The Ugandan Jobline

 

Job Title:    Project Manager – Post
Harvest and Food Safety (Re-advertised)

Organisation: Catholic
Relief Services (CRS)

Duty Station:  Kampala,
Uganda

Reports to:
Chief of Party

 

About US:

Catholic Relief
Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic
community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives
in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or
nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs
of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and
peacebuilding.

 

About Vines Project:

The Vines Project,
implemented by CRS Uganda, is a five-year, $13 million Food for Progress
project that will make Uganda the world’s next leading supplier of high-quality
vanilla. Vines will leverage the expertise of CRS and its partners to enhance
the production of safe, pure vanilla and develop sustainable market links with
US vanilla companies, directly transforming the lives of 16,200 farmers, 836
supply chain actors and create 15,820 new jobs to reach 32,856 vanilla
stakeholders. The Vines strategy reflects best practices in sustainable development
and will leave Uganda with a robust vanilla farming community resilient to the
boom/bust nature of the market and a cadre of private sector agricultural
extensionists to support more sophisticated production, processing, and
marketing needs.

 

Job Summary:  As the Post-Harvest and Food Safety Manager
you will lead the project’s efforts at understanding, improving and ensuring
consistency of postharvest quality of vanilla by minimizing premature harvest
and improving processors’ buying and processing methods. You will consult,
organize and establish procedures to ensure the testing and quality systems of
Uganda vanilla exports comply with international food safety standards. You
will also lead the program’s efforts to establish digital traceability systems and
oversee the design and delivery of training on all aspects of quality and food
safety. You will liaise directly with overseas partners, educating them on
Uganda’s processes and supporting processors to implement recommendations to
improve food safety, product quality, handling and storage, inventory, curing
management, packaging, compliance with FSMA/HAACP, warehouse organization,
vanilla certifications, traceability as well as contribute to branding Uganda
vanilla in the international market.

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:  

·       
Under
the guidance of the COP, provide leadership, supervision, and oversight of all
program activities that facilitate enhanced international marketing through
more rigorous food safety systems, improved packing, and post-harvest methods
for Ugandan vanilla, ensuring efficient and effective project implementation
including the timely completion of high-quality work plans, accurate reports,
and other mandated deliverables.

·       
Work
with the COP and M&E Manager in preparing project work-plans with clear
objectives and achievable benchmarks, reflecting strategic long-term and
short-term priorities.

·       
Collaborate
with capacity strengthening staff to develop capacity building training to
support partners in the areas of vanilla processing, food safety and
traceability;

·       
Ensure
adequate linkages to local public and private sectors stakeholders;

·       
Provide
technical leadership to program activities related to vanilla processing,
quality and food safety, and traceability systems;

·       
Assist
growers, traders and processors to adopt new technologies and techniques to
enhance vanilla quality;

·       
Strengthen
the linkages among actors in the vanilla value chain and foster cooperation on
production, processing and export of premium vanilla;

·       
Identify
and mitigate program risks;

·       
Ensure
the quality and appropriateness of activities to achieve the target indicators
in a cost effective, timely, and sustainable manner;

·       
Assist
with the hiring, orientation, and training of the Postharvest and Food Safety
team and build a technically strong, well supported, cohesive and motivated
team;

·       
Provide
direction and technical advice through quarterly coaching sessions and daily
support;

·       
Perform
any other duties as assigned by the COP.

 

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

·       
The
ideal candidate for the job placement must hold a Bachelor’s Degree in a
relevant field including food science / safety / quality and technology,
international development, agriculture, economics, business, and/or food
logistics, with a Masters preferred.

·       
A minimum
of ten years of demonstrated experience in quality control or food safety,
preferably with private sector companies or US Government or other similar
development projects focused on agribusiness and trade.

·       
A
minimum of 2 years working with smallholder farmers, farmer groups and/or
processors, preferably in the vanilla sector.

·       
Proficient
in project management, creating action plans, timelines and working with third
parties to ensure actions are completed.

·       
Working
knowledge on implementing quality standards with experience in HACCP management,
preferably with a background in the creation of HACCP programs, GAPs, GMPs,
GHPs.

·       
Practical
experience in developing risk assessments, evaluating risks, prioritizing risks
and offering solutions to reduce risk.

·       
Some
knowledge / experience of auditing against a standard, preferably FDA, FSMA,
GFSI standards.

·       
Capability
of running trials of processing techniques, testing and presenting conclusions
to all groups within the supply chain, recommending next steps and decision
making from results.

·       
Demonstrated
ability to work and coordinate effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders,
including national and local government, donors, community-based organizations,
and local and international private sector.

·       
Experience
engaging partners and strengthening partnerships. Knowledge of CRS partnership
strategy a plus.

·       
Experience
in training various levels of supply chain personnel from farmers to
collectors, operators to processors.

·       
Strategic
and strong critical thinker and creative problem-solver with ability to make
sound judgment based on available data and drive decisions.

·       
Able to
work under pressure, meeting deadlines and objectives, with shifting
priorities.

·       
Working
experience of motivating and leading teams

·       
Independent,
proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented.

·       
Proficient
in Microsoft office with strong knowledge of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

·       
Ability
to learn and utilize new technology or applications quickly and be able to
train others on system. Familiarity with digital supply chain management
systems preferred.

·       
Languages
– English, total fluency with
strong written capacity.

·       
Travel –
Must be willing and able to travel up to 50% within Uganda.

Agency-wide
Competencies (for all CRS Staff): These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS
and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and
achieve the desired results.

·       
Integrity

·       
Continuous
Improvement & Innovation

·       
Builds
Relationships

·       
Develops
Talent

·       
Strategic
Mindset

·       
Accountability
& Stewardship

 

How to Apply:

All candidates
should send a cover letter, updated CV and three work references (names and
contact information only) to ug_recruitment@crs.org.

 

To apply, please
follow these instructions exactly otherwise your application will NOT be
considered:

 Large files and/or scans of documents will
lead to rejection of your application, in the

subject line of the
email, copy and paste -PROJECT MANAGERPOSTHARVESTAND

FOODSAFETY only.

 

All applications
that do not contain this exact subject line will be rejected and not read.

 

NB: Only
selected candidates that meet the requirements will be notified.

 

Deadline:  10^th
December 2020 by 5:00 pm

 

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