Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) is an international, non-profitable, non-governmental humanitarian relief organization with its head quarter in Birmingham, UK. It enjoys consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and is a signatory to the Code of Conduct for International Red Cross and red Crescent Moments and NGOs in Disaster Relief. Islamic Relief has been working in Afghanistan for more than 23 years, providing emergency relief and implementing life-changing development projects for some of the most vulnerable people in the country. Islamic Relief set up our first Afghanistan office in 1999. Since then, IRA continued providing assistances in emergency relief, food security, livelihood, education, health, nutrition, shelter, orphan sponsorship, Ramadan and Qurbani programmes.

The Livelihood Officer will report and work under the direct supervision of the Area Project Manager or Field Coordinator and technical supervision of Senior livelihood program officers. He or she will also liaise with the project core team at the provincial level to ensure technical soundness and compliance of the project document with all its requirements. The Livelihood Officer will work in a team of several other experts, in collaboration and guided by Senior livelihood officers in order to deliver the outputs project outputs. During the assignment, the Livelihood Officer will also liaise and work in close cooperation with IRW, and relevant provincial departments and government officials, in particular from MAIL, MoEs and other national and international agencies.

Duties & Responsibilities:

The Livelihood Officer will also perform the following tasks.

·      Lead, guide, and supervise the work of Livelihood assistants at the provincial and field level and insure implementation of livelihood component’s activities as per the project implementation plan. 

·      Provide technical support to the Senior Livelihood officer and the project task team.

·      Management of livelihood resources as identified in the project document in the field;

·      Implementation of livelihood operational plans in the field;

·      Development of livelihood assessment at the community level;

·      Provision of technical consultations to provincial manager and Senior Livelihood officers.

·      Contribute technical specifications for the market surveys, value chain needs assessments and training of beneficiaries on various skills.

·      Provide technical guidance for the marketing and market forward and backward linkages for the alternative livelihoods component of the project.

·      Contribute to rangeland management strategies, reforestation and disaster risk management.

·      Map out existing livelihood-related support that exists in the target districts/communities and facilitate a dialogue with provincial government authorities about ways in which these agencies can be more effectively integrated into the sub-national development planning process;

·      Assess the existing livelihood practices in the target sites; assess to what extent these practices (including the livelihood support provided by agencies listed above) take into account future climate change scenarios such as an increasing monsoon rainfall, decreasing dry season rainfall, and increasing variability in rainfall;

·      Carry out a preliminary costing exercise along with a calculation of potential beneficiaries (individuals or households), which will feed into the Total Budget and Work Plan section and Socio-economic Benefits section of the project document; 

·      Establishment SHGs, and Community Disaster Management Committees based on existing stakeholder groups and ensuring representation of all vulnerable groups.

·      Undertake a market assessment to identify opportunities for high-value products

·      Promote alternative income-generating activities and value-addition activities to diversify livelihood options.

·      Identify the delivery mechanism for such measures taking into consideration financial and institutional sustainability options.

·      Perform any other duties as required by the provincial Manager and Senior program technical team.

·      Provide project periodic reports (Monthly, bi-annual, and annual) for the assigned province. 

Expected Results:

·      Lead Livelihood component interventions at the province level.

·      Mapping and Assessment report of existing livelihood assistance, and socio-economic aspects, describing ways in which they are integrated into the sub-national development planning process.

·      Facilitation consultations and dialogue to formalize partnership agreements and contributions to project implementation

·      Community resilience is strengthened

Functional Competencies:

·      Strong interpersonal and communication skills;

·      Excellent English written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize project outputs and relevant findings for the preparation of quality project reports;

·      Ability to speak, read and write technical and conversational English;

·      Ability to understand new terminology and concepts easily and to synthesize information from different sources into a coherent project document;

·      Skill in negotiating effectively in sensitive situations;

·      Skill in achieving results through persuading, influencing and working with others;

·      Skill in facilitating meetings effectively and efficiently and to resolve conflicts as they arise;

·      Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior and high-ranking members of international, regional and national institutions;

·      Displays sensitivity and adaptability to different cultures, genders, religions, races, nationalities and age groups;

·      Good oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied actors;

·      Good team player, self-starter, has ability to work under minimum supervision and maintain good relationships.

Job Requirement

Qualifications required:

Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture/ Agribusiness/ Agriculture Extension. A Master’s degree in the mentioned disciplines will be preferred.

Experience and Skills Required:

·      Bachelor’s degree with at least 3-5 years of relevant experience and for Master’s degree 4 years.

·      Proven experience in conducting need assessments, feasibility studies, and analysis of agriculture and livelihood-related options/activities.

·      Proven experience in the formation of Farmers’ Self Help Groups and Community enterprises (Business hubs).

·      Demonstrated experience in the establishment of Farmers’ Field Schools, Demonstration plots, and Field days.

·      Strong knowledge and understanding sub-national institutional contexts of Afghanistan.

·      Experience in working with local government or NGOs on agriculture/livelihood-related activities in remote areas of Afghanistan.

Language Requirement:

Fluency in Pashto, Dari, and English is required.

Computer Skills:

Good working knowledge of computer applications ( MS Office,  outlook, internet etc. ) 

Interested and qualified national candidates should submit a cover letter explaining their motivation and updated CV to the following link:

https://jobs.af/jobs/livelihood-officer-knr

The closing date for accepting applications is 25 September 2024.

Please clearly state the Vacancy Announcement number and title of the position you are applying for in the subject line. 

Please note that applications received after the closing date will not be considered and only short-listed candidates will be called for an interview.

Note: The interview will be on rolling basis due to the urgent need of the position the interview may take place before the closing date of the post/s.