Regional Technical Specialist (Coconut) - Puttalam

Regional Technical Specialist

Title: Regional Technical Specialist (Coconut) - Puttalam

Program: USDA Food for Progress Climate Smart Agriculture and Food Security

Location: Puttalam

Start Date: on/about March 1, 2025

Expected Duration: 1-year renewable contract.

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION:

Improving Economies for Stronger Communities (IESC) is a leading U.S. nonprofit organization that catalyzes private sector growth and creates economic opportunities for people and communities across the economically developing world. Since our founding in 1964, we have delivered lasting solutions across 139 countries.

IESC is a valued partner to people and communities throughout the economically developing world. We share proven business skills and experience with entrepreneurs, job seekers, businesses, farmers, cooperatives, and governments. We also offer resources—human, technological, and financial—that sustainably build capacity and empower communities. Our long legacy of strengthening developing economies is matched by our vision for the next generation: a world with economic opportunity for all, where people and communities thrive.

Our major funders today are the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), among others.

IESC is recruiting for a Regional Technical Specialist - Coconut (Central Region) for the five-year USDA Food for Progress project in Sri Lanka. The project supports farmers and enterprises to meet the demands of the local coconut and dairy sectors in a commercially sustainable way. The project focuses on increasing productivity and quality, promoting climate-smart and regenerative agriculture practices, and enhancing market linkages in the coconut and dairy value chains. This position offers the unique opportunity to contribute to a high-impact initiative from the ground up, aimed at driving sustainable growth across Sri Lanka's agricultural sector.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:

The Regional Technical Specialist will be the technical lead in the region responsible for assisting the Regional Project Manager to implement project activities and accomplish targets in the region with a special focus on productivity and quality improvements and regional enterprise development.

The Regional Technical Specialist - Coconut will be responsible for facilitating the CSAFS activities at the provincial level in coconut focusing on transforming coconut farmers to become entrepreneurs through productivity improvements sustainably and profitably. He/she will be responsible for meeting CSAFS targets established in the region by ensuring the best practices promoted by CSAFS are implemented.

Specifically, the Regional Technical Specialist will:

· Represent the CSAFS in the region and build a collaborative relationship with relevant regional level stakeholders;

· Provide technical leadership for productivity and quality improvements;

· Closely following up directly and through partner extension officers that the practices promoted during training are implemented leading to anticipated results;

· Identify farmers requiring loans to implement practices promoted and link them with financial institutions as appropriate;

· Support beneficiary training efforts;

· Facilitate conducting direct CSAFS activities at the provincial level such including but not limited to training and follow-up extension support, strengthening peer-to-peer extension efforts, field research, development of input retailers, promotion of mobile extension services and applications;

· Conduct technical activities such as conducting training, providing extension guidance, and technical follow-up as required;

· Conduct technical analysis of beneficiary assistance and report on progress against targets;

· Share findings, learnings, and success stories from the field on a monthly basis;

· Ensure all monitoring data in the Project’s management information system is kept current and accurate.

· Assist in other monitoring and evaluation activities as needed;

· Provide input to bi-weekly reports, semi-annual and other project reports, and

· Carry out any other relevant work as assigned by the direct supervisor or the Project Director.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIP:

The Regional Technical Specialist (RTS) will report directly to the Regional Manager. He/she will also work closely with all the activity directors and regional project staff in implementing the technical activities of the project in the provinces. This local position is full-time (40 hours per week) and operates from Puttalam reporting to IESC’s Kandy office and responsible for Kurunegala and Puttalam districts.

QUALIFICATIONS:

· A degree in agriculture with over three years of experience or a diploma in agriculture with over five years of experience working in the coconut sector providing extension support;

· Experience in productivity improvements, extension, and developing village-level input providers to support producer groups and increase farm productivity;

· Experience in developing coconut farmers to be commercially sustainable businesses;

· Must have excellent interpersonal, communication, and written skills in English;

· Must be computer literate and Microsoft suite of products such as Office, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook;

· Prior experience working with US Government funded projects will be an added advantage, and

· Fluency in one or more local languages Tamil and/or Sinhala will be an advantage.

Please apply below. IESC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Please note that this position is intended for a local national or a person with legal residency and work eligibility in Sri Lanka. CV and letter of interest should be in English.