Program Officer Spices

The organizations

The IDH Sustainable Trade Initiative helps to accelerate and upscale sustainability within mainstream international commodity markets and producer landscapes, driving sustainability from niche to norm. We build ambitious public private coalitions of companies, civil society organizations and governments and high-impact programs in order to benefit people, planet and profit. With co-funding from the Dutch, Swiss, Danish and Norwegian governments and from business partners, IDH organizes scoping, development and implementation of public private partnerships in 11 sectors such as coffee, tea, cotton and palm oil and in 11 landscapes worldwide. IDH is a dynamic organization of app. 60 staff members based in Utrecht, The Netherlands, with hubs in Asia and Africa. In the last year IDH has expanded its activities and now runs around 600 projects in 50 countries, together with a wide range of private and public partners. Within IDH, the Sustainable Spices Initiative aims to sustainably transform the mainstream spices sector, thereby securing future sourcing and boosting economic growth in producing countries. The initiative, SSI, brings together leading multinational companies and NGOs such as McCormick, Unilever, Intersnack, Kerry, Olam, Kutas, Intersnack, Intertaste, Nedspice, ITC India, Jayanti, Griffith Foods and many more valuable partners. It is a sector-wide consortium, founded in 2012 by four prominent players in the Dutch spices market – Euroma, Intertaste, Verstegen and Unispices. Together with civil society organizations, such as the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Icco-cooperation, SNV and others, these companies have made a commitment to sourcing their products sustainably and to making a positive impact on their value chains.

The European Spice Association (ESA) is the umbrella organisation of the European spice industry. Members of ESA are the national federations of the spice industry in the member countries of the European Union, Switzerland and Turkey. EAS is a non-profit association representing the interests of its members in all matters pertaining to the processing, packing, quality assurance and food safety and/or marketing of herbs, spices and spice products (e.g. seasonings).

Associated membership of ESA is also available to national or international associations or organizations representing exporters/traders at origin and processors, packers/traders or associations from European countries (other than the European Union) that are able to satisfy the membership requirement.

In order to better support the sustainable spices sector in Vietnam, IDH Vietnam and ESA are looking for a Program Officer Spices, based in Hanoi (Vietnam)

Profile and responsibilities

The Program Officer will support the IDH Country Manager with the management of public-private partnerships and projects for sustainable spices sector in Vietnam. Main responsibilities include:

1. Managing relations with both government and agribusiness:

• Support for public and private partnership platform for spices sector, including:
  
  • Provide secretariat support for the PPP platform
  • Provide and sustain effective communication among members of platform and with SSI/IDH and ESA and other relevant partners
  • Support the empowerment of the PPP platform in policy dialogue, programs’ coordination.

• Contribute to further development and maintenance of a relevant network of institutions and individuals who play an important role in sustainable development of Spices/Pepper sector.

2. Implementation of program: to ensure the implementation of annual plans and targets set by the ESA, PPP platform, including but not limited to:

• Development and communication on National Sustainability Curriculum (NSC) for pepper
• Identification and update of key domestic legislations changes related to spices/pepper sector
• Identification of options for strengthening legislation enforcement

3. Communication:

• Support the organization, including content and logistics, for meetings, workshops, trips organized by IDH/ESA as part of the program;
• Support the development of communication materials, such as newsletters, website articles, fact sheets, etc.
• Maintain and update the internal database with contacts and relevant information.
• Prepare, attend and report in regular meetings with IDH, ESA team

4. Other relevant tasks assigned by the IDH/ESA Vietnam team

Requirements

IDH and ESA are looking for an energetic, enthusiastic team player, interested in addressing environmental challenges together with agribusinesses, using a business-minded approach. You feel comfortable talking with government and business stakeholders national and local levels and help them cooperate to address their shared challenges.

• At least 3 years of working experience in the private sector, international NGO or multilateral organization, or government department related to agriculture, preferably on pepper;
• International experience by working in an international organization or studying abroad;
• Familiar with spices/pepper sector or strongly motivated to acquire/develop this knowledge fast;
• Proven hands-on experience with program management, explicitly including budget and contract management;
• Enjoy and feel confident in engaging and working with (external) government and business stakeholders, networking and building relationships, prefer candidates with proven experience;
• Fluent in Vietnamese and English (verbal and written);
• Working and thinking at Master’s degree level;
• Independent and a pro-active self-starter; able to think in a structured, analytical way;
• Able to organize and prioritize work, multitask and meet strict timelines;
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and PowerPoint;

Conditions

IDH and ESA offer a challenging position with opportunities for growth within an enthusiastic and passionate team. The position is for 40 hours per week. The successful applicant will be offered a consultancy contract for one year with competitive remuneration, but with the possibility to extend.This position is based in Hanoi with regular travel to Ho Chi Minh city and at times to pepper producing areas of Vietnam, liaise with relevant program team(s) in IDH Headquarter and ESA.

For more information about IDH, please visit www.idhsustainabletrade.com. For questions about this position, please contact Tran Quynh Chi at [email protected]

How to apply

Interested candidates should send their CV/resume and application letter (in English), explaining your interest and capabilities for the position, to Iris van Oort, HR Officer, at [email protected]. Applications should be received before 17:00 hours (Vietnam time zone) on April 30, 2017.

IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative
Arthur van Schendelstraat 500
Postbus 1241, 3500 BE UTRECHT
www.idhsustainabletrade.com