Country Technical Manager | Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe | 2024

Chemonics seeks Country Technical Managers (CTMs) in support of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) 8 Decision Support (DS) project based in the following country offices: Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. The CTM, under the Country Technical Lead’s (CTL) direction and guidance, is responsible for the following activities, in collaboration with other technical staff in the country:   

  • Efficient, focused acute food insecurity monitoring, data collection, assessment, and early warning analysis   
  • Effective communication of early warning analysis to the USAID mission, partners and decision-makers through high-quality reports and participation in briefings and formal and informal meetings   
  • Close collaboration with key partners, such as host government ministries, UN agencies, and international and local NGOs, among others   
  • In support of the Regional Network Capacity Development and Communications Senior Specialists, helping to build strategic partner networks by addressing identified gaps in effective early warning systems and through supporting network capacity building efforts spearheaded by FEWS NET   
  • Project administration and management at the national level, as delegated by the CTL  
  • Monthly meetings with USAID mission staff with meeting notes   
  • Regular participation in Integrated Phase Classification (IPC)/Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analyses   
  • Regular collection of data and field information, as required, and upload to the FEWS NET Data Warehouse (FDW)   
  • Coordination and effective collaboration with other FEWS NET mechanisms  

Interested applicants must currently, and in the future, have legal authorization to work in the country where their country office of interest is located. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world. 

FEWS NET is an integrated set of activities funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is intended to provide timely, accurate, evidence-based, and transparent food security early warning information and analysis. FEWS NET supports local and regional food security networks with the global objective of achieving food security for all. The eighth phase of FEWS NET includes the Decision Support (DS) project which is charged with providing integrated monitoring and analyses of current and forecast acute food insecurity in countries worldwide to support the USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) policy and programmatic decisions. Based on an in-depth understanding of local livelihoods, the FEWS NET DS Team members monitor information and data on factors that affect food security, such as conflict, weather conditions and climate, crops, pasture, markets and trade, and nutrition. The work of the FEWS NET DS Team relies on close collaboration with international, regional, and national partners on food security data and information gathering and analysis. Major activities include joint monitoring and assessments, data sharing and exchanges, collaborative analysis and reporting, and technical capacity strengthening. FEWS NET DS maintains six regional offices which coordinate and oversee the technical and administrative management of over 40 country offices. 

Responsibilities include: 

