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Home > English > Announcements > Employment > CCARDESA Executive Director - Closing 30 January 2012

 

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa

ON BEHALF OFCENTRE FOR COORDINATION OF AGRICULTURAL
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA (CCARDESA)

VACANCY Announcement

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:
Ref: 2012/CCARDESA/6/ED/Staff/01

The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) is a new SRO headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. It enjoys substantial support from SADC Member States, stakeholders in the region and development partners. CCARDESA is in the process of establishing its secretariat. It is a not-for-profit sub-regional research and development organisation (SRO). It coordinates the implementation of agricultural research and development (R&D) in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. CCARDESA’s goal is to sustainably reduce the food insecurity and poverty in the SADC region as pronounced in SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), the Dar es Salaam declaration on food security, and the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) developed by the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AU-NEPAD). CCARDESA operates within the framework of CAADP Pillar IV which has the objective of enhancing the livelihoods of African farmers and pastoralists and is spearheaded by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA). Hence FARA is supporting the institutional development of CCARDESA as well as strengthening its linkages with other umbrella bodies contributing to CAADP Pillar IV. The strategic objective of CCARDESA is to increase smallholder productivity and competitiveness through the implementation of Pillar 4 of CAADP for the SADC region based on the Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP).

The CCARDESA Board now wishes to recruit a highly qualified and experienced individual to be the full-time Executive Director (ED) of CCARDESA.

The ED will be directly responsible for putting the organisation on a firm footing as a reputable Regional organisation supporting agricultural research and development (R&D) for the benefit of farmers, and in particular, smallholder farmers in the SADC region. He will be responsible for implementation of CCARDESA’s Medium Term Operational Plan and for executing the decisions of the Board in managing the day-to-day running of the organisation.

Reporting to the CCARDESA Board, the Executive Director, shall inter-alia perform the following duties and responsibilities:

  • Representing CCARDESA as its chief administrative officer and legal representative as delegated by the CCARDESA Board.
  • Providing support to the CARDESA Board as the chief technical spokesperson of CARDESA on regional issues of agriculture in SADC.
  • Providing leadership and managing the human, financial and physical resources of CCADESA.
  • Implementing the decision of CCARDESA Board of Directors and the General Assembly.
  • Drafting CARDESA’s annual work-plans, budgets, annual technical and financial reports for presentation and approval by the CARDESA Board.
  • Articulating new proposals and initiatives for funding by SADC Member States, private sector, agricultural NGOs, farmer organisations, development partners and other relevant stakeholders.
  • Ensuring the effective and efficient operation of CCARDESA Secretariat Strategic Planning and Business Planning.
  • Establishing appropriate mechanisms for the monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment of CCARDESA programme activities.
  • Appointing regionally recruited staff required for the operation of the CCARDESA Secretariat in consultation with the Board.
  • Recruiting, selecting and appointing local staff required for the operations of the CCARDESA Secretariat.
  • Recommending to the Board any revisions to CCARDESA operational manuals.
  • Managing and strengthening CCARDESA relations with all stakeholders within and outside the SADC region, including SADC Member States, national agricultural R&D institutions and universities, CGIAR centres, the private sector, NGOs and farmer organizations, sister sub-regional organizations (ASARECA, CORAF and NASRO), UN agencies and development partners.
  • Ensuring the existence of smooth operations of protocol and host government liaison systems of the CCARDESA Secretariat.
  • Perform any other duties as directed by the Board Chair

Required

The Executive Director should be a national of Southern African Development Community (SADC). S/he should have the following qualifications/ attributes:

  • A minimum of MSc degree but preferably PhD in agricultural sciences or a related field.
  • Solid experience of at least 15 years in senior management positions preferably both in profit and not-for-profit organizations.
  • A great fundraiser, great communicator, a renowned agriculturist with rich International / Regional experience.
  • The candidate should have substantial experience working with bi-lateral, multi-lateral development agencies and the private sector. S/he should be an articulate and compelling communicator with demonstrated capability to inspire positive action towards achievement of key goals.
  • International stature as a leading figure in the design and implementation of agricultural research and development (R & D)
  • Substantial experience with the management of complex organizations;
  • Proven experience in strategic planning, programme development, project management, and coordination of complex programmes.
  • Verifiable experience in managing the processes at the technical and political interfaces between national, regional and international development organisations and donors;
  • Fluency in English is mandatory and a strong functional grasp of French and Portuguese will be an added advantage.

Compensation

The position is full time and based at the CCARDESA Secretariat in Gaborone, Botswana.
Remuneration is highly competitive and negotiable.

Applications

Applications with comprehensive curriculum vitae, together with the names, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers of three referees should be sent by email to:

The Chairman,
CCARDESA Executive Director Search Committee,
c/o CCARDESA,
Private Bag 0095,
Gaborone.

E-mail Address: ccardesa_apply@fara-africa.org.

Receipt of applications sent by email shall be acknowledged promptly by an auto-reply, and if not applicants are advised to send a hard copy by courier. Women are encouraged to apply.

For further information, you may contact: Dr. Patrick Tawonezvi; CCARDESA Secretariat, e-mail: ptawonezvi@sadc.int.

Please visit the FARA website www.fara-africa.org for details of the full Terms of reference for this post.

Applications will be accepted up to 30th January 2012.

NB

Please use the reference code indicated above as your subject when sending the applications, CVs and other related documents.