The Agricultural Livelihoods and Resilience Adviser is a key member of the TOMAK leadership team and provides technical leadership across a range of areas including agriculture/agronomy, natural resource management, climate resilience, value chain development, market systems development, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment of women, youth and persons with disability (PwD). Within the TOMAK program design, these themes/areas form part of a suite of layered and sequenced activities which also aim to increase rural households’ access to finance and improve dietary practices.
The Adviser will be expected to work collaboratively as both a member and a leader within TOMAK’s technical team, in order to develop appropriate livelihood and resilience strategies within a complex, integrated program. For the areas in which the Adviser provides technical leadership (listed above), it is expected that the Adviser will be responsible for direction-setting, activity implementation, stakeholder engagement, partnerships and overall management.
The Adviser will develop strong and productive working relationships with TOMAK technical and administrative personnel. The Adviser is expected to play an integral role in fostering communication and collaboration across the various parts of the program (social and behaviour change communication, nutrition, GEDSI, MEL), and to actively support the implementation of the program’s activities.
The Adviser will provide technical leadership for TOMAK’s research and analysis (agronomic, agribusiness, climate-related, value chains, entrepreneurship, and economic empowerment), and manage any short-term consultants engaged to support these assignments. The Adviser will also guide the development and rollout of various training curricula implemented at community level under these themes. Adviser will need to maintain focus towards field level monitoring, evaluating and learning as the program establishes momentum in its implementation, ensuring that field level activities are in line with the quality expectations.
The Adviser manages the Agri-Livelihoods and Resilience team (currently an Agricultural Specialist, MSD Specialist, Agricultural Assistant) and will be expected to work closely with this team and other teams to develop and execute an annual workplan. The Adviser is expected to forge productive relationships and actively contribute to the capacity development of any direct reports. This position engages regularly with external stakeholders, particularly within the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Forestry (MALFF) and the private sector, and being able to understand, nurture and leverage these partnerships is essential.
As a key member of the TOMAK technical team, the Adviser should have high level leadership skills and should lead by example. Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines are a must. The Adviser should be an excellent communicator, capable of expressing the program’s vision and desired outcomes through a range of formats and with a variety of stakeholders. The Adviser should be willing to travel regularly to the field (Baucau, Bobonaro and Viqueque municipalities) including to rural/farming communities as required.
Job requirements
Duties and responsibilities
- Prepare and steer technical assessments of key aspects of the food system in target communities including agricultural and livestock production trends, key livelihood systems, natural resource management and the impact of climate variability, as well as value chain and market analyses.
- Ensure climate resilience and natural resource management are key considerations in any activities aimed at developing agricultural livelihoods, including by integrating these themes in good agricultural practice (GAP) training and materials, farmer resources, etc.
- Ensure TOMAK strategies and approaches are market-focused and consider the range of opportunities and barriers across selected value chains, while also supporting the integration of nutrition-sensitive and inclusive approaches within livelihoods-focused activities.
- Develop and manage productive relationships with key local partners including MALFF and its directorates, private sector (input/output markets and partners), with a view to fostering ownership and long-term sustainability.
- Directly manage and support the Agri-Livelihoods and Resilience team through provision of coaching, and support in planning, implementation, and monitoring of activities.
- As a member of the TOMAK Senior Management team, play an active role in stakeholder engagement and the development of key deliverables including the annual workplan, donor and partner briefings, and the annual report.
- Work closely with the GEDSI technical team to ensure gender, disability and youth inclusion and economic empowerment are integrated into the development, implementation, and monitoring of livelihood-focused activities (through both mainstreaming and specific interventions).
- Support recruitment and manage any short-term personnel required for key assignments to ensure delivery of high-quality deliverables (incl. field implementation, research, training curricula, analysis, etc.).
- Participate in relevant agriculture, climate, and market systems-related networks (including those convened by DFAT) to ensure regular communication and coordination with other programs, organisations and agencies.
Skills and experience required:
- Post-graduate qualifications relating to international development, agriculture, rural/development economics, or similar.
- Demonstrated international development experience in food systems, agricultural livelihoods, market systems and resilience related programming (at least 7 years), with particular emphasis on climate change and natural resource management.
- Demonstrated ability to design and adapt program approaches and strategies in the context of an underdeveloped agriculture sector and thin agricultural markets.
- Demonstrated experience integrating gender equality, economic empowerment of women, youth and PwDs, and/or inclusion approaches into agricultural livelihoods and resilience programming.
- Excellent research skills with the ability to understand and synthesise data and use findings to develop programmatic recommendations and identify ways forward.
- Demonstrated high level organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple tasks, competing priorities and complete assignments within timeframes.
- Experience in capacity building, including training and on the job mentoring of national staff, strong leadership, and team management skills.
- Exceptional interpersonal and cross-cultural skills, including demonstrated capacity to work collegially with government, private sector, civil society and other partner organisations and to manage effective partnership arrangements.
- Extensive regional and/or country experience in the Asia-Pacific.
- Excellent communication skills, analytical and report writing skills.
- Advanced skills in spoken and written English required.
- Preferred: previous experience on DFAT funded programs; prior experience working in Timor-Leste; fluency in Tetum language.
To apply:
Applications should include:
- a cover letter which addresses the Terms of Reference
- an up-to-date CV (no more than 4 pages)
- a recent example of authored document (study, report, analysis) related to agricultural production, market system development, climate-related agriculture, resilience, or other areas relevant to position (in English or Tetum)
Submissions not containing all three documents will not be reviewed or accepted.
Application close COB Friday 22 March 2024 (AEST).
