Technical Advisor for the Vietnam Sustainable Coffee Program

Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural development
Initiative for Sustainable Landscapes (ILSA)

IPSARD is the think-tank of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development (MARD). It has mandates to do policy research, consultancy and advocacy, policy dialogue and information in agricultural sector. IPSARD works in the fields of sector policy and strategy; agricultural commodity and market; rural institution; and environment and resources management. IPSARD is now involved strongly in designing and implementing agricultural restructure program in some provinces; in promoting agricultural commodity sustainable development, especially in coffee sector.

IPSARD is now cooperating with IDH in Sustainable Coffee Program, focusing on Institutional reform. The Sustainable Coffee Program (SCP), was launched by IDH - a foundation under the laws of the Netherlands, is a global, pre-competitive, public-private initiative; which involves industry and trade partners, (local) governments, NGOs and standard organizations in the coffee sector. The aims of the program:

• Promote sustainable coffee production.
• Strengthen the resilience of coffee farmer in fluctuating market.
• IPSARD would like to strengthen its team with one:
• Technical Advisor for the Vietnam Sustainable Coffee Program

Job Purpose

The Technical Advisor will provide technical advice to the implementation of the program. Of primary importance are supporting the operation of the Vietnam Coffee Coordinating Board; the implementation of the Sustainable Coffee Development program; the organizations of coffee farmers; and others. The candidate will report directly to IPSARD’s Director and Institutional Coordinator.

Key deliverables

• Good proposal drafting and implementation in order to achieve the objective of the whole program
• Information sharing and networking with related organizations and stakeholders
• Support in program management to ensure high quality of planning and reporting.
• Dialogues with public and private sector to engage them in the program

Key responsibilities

• Stakeholder management: Support dialogues with public and private sector to engage them in the program. Keep updated list of stakeholders. Support information sharing and networking
• Technical knowledge: Apply technical expertise to the implementation of program, including proposals drafting, M&E, expert selection and monitoring and risk mitigation
• Program alignment: Keep breast of current programs/projects, so as to identify opportunities at an early stage, with the aim of aligning the program with others.
• Program management: Support program planning, reporting. Attend all meetings with IPSARD, IDH and other stakeholders. Support event organization in technical aspects (agenda, list of participants,…)

Requirements

• Based in Hanoi, priority given to good knowledge of the Central Highlands area and coffee sector
• Holding a university degree, preferably in business, agriculture, environment, natural resource management, or a comparable field of knowledge
• At least 6 years of working experience in program development and implementation in the area of sustainable agriculture management and/or in natural resources management.
• Experience in developing joint agendas with different stakeholders (e.g. Vietnamese Government, Private Companies, NGO) and in implementing multi-stakeholder programs
• Excellent convening, facilitation and negotiation skills
• Comfortable with working in a team as well as independently developing new programs.
• Willingness to travel extensively, mainly within Vietnam
• Fluency in spoken and written English, fluency in Vietnamese
• Terms and Conditions
• Full time job with negotiated salary

Others

Candidates have chances to employed long-term by IPSARD after the program

For more information, please visit www.ipsard.gov.vn

For questions about this position, please contact Ms. Ha Lien at [email protected]

Interested candidates should send their CV and application letter (in English) to [email protected]

We encourage applicants to respond as soon as possible, latest by 31th Jan 2015.