Technical Director – Poultry

Background:

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening agriculture from farm-to-fork, helping businesses grow, and linking farmers to markets. Since our start in 1981, we have been leveraging nearly 100 years of expertise in crop inputs, agricultural insights, dairy and animal nutrition from our close affiliate, Land O’Lakes, Inc., a farmer-owned agribusiness committed to fulfilling its purpose of feeding human progress.

Our team is made up of nearly 350 employees who are committed to market-led approaches, and passionate about collaborating locally to create lasting inclusive economic growth. By unlocking the potential of agriculture for nearly 40 years, the lives of more than 3 million people have been transformed through nearly 300 programs in more than 80 countries.

Project Summary:

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is recruiting for a Technical Director - Poultry for the Sustainable Transformation of Enterprises in the Poultry Sector (STEPS) project, an anticipated five-year $13m USD initiative funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Progress (FFPr) Program and implemented by Land O’Lakes Venture37.

STEPS aims to catalyse private sector-driven transformation enabling local poultry sector actors to access Lesotho’s strong end-markets and reclaim market share. STEPS will transform Lesotho’s poultry sector to enhance the profitability of value chain actors, increase meat and egg production and improve food security.

Leveraging existing opportunities and tools, STEPS will address constraints which limit production, productivity, and efficiency of local poultry egg and meat markets. A segmented approach takes into consideration the unique needs of local poultry producers, including subsistence farmers, and small to large scale commercial poultry enterprises engaged in production, processing, marketing, and retailing of eggs, meat, and processed poultry products. These actors will be engaged through the indigenous and dual-purpose poultry value chains, and the commercial broiler and layer value chains respectively. STEPS will identify pathways to further integrate and grow poultry, and poultry related business opportunities for women and youth.

Position Summary:

The Technical Director is responsible for the technical implementation of poultry production and poultry business enabling environment activities and for the achievement of project outputs and outcomes as detailed in the project work plan.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide technical direction and leadership to all STEPS project technical activities including increasing poultry production and productivity, strengthening poultry producers, strengthening poultry associations, strengthening input providers, strengthening research and development, fostering public private partnerships, and improving access to finance for participants in the poultry value chain.
• Lead the technical components of and assist and coordinate with the Chief of Party in reviewing and updating the Project Work Plan.
• Represent the technical activities to the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho at the national and local level.
• Directly supervise and effectively manage technical team members in a manner that is open and respectful and encourages professional development and solicits constructive staff input.
• Understand and monitor technical teams’ and provide oversight to project sub-recipient partners’ implementation activities, resources, and budgets to ensure that implementation is of highest quality and expenditures are compliant, and within approved budget parameters.
• Hold technical staff and sub-recipient partners accountable for delivering outputs and results according to project, individual and organization’s work plans and manage adaptively.
• Maintain close coordination with district and national government services, sub-recipient implementing partners and stakeholders.
• Collaborate in monitoring, evaluation, learning and reporting initiatives of project related technical activities including identifying and reporting on best practices.
• Support in all necessary regular monitoring, data collection / research, and reporting requirements including internal and to government services, partners, and donor.
• Work and collaborate closely with other V37 technical and administrative team members including Monitoring Evaluation and Learning, Finance and Administration, Contracts and Compliance, amongst others.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• An undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree (BSc) in animal production, veterinary medicine, animal sciences, poultry sciences, or other relevant fields.
• A minimum of five (5) years of demonstrated management experience in leading technical programs of relevant scale.
• Experience managing junior and senior staff.
• Strong relevant experience working in the poultry sector in Lesotho.
• Strong relationship with public and private stakeholders in the poultry sector in Lesotho.
• Fluency in Sesotho and English with excellent writing skills.
• Demonstrated knowledge in livestock health.

Preferred Skills and Experience:

• An advanced degree (e.g., MA/MS, PhD) in agribusiness, international development, economics/agriculture economics, international trade, business management, food safety/quality, agricultural or rural development or other relevant field.
• Previous experience serving as technical lead on a US Government-funded or other large donor funded project an advantage.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. No phone calls will be accepted.

Land O'Lakes Venture37 will never ask you for personable identifiable information, and we will never request money or payment during the recruitment or employment process.

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is an equal opportunity employer and an organization striving to help global communities thrive through agriculture. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status, among other factors. Our culture values a diversity of voices. So, bring us your unique experiences, your workstyle, and your dreams — they’ll only make us stronger.

How to apply

Please apply through Land O'Lakes' website using this link.