Foodscape Innovation Specialist at Nature Conservancy

We work with local communities, governments and organizations to conserve Africa’s important places. Africa is special. Its wild lands and waters are home to incredible numbers and diversity of species living close to people
ABOUT JOB


The Foodscape Innovation Specialist will lead the Agriculture Strategy scaling programme by developing and implementing innovative solutions that enable the Agriculture Strategy, with special focus on the CHEF, to significantly contribute to TNC 2030 Goals. You will manage (collect, collate, analyse, share) various data types related to climate, water, biodiversity, and livelihoods outcomes. You will use these data to catalyse collective and/or coordinated action among diverse actors involved in the CHEF, to drive an ambitious scaling program. The data will not lead to a static how-to plan to scale, but rather a living strategy that serves as a “north star” to guide the scaling mechanism through the Foodscape Innovation Hub. This strategy will consist of CHEF-wide key actionable products tailored to meet TNC’s unique Ag-conservation work across four ecologies, a variety of production systems, and to serve corporate partners. You will support the CHEF Director to regularly convene CHEF actors: governments, corporate and private sector, CGIAR, NGOs, funding partners, producer entities to review foodscape implementation progress, share lessons learned, and adapt as necessary based on the contextual, internal and external factors.
You will lead TNC staff and partners to deliver the CHEF scaling strategy, including working closely with TNC regional and global Corporate Engagement Teams to organise customised training and engagement programs in regenerative systems to enable the private sector transition into nature-positive actors. You will work closely with the Africa Agriculture Program members, the Freshwater Strategy team, Global Provide Food and Water teams, CHEF partners, Kenya Country program teams, and the Africa Business Unit staff to advance progress across the five action areas of the Agriculture Strategy. You will work with the full range of CHEF actors, including government agencies, other conservation organizations, foundations, communities, and other stakeholders.
The Foodscape Innovation Specialist reports to the CHEF Director and will be based in Nanyuki Town, Kenya. No employment visas or relocation assistance is being offered with this position except for the local labor employment requirements.

WE'RE LOOKING FOR YOU
Are you looking for a career to influence the transition to regenerative food systems for people and nature? We are looking for you. We are looking for a professional to lead our scaling strategy. You will operationalise the CHEF Foodscape Innovation Hub as a sustainability mechanism. You will lead a structured process founded in policy, to identify and implement immediate next steps, arrive at cost projections for different scaling scenarios, and develop an approach to engage county and national budget offices. You will be the main contact point for the entire Agriculture Strategy for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) and the TNC Integrated Data Management Database (HUB).
Specific Roles And Key Responsibilities

Coordinate data management among TNC partners, TNC strategies/ programs, and develop products and plans for the CHEF scaling strategy.
Ensure CHEF transdisciplinary status, by maintaining data integrity between parallel systems, including auditing and reconciling information interface discrepancy.
Delineate CHEF-wide lessons for policy engagement on biodiversity, water and climate change.
Articulate a clear, measurable, and timebound scaling vision based on the Agriculture Strategy contribution to TNC 2030 Goals.
Using a transdisciplinary approach, implement the CHEF monitoring and evaluation plan, ensuring that planned MEL activities are implemented, data is managed, and progress, including learnings, is established and disseminated to internal and external stakeholders. Work with the CHEF Field Coordinator and TNC MEL specialists to gather data on the scaling process and put in place an adaptation/continuous improvement plan for CHEF.
Assess partner organisational capacity required to fully implement the CHEF, including identifying capacity gaps and making recommendations on how to bridge them.
Set up the Foodscape Innovation Hub (FIH), working closely with CHEF director, government officials, private sector, and the CHEF Field Coordinator to ;
Identify enabling conditions and necessary partnership innovation required for sustainable scale, as well as obstacles or potential threats to consider.
Determine and lead necessary adaptations required to meet the evolving needs of expanded CHEF partners/populations, including the corporate and private sector.
Work with the Foodscape Innovation Hub partners to articulate financial sustainability plans that delineate how partnership resources will be mobilised, budgets considered, and existing systems and structures leveraged at various stages of scale.
Develop terms of reference for the most appropriate locations.
Determine the most appropriate locations for Foodscape Innovation Hubs to address current and future challenges for implementing regenerative food systems and lead the development of Terms of Reference for FIH governance teams.
Collaborate with Corporate Engagement to set up and influence a pre-competitive multi-stakeholder initiative to support regenerative food systems as part of the FIH. This includes supporting regenerative business models.
May work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances.

What You'll Bring

BSc degree in statistics, business statistics, behavioral/development economics, business administration or equivalent degree.
5 years’ experience in scaling, program development, partnerships, or management consulting.
Experienced in data management skills, analytical, leadership, intellectual curiosity, and partnering skills.
Experience in developing and implementing monitoring and evaluation plans, including working with partners to undertake collaboration, learning and program adaptation activities.
Experienced in data analytics and visualization tools e.g. Power BI and/or Tableu.
Experienced in making and executing project decisions.
Experience in indirectly influencing or managing senior leaders across multiple organizations.
Agriculture or conservation experience is preferred.
Mastery of systems such as Agile, Oracle ERP, and cloud software.
Experience working in technology with some experience e.g., in SaaS enterprise software or equivalent.
Experienced in using technology in creating records, sourcing, executing, and nurturing strategic partnerships.
Experienced with problem solving and decision-making processes.
Collaborative with other team members to achieve sound outcomes.
Experience managing complex or multiple projects, including staffing, workloads and finances under deadlines.
Supervisory experience, including motivating, leading, setting objectives, and managing performance.

Desired Qualifications

MSc degree or a combination of training in statistics or business statistics and behavioural/ development economics or business administration.
Multi-lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
Over 7 years’ experience in agriculture-environment field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Demonstrated experience in the utilisation of complex data sets to plan and adapt agriculture-conservation projects, and to influence, develop, and implement related policy.
Knowledge of current trends and practices in agriculture-conservation discipline and regions.
Ability to work effectively and pragmatically under pressure within a variety of simultaneous competing initiatives and issues. Track record of success negotiating complex partnerships with varying interests.
Knowledge of methods and standards of biodiversity information systems and initiatives or related field.
Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.
Demonstrated experience or knowledge in fundraising.
Politically savvy.