Rainforest Alliance East & Southern Africa Manager Job in Nairobi, Kenya

The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. 

Based in New York City, with offices throughout the United States and worldwide, the Rainforest Alliance works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers.

Title: Manager, East & Southern Africa
 

Unit: Sustainable Agriculture
 

Reports to: Senior Manager, East Africa and South Asia
 

Location: Nairobi, Kenya
 

Status: Full-time

Position Summary: The Manager, East & Southern Africa will be responsible for the successful implementation of Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture projects and lead the overall growth of the programme in East and Southern Africa. 

S/he will be responsible for managing implementing partnerships and managing sub grants and/or consulting agreements. 

S/he will maintain relationships with important stakeholders and partners, ensure that farmers, farmer groups and processors have the information, training and tools needed to achieve certification, and incorporate innovative aspects of the Rainforest Alliance Sustainable Agriculture programme in new projects.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee the successful planning and implementation of projects in target countries in East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania) and Southern Africa (Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa) within established budgets, in coordination with the Senior Manager and other commodity programme managers;
• Oversee the work of implementing partnerships and coordinate with consultants on agreement scope of work and subsequent deliverables in all countries, ensuring they have the skills and materials necessary to provide training to farmers, farmer groups, processors and exporters to facilitate Rainforest Alliance Certification; provide direct training and technical assistance to farmers or farm groups as required;
• Identify and gather information pertaining to key stakeholders; develop and maintain relations with key stakeholders in the region, including producers and producer groups, processors, exporters, NGOs, and representatives of important government agencies;
• Provide assistance in initiatives to maintain and build the Sustainable Agriculture portfolio of projects in the region; assist in the formulation of new project concept ideas, preparing of proposals, and report to donors as per contractual commitments;
• Ensure that projects have systems to monitor and record results, in collaboration with the Evaluation & Research team;
• Develop and/or adapt, in coordination with the Rainforest Alliance Training Manager, technical support tools – manuals, designs, selfevaluations, checklists, and other materials – for use by local technical assistance providers, farmers, and group administrators in the region;
• Provide input into Rainforest Alliance’s strategic plans for the East & Southern African region;
• Coordinate with Communications staff to provide information on project impacts and human stories of successes in the region;
• Organize and host visits by Rainforest Alliance staff and others such as journalist tours in the region; and
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in agronomy or related field; Master’s Degree preferred;
• 7-10 years of tea and/or coffee sector experience in East & Southern Africa, especially in Kenya; must be familiar with tea & coffee supply chains and production and processing activities;
• Farmer training and/or extension experience, especially in the design, organization and delivery of training events;
• Familiarity with certification/verification issues and systems, ideally involving agriculture and small-scale producers preferred;
• Excellent written and verbal communications skills in English; Swahili and other local languages are an advantage;
• Proven ability to work effectively in cross-cultural situations;
• Excellent computer skills (Microsoft Office and Internet);
• Experience in the development of work plans and budgets; ability to work independently and in a team towards defined objectives and goals; and
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively in Kenya and other countries in Eastern and Southern Africa up to 40% of the time and to spend significant periods in rural areas.

Only candidates authorized to work in Kenya will be considered

Salary: Commensurate with experience.

To apply: Send resume, cover letter and salary history to 

Rainforest Alliance, 

P.O Box 30677-00100, 

Nairobi-Kenya. 

eMail: kenyapersonnel@ra.org

If emailing, use the following format in the subject line: first name and last name, job title of position you are applying for. 

The Rainforest Alliance is an equal opportunity employer.

For more information, please visit http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/about.