Project Officer

HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation Vietnam is looking for a Project Officer responsible for Value Chain development, based in Ha Noi with frequent travels to provinces for project “Developing High Quality Tea Value Chains for Poverty Reduction for Ethnic Minorities in Northern Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar”. The Project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and has the objectives to improve livelihoods for ethnic minority tea producers through well-developed value chains.

SPECIFIC TASKS

· Collaborate with local tea processing companies to sensitize and select tea farmers to participate in the tea value chain.
· Support tea farmers to formulate farmer groups and assist the farmer organizations in technical, management and organizational aspects to respond to the needs of companies and tea value chain actors.
· Provide and facilitate technical support to the tea farmers, groups in tea cultivating, harvesting, and pre-processing.
· Prepare logistics and facilitate trainings for both local tea companies, local extension partners and farmers, and act as a master trainer (Training of Trainer) in her/his areas of competencies where relevant.
· Proactively facilitate the linkage between the private sector, the farmer organizations, the provinces and the other partners.
· Facilitate dissemination of ‘best practices’ and provide lessons learned to ‘policy dialogue’ at provincial level.
· Identify market linkages and market opportunities for farmers, processors and traders (retailer, wholesaler) at domestic and international markets, related to green and cleaner production of tea.
· Develop terms of reference for the engagement of Local Capacity Builders (LCBs) and consultants. Based on that supervise the LCBs and consultants throughout the implementation of their assignments.
· Support farmers to participate in the tea value chain through the projects initiatives.
· Raise awareness of local stakeholders of tea green technology and tea market development.
· Assist in the identification of business opportunities with local partners towards further strengthening and expansion of their tea production activities in Vietnam.
· Support the collective learning in client/activity teams and/or expertise groups.
· Regularly update the progress of implementation of project activities to project manager and project partners.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

· University degree in Agriculture or Agro-economy or other related fields.
· At least 3 to 5 years practical working experience in agriculture, agricultural value chain development or the related fields
· Good understanding of agricultural extension system, value chain approach, tea product
· Excellent communication and facilitation/visualizing skills (including writing skill for different target groups).H
· Team oriented spirit with inter-personal and cross-cultural communication skills and outcome oriented spirit.
· Good command of Vietnamese and English.

Interested candidates should send applications (CV plus motivation letters and copies of diplomas) to Ms Nguyen Tu Anh, Human Resources Manager, email: [email protected] or post to 298F Kim Ma Street, Hanoi by 25th March 2013. Email subject shall be “PO TEA project”. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.