(RFP301457)- COORDINATOR II – IITA KENYA

COORDINATOR II – IITA KENYA

THE ORGANIZATION

The Alliance of Bioversity International 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.

The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.

THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (IITA)

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Please visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information on IITA.

ABOUT THE POSITION

This assignment is for a Country Coordinator for Kenya and South Sudan that will lead and coordinate IITA supported country-level implementation under the Enabling Sustainable Regional Agricultural Extension (ENSURE) Project being implemented by IITA in seven East Africa Community countries. Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer and overall ENSURE project coordinator, this role will translate approved regional plans into practical country workplans, coordinate with EAC National Focal Points, Ministries, National Research and Extension Systems, private sector actors, and other partners, supervise implementation and field delivery, and ensure timely monitoring, documentation, and reporting.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE:

1.    The role covers ENSURE implementation in Kenya and South Sudan, with Nairobi as the duty station and regular travel to project locations.
The role will:

• Coordinate preparation, consolidation, and routine updating of country workplans, implementation schedules, budgets, milestones, and risk actions in line with approved ENSURE plans.
  
• Support formal country entry and follow up engagement with EAC National Focal Points, ministries, research and extension agencies, regulatory bodies, and private sector partners.
  
• Coordinate stakeholder mapping, awareness creation, and the establishment and operationalization of national and local Innovation Platforms, including platforms organized around relevant Agro-Ecological Zones.
  
• Coordinate country implementation of digital advisory activities, including localization, deployment, user onboarding, monitoring, and scale up of AKILIMO, AgWise, and other relevant CGIAR and existing in-country tools.
  
• Coordinate capacity building for public and private extension agents, lead farmers, farmer promoters, cooperatives, youth entrepreneurs, and Innovation Platform facilitators, including Training of Trainers.
  
• Plan and support field supervision, demonstrations, partner delivery, and corrective actions.
  

2.    The Coordinator will be IITA's day to day country coordination focal point for Kenya and South Sudan.

 The role will:

• Maintain effective working relationships with the EAC Secretariat and Project Implementation Unit (PIU), National Focal Points, national and subnational authorities, NARES, extension services, farmer organizations, CGIAR Centers, development partners, and private sector actors.
  
• Convene and document country coordination meetings, workshops, consultations, supervision missions, and partner follow ups.
  
• Align partner contributions with country workplans, technical standards, reporting requirements, and ENSURE output indicators.
  
• Support appropriate governance arrangements for Innovation Platforms and other collaborations.
  

3.    Country Implementation, Monitoring, Reporting & Knowledge Management

The role will:

• Maintain country implementation trackers covering milestones, deliverables, dependencies, risks, decisions, partner commitments, procurement needs, and expenditure follow up.
  
• Monitor the quality and timeliness of field activities and partner outputs, conduct supervision visits, document findings, and follow corrective actions through to closure.
  
• Coordinate collection, validation, and timely submission of country data to the harmonized MEL systems, including disaggregated beneficiary and training data.
  
• Prepare concise monthly internal updates and timely country inputs to quarterly technical and financial reports, annual reviews, and field supervision reports.
  
• Support visibility and knowledge sharing by documenting lessons, results, implementation adaptations, and success stories.
  

REQUIREMENTS:

Education and Experience   

• Master's degree in International Agricultural Development, Crop Science/agronomy,  Agribusiness, Project or program management certifications, Agricultural Economics, Rural Development, or a related field.
  
• At least eight years of progressively responsible experience coordinating agricultural research for development, extension, agribusiness, digital agriculture, innovation scaling, or related programs.
  
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-country or multi-partner initiatives and translating approved plans into tracked implementation.
  
• Experience working with government ministries, national research and extension systems, farmer organizations, private sector actors, development partners, and research institutions.
  
• Experience establishing or supporting multi-stakeholder platforms, partnerships, or collaborative governance arrangements.
  
• Experience coordinating capacity building activities, field implementation, and supervision across dispersed locations.
  
• Experience with monitoring, evaluation, learning, data quality assurance, and donor or institutional reporting.
  
• Experience working in Kenya is required. Experience in South Sudan or comparable fragile and conflict affected settings is an added advantage.
  

 Technical Competencies

• Strong project coordination, work planning, facilitation, and follow through skills.
  
• Strong partnership and stakeholder management skills.
  
• Ability to interpret results frameworks and maintain practical implementation, budget, risk, and reporting trackers.
  
• Strong analytical, writing, synthesis, and presentation skills.
  
• Ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, travel frequently, and operate effectively in multicultural and interdisciplinary teams.
  
• Excellent written and spoken English is required. Proficiency in Kiswahili is desirable.
  

Expected Deliverables

• Approved and regularly updated implementation workplans for Kenya and South Sudan, aligned with the ENSURE project milestones and budgets.
  
• Current stakeholder maps, engagement plans, meeting records, action logs, partner follow-up matrices, and country risk registers.
  
• Documented establishment and operational support for national and local Innovation Platforms, including governance and participation records.
  
• Coordinated country delivery of awareness, facilitator training, Training of Trainers, cascade training, on-farm capacity building, digital advisory deployment, and field supervision activities.
  
• Validated country data submitted on time through the integrated MELIA reporting platform.
  
• Monthly internal country progress updates and timely, inputs to quarterly and annual ENSURE reporting.
  
• Quarterly field and Innovation Platform supervision reports with corrective action plans and follow up status.
  
• Country level documentation of results, lessons, adaptations, implementation risks, and success stories.
  

Key Performance Milestones

• Within 30 days, complete onboarding, validate stakeholder and activity maps, and establish integrated workplan, action, risk, and reporting trackers for both countries.
  
• Within 60 days, agree country coordination routines with National Focal Points and IITA project coordination team and document priority partners, field sites, dependencies, and delivery risks.
  
• Within 90 days, demonstrate effective coordination of country meetings, partner follow up, reporting inputs, and initial field or Innovation Platform activities.
  
• Quarterly, complete planned supervision visits, submit validated monitoring data and country report inputs on time, and track corrective actions to closure.
  
• By the annual progress review, provide a synthesis of results, challenges, adaptations, partnerships, and the following year’s priorities for both countries.
  

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT

This position is a National recruited position based in Nairobi, Kenya. The project runs for a period of 3 years.The initial contract will be for 1 (One) years subject to a probation period of 3 (three) months and is renewable depending on performance and availability of resources.

The Alliance Bioversity-CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

APPLICATIONS

Applicants are invited to visit https://alliancebioversityciat.org/careers to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number RFP301457 - COORDINATOR II – IITA KENYA as the position applied for. Cover letter and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate’s last name, first name for ease of sorting. The Alliance collects and process personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Applications closing date: 20^th October 2026

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