National Grants Coordinator

Organizational Setting

The position is located at the FAO Representation in Georgia under the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) programme. The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by the FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Reporting Lines

The incumbent will work under the overall responsibility and supervision of the FAO Representative for Georgia, the direct supervision of the Programme Manager, under technical guidance of the Lead Technical Officer of the ENPARD IV programme (GCP/GEO/022/EC and GCP/GEO/026/SWE) and in close collaboration with the other members of the project team, and the staff the in the FAO Representation, HQ and REU

Technical Focus

Food safety, Sustainable agribusiness, rural and agricultural finance, value chain and food systems development.

Tasks and responsibilities

•     Provide technical support to the implementation of the matching grant component of the ENPARD IV programme:

•     Lead the project grants’ team in the development of the support package modalities, including detailed desk research and data collection for the selected value chain/s. All gathered information should be summarized in a technical report forming the basis for the definition of the support package modalities
•     Lead the grants’ team to issue the expression of interest and effectively select the suppliers and machinery required for the implementation
•     Participate in developing and reviewing information materials, technical papers and guidelines relating to food safety for agribusiness and value chain development 
•     Participate in the preparation of 6 months and end of year reports for the ENPARD IV programme.

•     Effectively manage the implementation of the grant component of the programme:

o    Within the ENPARD IV programme, act as a team leader for the implementation of the overall USD 2.5 Million grant component of the support packages offered to beneficiaries. Lead a team of 2 national grant chain analysts to:

•     Design the online grant management platform to allow for an efficient implementation of the grant cycle;
•     Monitor the implementation of a successful outreach campaign to inform the target population of support package opportunities;
•     Review and supervise the technical revision of applications received, from eligibility verification to grant agreement signature and grant disbursement;
•     Prepare relevant documentation for the application approval by the Application Review Committee (ARC);
•     Coordinate the organization and take part in the monitoring visits to grantees to ensure the proper implementation of the investments supported under the grant component;
•     Coordinate monitoring and evaluation visits to grantees in close coordination with the MEAL team.

o    In addition to the supervision of all grant related procedures, provide technical support to the monitoring and evaluation team in data collection and cleaning to allow for a successful measurement of project indicators;
o    Ensure adequate coordination efforts between the grant component and the extension component of the support packages to enhance the support provided to beneficiaries of the program
o    Facilitate adequate coordination efforts between the grant and the communications teams in order to ensure proper visibility of the project
o    Effective day-to-day management of the program

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

•     Advanced university degree in agri-business, business administration, economics, agricultural economics, food industries, international development studies, or a related field:
•     At least 7 years of relevant experience in financial management, matching grants, agribusiness, food systems, and/or value chain development;
•     Working knowledge of Georgian and English. 
•     National of Georgia

FAO Core Competencies

•     Results Focus
•     Teamwork
•     Communication
•     Building Effective Relationships
•     Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Selection Criteria

•     Ability to work autonomously;
•     Quality of both oral and written communication skills;
•     Demonstrated ability to be an efficient team member;

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION