Position: Team Leader -- Cardno

The Cambodia Agricultural Value Chain Program Phase II (CAVACII) is an AUD 89 million DFAT-funded agricultural program, over six years between 2016-2021. Its purpose is to increase the productivity and incomes of small farmers, and trade in milled rice and other crops by strengthening market systems and investing in community-managed irrigation infrastructure. The design specifies three program components:

• Productivity and Diversification
• Water Management and Irrigation
• Rice Milling and Export

The Productivity and Diversification, and Rice Milling and Export components adopt a market systems development approach. Specifically, they promote improvements to the agricultural inputs, mechanisation, milling, and export markets that will lead to increased incomes for smallholder farmers. The Water Management and Irrigation component constructs irrigation infrastructure and capacity builds local water management groups. This includes continued cooperation with the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC), but also a significant use of private sector partnerships, and a limited number of civil society partnerships.

Position Outline
The Team Leader will have overall responsibility for the delivery of the Program to best-practice standards, in accordance with the DFAT Head Contract. S/he will lead the Senior Management Team and have line management responsibility for a number of senior personnel including the Deputy Team Leader, three Component Managers, and the Operations Manager.

The Team Leader will play the senior executive leadership role in the strategic oversight of the management and direction of the program to ensure successful implementation and managemen of risks, including of all in-country technical assistance. Strategic direction will be within the rapidly changing context of Cambodia’s agriculture sector, with the advice of the CAVAC Strategic Advisory Team (SAT) and the Program Director, in close liaison with the Australian Embassy. The Team Leader will direct the programmic policy dialogue, relationship management, and stakeholder engagement with DFAT, national and provincial RGC counterparts, development partners, the private sector and civil society. S/he also provides operational leadership for the Program.

Roles and Responsibilities
1. Key responsibilities of the Team Leader will include:Program Strategic Leadership and Culture

• Build, maintain, and inspire a cohesive team to deliver results.
• Model and encourage a culture of innovation, continuous learning, adaptive management, high performance, effective communications and collaboration.
• Enable the program and its staff to clearly articulate CAVACII’s purpose, approach, and achievements.
• Strategically pursue links between all three program Components in their activities and delivery of services, ensuring effective crosscomponent coordination.
• Ensure all teams have a focus on good practice program management and staff development.
• Ensure Program personnel work consultatively with partners, stakeholders and each other.
• Lead and manage a Program strategy that delivers the expected program results and is in line with the Head Contract.
• Ensure the program strategy is regularly reviewed and updated to meet the changing context of Cambodia and the agricultural sector; in close collaboration with Australian Embassy, RGC, Cardno, the Strategic Advisory Team and the Senior Management Team.
• Ensure appropriate risk management systems are in place and regular monitoring and implementation of mitigation strategies is occurring.

2. Technical Leadership

• Lead Annual Work Planning; ensuring processes are robust and collaborative, that they meet the strategic needs of the Program and are in line with RGC priorities, and that activities and resources are framed within the whole-of-life program budget and forecasts.
• Ensure DFAT’s deliverables and reporting requirements, as outlined in the Head Contract, are met on time and to the quality required, including writing and providing quality assurance of reports. Ensure all lessons coming out of reports are adapted into the program implementation.
• Support the DTL to ensure effective internal knowledge management, communications, M&E and other cross-cutting systems.
• Lead, coordinate and manage the activities of strategic-level short-term technical inputs, including the SAT technical inputs.
• Provide oversight to all other short-term technical inputs ensuring they are strategic and meet the needs of the program. This includes ensuring there is a focus on achieving outcomes and providing feedback.
• Ensure the component and cross-component teams are implementing the Program strategy and the Annual Work Plans.
• Provide oversight of the results measurement of the program, in consultation with the Deputy Team Leader and Component Managers, to ensure results measurement is effectively measuring the impact of the Program according to its goal, outcomes and indicative results.

