Program Officer Vacancy - Kakamega and Busia Counties - International Child Support (ICS)

Position: Program Officer

Location: Kakamega and Busia Counties

International Child Support (ICS) is a Dutch-based development organization with Africa Regional Office in Nairobi.

ICS is implementing MFSII programs in western Kenya and northern Tanzania through Together4Change Alliance. Other Alliance member organizations are: SOS Kinderdorpen, Wereldkinderen and Wilde Ganzen.

One of the key programs in the Together4Change Alliance is the Investment for Social and Economic Change (ISEC). The program appreciates that people have inherent power in form of individual and collective abilities to drive the change process from within.

ICS endeavors to facilitate communities in the process of transforming themselves for the wellbeing of children.

The ISEC program has adopted the Social Business approach which is a paradigm shift from grant/need based development initiatives to transactional development initiatives that emphasizes on Social Returns on Investment.

Programme Objectives

The overall objective is to contribute to lasting pro-poor social and economic change for child wellbeing, driven by people and their organizations and specifically;

1. To enhance the capacities of people and their organizations to effect their own pro-poor change towards inclusion;
2. To increase the social and economic empowerment of (young) people, families and communities as civic actors to advocate for and claim their rights;
3. To increase access to quality of social services and engage in economic activities through investment in products and services that improves the household to poor and marginalized;
4. To contribute towards a caring and enabling environment for children where they can grow up to their full potential and become responsible citizens

Key accountabilities

The program officer is a senior manager who holds the responsibility to effectively manage resources and coordinate project implementation to achieve desired outcomes and deliverables.

S/he will be expected to provide leadership to program staffs, offer technical assistance to community based organizations and beneficiaries and create linkages with other partners in the region. Principal components are product development and market linkages.

The Program Officer will be responsible for:

• Implementing social business models and create new ventures with participating communities
• Adopt a hands-on approach in the implementation and execution of social business programmes
• Establish the current needs of the market segment, linkages with key market players and identifying specific customer needs that may require review of existing products or development of new tailor made products.
• Co-ordinate with key institutions relevant to agriculture sector and its value chain including Government and Development partners.
• Development of project concepts, proposals and business plans appropriate for the sector.

Essential Qualifications, Competencies and Experience

• Should have at least a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences, Agribusiness, Marketing or equivalent experience in Business Development Services
• At least 3 years hands-on experience with management of development programs
• Vast knowledge of rural economic development issues in Kenya and/or Tanzania, particularly rural community resource management groups e.g. small holder farmers, community water/energy committees among others
• Strong organizational, interpersonal and communication skills with proven ability to work independently and achieve results with minimal supervision
• Familiarity with Result Based monitoring and evaluation approaches of development programmes is an added advantage.
• Manages through influence; deploys strong persuasive skills and motivate sustained partner enthusiasm
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written) and negotiation skills, strong research and analytical skills and advanced report writing and presentation skills

This is an urgent assignment and interested applicants with matching qualifications should send letter of application, curriculum vitae and 3 referees to; recruitment@icsafrica.org

All applications to reach not later than October 11, 2011 and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews

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