The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research–based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food–secure future. Please visit http://www.alliancebioversityciat.org/ for more information on the Alliance.

Overview of YBAIF

Business Acceleration for Youth (BA4Y) is a five–year (2021– 2026) innovative Activity supported by USAID Malawi and led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. Framed around resilience–led sustainable strategy, the BA4Y Activity aims to leverage the power of the private sector to reduce the need for long–term humanitarian assistance. The objective is to accelerate and invest in youth owned and or youth–led enterprises or those entities that employ a significant number of youth to generate greater access to financing, diversified incomes, job creation, gender equality and women’s empowerment, a more inclusive private sector ecosystem, and improved resilience of communities in targeted vulnerable districts. BA4Y will develop an investable pipeline of businesses, de–risk and mobilize capital, and build confidence in and leverage the private sector to foster economic and social impact that fosters Malawi’s self–reliance, laying the much–needed foundation for a long–term approach of establishing an inclusive and diversified private sector ecosystem.

About the position

Alliance is seeking to recruit a Project Associate. The Project Associate will be responsible for providing technical backstopping and project management support to the Business Acceleration for Youth (BA4Y) Activity. The Project Officer will work very closely with the BA4Y team in ensuring efficient and effective project implementation.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

➢ Support the Business Incubation and Acceleration Officer (BIAO) in the rollout of incubation and
acceleration services to targeted enterprises. Including monitoring of milestone progress in
relation to work plans.
➢ Support the Monitoring Evaluation Learning and Sharing Officer (MELS) in monitoring progress of partner/ sub–grantee work plans to ensure appropriateness in terms of timelines and resource allocation.
➢ Monitor partner and sub–grantee performance in terms of timeliness, value for money and quality of service delivery, providing guidance and mentorship as appropriate.
➢ Conduct periodic ground truthing, with project participants and beneficiaries to enable
triangulation with partner and or sub–grantee progress reports and measure ‘client,’ satisfaction.

➢ Contribute to the preparation of periodic reports to meet management and donor reporting requirements.
➢ Update of information on project databases and related dashboards.
➢ Contribute to the implementation of annual monitoring surveys to assess project outcomes.

Requirements

• A degree in business administration, social science, or other related field, with at least 3 years relevant work experience.
• Familiarity with USAID rules and regulations.
• Experience in working with monitoring and evaluation systems.
• Experience in project administration and management.
• Experience in data collection, managing and analysis.
• Excellent working knowledge of software such as word processing, presentation software and web–based meeting and conferencing applications, data collection and analysis applications.
• Ability to Speak in both English and Chichewa.
• Demonstrate critical thinking and problem–solving skills to provide oversight of Sub–grantees and partners.
• Possess excellent interpersonal skills with good facilitation and communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple administrative tasks with a high degree of accuracy, pro–activeness and flexibility.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, but also participate as a team member in accomplishment of duties.
• Willingness to travel frequently within Malawi.
• Ability to work in a multi–cultural environment.

Terms of employment

This is a nationally recruited position based in Lilongwe, Malawi. The contract will be for a two–year period, subject to a probation period of three (3) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources. The Alliance offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits; we believe that the diversity of our staff contributes to excellence. The Alliance is an equal opportunity employer and strives for staff diversity in gender and nationality.

Applicants are invited to visit https://www.bioversityinternational.org/jobs/ to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number Ref: 103027 – PROJECT ASSOCIATE as the position applied for. Application and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate’s last name, first name for ease of sorting.

Note: The Alliance does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training). The Alliance also does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.

Applications closing date: 4th May 2023

Please note that email applications will not be considered.

Only short–listed candidates will be contacted.

We invite you to learn more about us at: http://alliancebioversityciat.org