3. Operational Leadership

• Work with the Operations Manager to ensure robust and adaptive program management systems are in place to efficiently and effectively plan for and manage available financial and human resources over the life of the program, and to deliver transparent and consistent communications to external stakeholders, including a financial system with high quality reporting and forecasting.
• Ensure the whole-of-life program budget and forecasts are effectively managed throughout the program in line with Head Contract requirements and meet the strategic needs of the program, with regular reviews to keep them on track.
• Ensure recruitment procedures and individual TORs, especially for senior positions, are attracting the right personnel to meet the strategic needs of the program. This includes long-term and short-term positions.
• Provide line management and performance management of all international and local direct reports.
• Review, approve and sign grants, procurement and personnel contracts as per delegations.
• Ensure compliance with DFAT policies, including but not limited to Gender Equality, Disability and Child Protection Policy.

4. Policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement

• Facilitate program engagement and provide outstanding representational skills, broker partnerships and facilitate influential and collaborative relationships with RGC, DFAT, partners and other stakeholders.
• Lead and coordinate the advice and support delivered by the Program to DFAT and Government partners as appropriate.
• Provide both proactive and highly responsive strategic level support, advice and assistance to the Australian Embassy on program and sector-related issues.
• Build and maintain excellent relations with stakeholders, and especially DFAT Embassy and the RGC, relevant public and private sectors bodies, and civil society.
• Actively contribute to the positive reputation of the Australian aid program in and beyond Cambodia. Work collaboratively across Australian whole-of-government development assistance programs to promote greater impact of Australia’s investment in the sector.
• In collaboration with DFAT, lead policy dialogue on agricultural development in Cambodia; with a focus on the market development approach, irrigation and water management, and rice exports – in line with the CAVAC Influencing Strategy.
• Provide oversight of the program’s knowledge management to ensure quality information, research and analysis is managed to effectively feed into program policy dialogue, donor and stakeholder reporting/communications, continuous learning and strategic reviews, and to effectively meet program goals and outcomes.

Selection Criteria
Essential

• Proven track record providing effective strategic leadership of large and complex aid programs.
• Proven track record to identify political risks and implement effective mitigation strategies.
• Proven ability to develop and maintain results-focused stakeholder relationships with host Governments, donors and other key partners.
• Demonstrated excellence in managing multi-cultural, multi-skilled and high-performing teams.
• Demonstrated interpersonal, communication, coordination, decision-making and leadership skills.
• Demonstrated ability to engage in policy dialogue.
• Demonstrated excellence in managing donor deliverables, particularly in reporting and strategic planning.
• Demonstrated understanding and commitment to principles of gender and women’s economic empowerment.
• Exceptional communication and writing skills in English.

Desirable

• Experience working in South East Asian countries, with understanding of political economy of Cambodia preferred.
• Previous experience as a Team Leader under DFAT programs.
• Knowledge in implementing aid programs using market-based approaches, such as market system development, Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) or value-chain approaches.
• Knowledge of irrigation development, water management practices or agriculture development.
• Knowledge of monitoring and impact assessment, exposure to DCED standard of result measurement and knowledge management practices.
• Experience in program risk identification and management.
• Demonstrated understanding of how women’s economic empowerment can be integrated into market development approaches at every level.

How to Apply
Email your application - with the reference “CAVAC –Team Leader” in the subject line – to recruitment.internationaldevelopment@cardno.com by 23.59pm AEST on 30 April 2018. Your application must contain the following:

• A cover letter with a response to the essential selection criteria above (no more than four pages total). Your statement should provide a clear and succinct statement against each selection criteria, using relevant and specific examples to support your claims, and clearly outline what your role was in the example;
• Your CV;
• Names and contact details (phone and email) of minimum two professional referees, one or both of whom was a recent direct supervisor.

We acknowledge receipt of all applications. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted about the outcome of their applications. Due to an expected large number of applicants, we regret that we are unable to provide feedback to unsuccessful candidates on the outcome of their applications. Shortlisted candidates may be requested to travel to be part of multi-stage interviews or to participate in online interviews (location dependent).

Moreinfo: http://www.cardno.com/en-au/Careers/Documents/CAVACII%20TL%20TOR.pdf