AVANSE is seeking to develop the banana supply chain in northern Haiti, with the objective of increasing sustainable employment opportunities, food security and export revenues for small and medium size farmers. AVANSE will specifically provide support to the Union des Producteurs de Banane d’Haiti (UPBH) through an in-kind grant to enable the establishment of a 50 hectare demonstration banana farm in Bord-de-Mer Limonade. Through this grant, the banana farm will be provided with the appropriate infrastructure and equipment to grow, harvest, clean, sort and pack bananas for export through the Dominican Republic vis-à-vis UPBH’s private sector partner Banamiel, an existing Dominican banana export firm.

There are two main activities under this grant: 1). organizing, training and equipping members of the UPBH to collaborate with others to collectively generate fresh bananas of export quality for export and sale all year, and 2). establishing a commercially operated demonstration “nucleus” plantation of 50 hectares which will be equipped with appropriate infrastructure and equipment for a mechanized banana handling system and provide up to 2,000 cases of export quality bananas per hectare/year during the first production year.

• Provide day to day management support to establish a 50 ha demonstration banana farm in the area of Bord de Mer Limonade;
• Review the overall activity plan, and modify as needed, based on the targets and the current status of the establishment of the farm, assess all the work completed to date and contribute significantly to the implementation process,
• Ensure that the project is on track, being implemented properly, and meeting its important milestones;
• Prepare and participate in quarterly work planning and progress reporting meetings with UPBH and the AVANSE support staff;
• Ensure that all partners and project participants understand the goals and the scope of the project including activities, deliverables and requirements of the UPBH grant as well as the specific responsibilities of all respective parties;
• Ensure good coordination and communication with all project components involved in implementation to ensure the project is being implemented on schedule and that all appropriate management and USAID indicators are being met and tracked;
• Develop and submit working schedules, outlining target completion dates for all activities, schedule meetings and coordination discussions with partners as needed, and compile and circulate minutes and action items from all meetings;
• Draft requisitions for key resources and inputs (i.e. personnel, training, and procurement/subcontract needs) and submit these in a timely manner to UPBH and the AVANSE team for clearance and approval, and administer the mobilization of such inputs;
• Provide oversight for all procurements – including overall management of deliveries and installation of supplies and equipment; serve as point of contact to address any issues with vendors that may arise, in consultation with AVANSE procurement staff;
• Track all procurements against grant budget and notify AVANSE grants/procurement team if any changes (quantities, amounts, additional items etc.) are anticipated;
• Ensure that all equipment is properly inventoried and conduct follow-up with AVANSE grants/procurement team to obtain final USAID disposition approval and file these documents;
• Ensure that all necessary legal arrangements and agreements with implementing partners are prepared, negotiated, agreed upon and fully executed;
• Assume direct responsibility for managing the project budget by monitoring any unanticipated changes that need to be made to budget and notifying AVANSE grants team if budget modifications are needed; prepare quarterly UPBH cost contribution submission with all supporting documentation;
• Ensure the timely submission of work plans, reports, outputs and other deliverables to AVANSE and UPBH for review and evaluation, as appropriate;
• Conduct ongoing monitoring of the Environmental Monitoring and Management Plan (EMMP) and immediately notify AVANSE of any compliance issues;
• Ensure that all activity documents (including legal agreements, financial documents, procurement documents, work plans and reports) are properly filed;
• Monitor and supervise key UPBH staff and other partners.

• University degree in Development Economics, Rural Development, Business Administration and Management or a relevant, directly related discipline or the equivalent of 5 years or more, of relevant, directly related experience.
• Experience in market based enterprise development economic and development programs particularly in implementing value chain interventions; particularly with USAID-funded projects is an asset
• Strong strategic planning and development skills;
• Demonstrated interpersonal and negotiation skills and proven problem solving skills and results oriented approach;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in French and English and working knowledge of Spanish. A demonstrated ability to produce quality reports;
• Strong agricultural management skills including ability to provide strategic guidance, technical oversight, build strong teams, mentor staff, develop work plans, and manage budgets and project expenditures;
• Good interpersonal skills with experience in networking with partners at all levels (ministry, donors, private sector, NGOs and local community based organizations);
• Experience working with or in international and donor organizations with implementation of participatory projects;
• Demonstrated written, analytical, presentation, reporting and computing skills and familiarity with modern communication systems (internet, worldwide web, email etc.);
• Able to respond rapidly to changing environments and to work under pressure;
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office suite and related project management software.

motivation letter, resume and copy of diplomas