Job Summary:

We are seeking a professional that has strong experience in the management of agriculture research projects in Afghanistan. The candidate must have excellent writing skills, be a strong communicator, and the organizational skills required to manage M&E and research projects. The Agriculture Research Specialist will work under the supervision of the Research and M&E Director and take day-to-day responsibility for the agricultural related activities of the Project. S/He will co-ordinate and supervise agriculture activities and managing multiple projects related to M&E, research and survey.

Duties and Responsibilities, but not limited to:

• Plan, manage and coordinate research and M&E projects;
• Develop a wide range of appropriate project plans, research and M&E tools and applicable procedures for monitoring, evaluation and reporting;
• Ensure timely collection, analysis and dissemination of high-quality data through efficient utilization of available sources; put in place strong data quality assurance mechanism and conduct regular data quality assessments;
• Prepare professional, high-quality daily, monthly, quarterly and final reports for high level audience;
• Lead and assist in design and development of a functioning ODK and KoBo databases and tools.
• Review and analyze project process and identity, documents and utilize lessons learned for improved project implementation;
• Carry out high-quality research and draft superior quality research reports;
• Draft progress reports on implementation of AACS Consulting research projects;
• Be the focal point for the internal consultations of research and M&E Projects.
• Monitor and keep record of research team with the comments received from the clients and any other party engaged with the project report review;
• Draft short memos produce research notes and case studies;
• On daily bases team management and assigning task to them based on their role and responsibilities in AACS HQ and in regional level;
• Provide technical assistance and training to the AACS Consulting Staff to design, improve and/or manage project-level performance management plans;
• Contribute substantively to the design and field testing of evaluation methodology, participatory data collection methods and protocols, data verification techniques and other technical evaluation and analysis tasks conducted under the contract;
• Manage the data collection efforts of project staff, enumerators and surveyors, including insuring the adequacy of data collection instruments, the feasibility of data collection plans, the timely collection of data (including surveyors) and the quality of data collected, analyzed and reported to AACS Consulting clients;
• Responsible for the design, quality, development and completion of the assessments, analysis reports and evaluations, review technical outputs;
• Ensure that all monitoring and evaluation tasks are completed on time and are of high quality. Carry out additional tasks supporting AACS Consulting Research and M&E project goals and objectives as assigned by the Supervisor;
• Undertake any other tasks assigned by Supervisor.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: Bachelor/Master degree in Agriculture

Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in designing, implementing & Monitoring & evaluating of Agriculture projects/activities;
• Strong background in social & Agriculture issues affecting rural development.
• Well written communication skill, especially in drafting evaluations, assessments & reports;
• Recent experience in supervising teams;
• Experience and advanced knowledge of KoBo and ODK tools is highly required;
• Advanced knowledge of MS Office and SPSS
• Advanced knowledge of spreadsheet and database packages.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in Pashto and Dari; working knowledge of English is highly required.

Core Competencies:

• High level of spoken and written proficiency in English is a must;
• Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous projects and tasks while meeting deadlines;
• Ability to communicate professionally, effectively and consistently with team members, clients and partners;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;

Strong teamwork ethics, managerial and collaborative skills;