  • At the direction of the CTL, fulfilment of designated monthly reporting requirements, including providing critical inputs to and/or writing portions, or all of, the Food Security Outlooks (FSOs), FSO Updates (FSOUs), Price Watch, and key messages; contributing to Food Assistance Outlook Brief (FAOB) reports; and providing monthly briefings to USAID and other partners 
  • Under the guidance of the CTL, the CTM will ensure the integrated food security analyses (FSOs, FSOUs, FAOB input) classify and communicate the severity of acute food insecurity in line with the globally recognized Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) scale. Where IPC compatibility is not possible, the CTM will support the CTL to ensure analyses remain globally comparable   
  • With support from or at the direction of the CTL, reach out on a monthly basis to USAID Mission counterparts to offer and, upon agreement with the USAID Mission, delivering food security briefings and or updates to relevant Mission staff. Overseeing the capture and transfer of meeting notes from these engagements within two days of the event. Support the CTL in meeting USAID’s expectations on timely delivery of decision support products, which include, but are not limited to: delivery of monthly reporting for all presence countries no later than 7 days after the last day of the reporting month; responding to urgent questions on acute food insecurity within one day; providing briefings within one week of request; and assessing acute food insecurity in Expanded Global Early Warning (EGEW) countries within one week of request. 
  • Maintain a knowledge base comprised of, at a minimum, livelihood zone profiles, commodity trade flow maps, sub-national seasonal monitoring calendars, commodity price data, nutrition data, security monitoring, conflict data, migration, remittances, labor, humanitarian food assistance, and other technical data covering rainfall, agricultural production, population, etc., in collaboration with other FEWS NET 8 implementing partners, as applicable  
  • Maintain and transferring relevant national technical databases built from primary and secondary data sources, from national and sub-national partners, and through inputs entered into the FEWS NET Data Warehouse   
  • Develop and updating national seasonal monitoring plans and participating in national acute food insecurity monitoring, as applicable  
  • Provide proactive, high quality and effective early warning of acute threats to food security in the country and supporting efforts to mitigate acute food insecurity and prevent food crises through effective communication of actionable food security analysis  
  • Support the CTL in developing annual workplans that ensure that the in-country team is capacitated to carry out high-quality early warning analysis that produces IPC-compatible analyses   
  • As part of ensuring high quality decision support, and under the direction of the CTL, the CTM will support collaboration with Regional Technical Senior Specialists (RTSSs) to improve the integration of thematic technical areas (e.g., conflict, markets and trade, livelihoods, nutrition and agroclimatology) into regular and ad hoc decision support (including briefings) and facilitate interaction among regional and country office technical staff to further integrate sub-national and national technical and thematic analyses into decision support  
  • Collaborate with national and national partners in food security monitoring and analysis in the country, including through implementation of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) or Cadre Harmonisé (CH) protocols  
  • Develop and maintaining strong collaborative national relations, both formal and informal, with USAID Mission representatives, US Embassy technical contacts, UN agency representatives, government ministry staff, and key international, regional, and national NGO counterparts to facilitate technical exchanges, promote consensus-building, work to resolve technical disagreements, and facilitate joint, coordinated actions to mitigate food insecurity  
  • Support the CTSSs to collect, archive, analyze, and share food security data and information and to undertake network development activities  
  • Participate in Early Warning Assessment Team missions, as requested, to support rapid monitoring of emerging crises as guided by the Washington D.C.- based technical team, under the direction of the CTL (or in some cases the Regional Technical Lead [RTL]) 
  • Support analysis of the EGEW countries as designated by the CTL (or in some cases the RTL) and in coordination with the regional office and the Washington D.C.-based technical team  
  • Participate in all required meetings  
  • Support the organization of project documentation and files for the country  
  • Conduct regular independent and joint field assessments of food security conditions in areas of most concern in the country  
  • Contribute to the development of other FEWS NET DS Team information products required by the regional office or the Washington D.C.-based technical team  
  • Review information on the relevant country page of the FEWS NET website to ensure that is current and accurate  
  • Participate in network development, capacity strengthening, and management at the national and sub-national level  
  • Represent the FEWS NET DS Team at regular and ad hoc formal and informal meetings within the food security network for the country, as delegated by the CTL 
  • At the direction of the CTL, support the supervision, mentoring, and professional development and performance of the Country Technical Senior Specialists (CTSSs), as well administrative staff in the country office  

Qualifications 

  • Bachelor’s degree in a discipline relevant to the work of FEWS NET, such as economics, agricultural economics, agronomy, nutrition, climatology, anthropology, or social geography is required; advanced university degree (Master’s degree or higher) is desirable 
  • Minimum 8 years of relevant experience (with Master’s degree), or 10 years of relevant experience (with Bachelor’s degree) is required. Relevant experience includes working on food security information systems, food security analysis, early warning, or other related fields; experience working with UN agencies and/or NGOs is desirable 
  • Excellent planning, organizational, analytical, and report writing skills 
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively with others at all levels, including an ability to effectively liaise with supervisors, host governments, UN, NGO, and other relevant stakeholders and an ability to coordinate effectively with remote colleagues. 
  • Willingness to travel regularly within the country, as well as both regionally and internationally as required, security permitting  
  • Excellent computer skills, GIS applications. and mapping skills are desirable 
  • Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity    
  • Proficiency in written and spoken English is required; other local language skills relevant to the country are desirable 

Application instructions  

Please apply using the following link by November 1, 2024 at 11:59 PM ET. No telephone inquiries, please. Chemonics will contact short-listed candidates.  

Chemonics is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.  

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