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The Africa Field Director is responsible for overseeing the technical implementation and capacity building for Vital Signs in Africa. This is a key position that has high visibility. The individual in this position must have advanced technical skills, the ability to work with a diverse set of international partners and the ability to communicate effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences. The Field Director, working under the general guidance of the Technical Council, is responsible for the technical oversight of the entire Vital Signs monitoring system in Africa and works with both national and international Vital Signs partners to ensure that Vital Signs methods and data are consistent and meet the minimum standards in all implementation countries (initially Tanzania, Ethiopia and Ghana) in Africa.
The individual is responsible for ensuring the successful implementation of the Vital Signs in situ measurements, including capacity building and technical support for country field teams, maintaining methodological consistency and adequate documentation among teams in different countries, ensuring adequate data quality controls are in place and liaison with national and sub-national policy makers and other relevant external partners. The Field Director also coordinates with other relevant monitoring systems and activities in Vital Signs countries to maximize integration and exchange and to minimize duplication of effort. The Director also will provide input to the Vital Signs data collection and analytical methods. The position is also encouraged to lead and contribute to high impact scientific publications involving methods and/or data from Vital Signs, as well as technical manuals, reports to donors and web content.
The Field Director will be expected to give presentations at national and international meetings to increase the visibility of Vital Signs within policy, private sector, donor, NGO and scientific communities. This person is responsible for development and coordination of the Vital Signs annual workplan with respect toall field measurements and for ensuring timely completion of key project milestones, in collaboration with the country field teams and the Technical Council. The Field Director designs and implements a training plan for country field teams, as well as communications plan to encourage integration and interaction among different national field teams. The Field Director is responsible for technical liaison with each partner institution, coordinating and implementing the training of all field teams, reviewing and approving the sampling design for each region for compliance with sampling frame, reviewing and approving annual workplans for each region, reviewing and approving all regional sampling schedules and reviewing and managing all grant agreements with local implementing partners, to ensure technical compliance as well as compliance with CI and donor policies.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Responsible for technical oversight of all Vital Signs field activities and data collection activities in Africa. This includes development of annual workplans, overseeing, coordination and quality control of Vital Signs protocol implementation, including ensuring timely uploading of data from country field teams to Vital Signs information system, communicating any logistical or methodological challenges with implementation to the Technical Council and updating protocols as needed and as directed by the Technical Council. Ensures that Vital Signs regional sampling design is consistent with the overall sampling frame and designs and implements processes to ensure adequate quality control and consistency of Vital Signs methods and data within and among countries. Develops and implements mechanisms to track and manage data quality control. Coordinates and implements the training for new TEAM site managers and produces key training materials. Also coordinates the implementation of protocol-related technical support for all TEAM sites. Participates in site quarterly calls to assist and advise on technical issues.
- Responsible for all Vital Signs Africa training and capacity building of country field teams, in coordination with the Vital Signs Technical Council and in partnership with relevant external and internal partners. Organizes and conducts training workshops, develops and disseminates training materials, such as protocol manuals, and supports field teams in trouble shooting logistical and technical issues.
- Leads and/or participates in analysis of Vital Signs data and leads and/or participates in the publication of high impact, peer-reviewed publications and technical reports. Gives presentations at international scientific and technical meetings.
- Develops and manages all grant agreements with country implementation teams to ensure consistency with Vital Signs technical standards and compliance with CI and donor policies. Ensures that grant agreements are renewed on a timely basis. Produces donor reports as needed.
- Maintains external networks of collaborators, including communication with scientists and policy makers in Africa and elsewhere, to ensure the visibility of the Vital Signs system and to maximize participation and collaboration.
Working Conditions:
- This position is based in CI's Nairobi office.
- About 30 to 40% travel, mostly international in Africa, including travel to remote locations and to scientific and technical meetings.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Required:
- Ph.D., or equivalent, in relevant field of ecology, agronomy or agricultural sciences, soil science, environmental science or conservation biology.
- At least 4 years of experience in field work in Africa.
- At least 2 years of experience managing field projects and managing and training field teams.
- Experience with large research collaborations
- Knowledge of conditions in field stations and logistical constraints to implementing various scientific sampling methods on the ground
- Strong project management, trouble shooting and implementation skills
- Ability to work independently and meet deadlines, as well as as part of a distributed team.
- High level of personal integrity.
- Record of scholarly publication in international scientific journals.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
Preferred:
- Ability to communicate effectively in Portuguese or French.
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