AVSF recruits

Country Coordinator (National & Foreign National)

Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF) is an officially recognized non-profit organization that works for international solidarity and that has been engaged in supporting smallholder farming and pastoralism since 1977.  Active in 18 countries, AVSF reaches out to smallholder communities threatened by exclusion and poverty, offering them professional skills in agriculture, livestock farming, and animal health. In this way, AVSF supports these communities as they strive to improve their standard of living, sustainably manage the natural resources upon which they depend, and contribute to the socio-economic development of their local area. AVSF helps them defend their rights and gain better recognition for the role they play in society.

I - CONTEXT

Active in Mongolia since 2004, AVSF currently implements 3 programmes of cooperation in 4 provinces with 10+ local and international partners (herders organisations, cooperatives, NGOs & national authorities). The yearly cooperation budget for 2021 amounts to approximately 1,400,000 €. Moreover, several ancillary project proposals are pending funding decision. AVSF builds on a professional, technical and administrative team of 20 people, including 1 expatriated Technical Coordinator. Current main donors are EC, AFD’s Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial and private sector.

With limited long term sustainable agricultural policy orientations of the Government of Mongolia, and in a context of regular increase of livestock numbers and associated pastureland degradation, with limited income from livestock products, AVSF’s cooperation aims at  supporting herder organisations for a sustainable management of pastoral resources, directly connected to a better valuation of quality livestock products (notably animal fibres, yak and cashmere) on the domestic and export markets. The cooperation in Mongolia focuses on 3 priority areas of intervention:

·         Sustainable management of natural and pastoral resources notably rangeland;

·     Technical assistance to pastoral communities and structuration of professional herder /producers’ organisations on the yak down, camel wool and cashmere value chains: capacity building on governance, organizational & financial management, collective management of pastoral resources, improved herding practices (animal health, nutrition, welfare & breeding), quality management (incl. traceability), certification & labelling, provision of market linkages and integration into existing sales & marketing schemes.

·     Integrated development of sustainable textile sector: replication and upscaling of sustainable sourcing options, adoption of sustainable processing practices, finance access, awareness raising & advocacy, promotion & visibility on national and international markets.

II – MAIN MISSIONS

The Country Coordinator is the legal and institutional representative of AVSF in Mongolia. Under the hierarchical responsibility of the General Director, and the functional reattachment to the Director of Operations, he or she has for main mission to ensure the coordination, the strategic coherence and the quality of AVSF’s cooperation in Mongolia. His or her missions include:

1.       Coordinate the update and implementation of AVSF’s Country Strategy in close coordination with AVSF’s in-country team and partners and in accordance with the mission, policy and areas of cooperation of the NGO.

2.       Organize the methodological, technical et administrative support to AVSF and partners teams to ensure the quality of ongoing cooperation activities, as well as the monitoring, evaluation and experience documenting of these.

3.       Impulse and pilot the identification, design, formulation and implementation of new partnership and cooperation projects and programmes in Mongolia (call for projects and proposals, service provision) in accordance with the NGO policy and the country strategy; ensure the regular monitoring and evaluation of partners (ex-ante and ex-post).

4.       Pilot the fundraising and negotiation of public and private funds, to ensure the sustainability of ongoing activities and engage new cooperation.

5.       Ensure the transparent management of financial and logistic resources, with the Financial Manager in Mongolia and in close coordination with AVSF’s Admin and Finance department in France (budget making, budget follow-up, audit and control, etc.).

6.       Ensure the smooth management of Human Resources (national and expatriate staff) and the predictive management of staff and skills for national staff.

7.       Ensure the follow-up of AVSF’s commitments within the framework of the agreements signed by the NGO with national and local authorities as well as all technical and financial partners (technical and financial reporting etc.) and represent the NGO vis-à-vis all stakeholders.

Living conditions :

Ø  Based in Ulaanbaatar – capital city of Mongolia: The coldest and one of the most polluted cities in the world, Ulaanbaatar (UB) is however comfortable to live in with a relatively large expatriate community and dynamic French speaking one. AVSF’s offices are located in the city centre. The climate is cold and dry. During the winter (5 months below 0°C), temperatures can drop under -35°C. The summer (6 months) is usually hot and dry (up to 35°C in July-August).

Ø  Regular field missions (at least 50 days per year) in rural areas of Mongolia in harsh conditions (long distance road trips on dirt tracks, limited water & sanitation infrastructure) are to be expected. In addition, add 10 to 20 days of yearly professional travel outside of Mongolia.

III- CANDIDATE PROFILE

-          -The candidate will possess a higher education degree (Masters or equivalent) in agro economy, rural economy, political or economic sciences with a major or specialization in international cooperation or development studies and/or sustainable development.

-          -The Country Coordinator will have a confirmed work experience of at least 5 years in a management or coordination position in an INGO or similar organization, and in the area of local and rural development.

-         - The successful candidate will be a strong team worker with a feeling for and experience in field work. Her or she will have demonstrated analysis and synthesis abilities, strong interpersonal communication skills, excellent writing abilities, and an outstanding capacity to work in autonomy and adapt to difficult local conditions.

Mandatory skills and experience :

-          Demonstrated and successful past experience in rural development programme coordination and management.

-          Knowledge of the functioning of smallholder farmers or herders’ organizations, and previous experience in organisational capacity building.

-          Confirmed skills in at least one of the two following areas: animation of farmers’ organizations, support to the development of agricultural value chains (value chain analysis, marketing of livestock and fibre products in particular).

-          Demonstrated prior experience in the management of Human Resources in an intercultural context.

-          Excellent knowledge of project cycle management; confirmed skills in monitoring and evaluation and experience documentation.

-          Confirmed prior experience in rural development project and programmes design and formulation and answering to call for proposals.

-          Knowledge of main donors and good ability to negotiate.

-          Language skills: fluent French or English mandatory. Knowledge of the Mongolian culture and language is a plus.

Salary package :

IV - APPLY