriculture, market systems, and private sector development;
9. Proficiency in both French and English is required.