Environmental Compliance Advisor

Title: Environmental Compliance Advisor

Program: FTF Local Food Systems

Reports to: Grants and Contracts Manager 

Location and Travels: Nairobi, with 25-50% of travel requirement 

Grade: 7

About TechnoServe

is a leader in harnessing the power of the private sector to help people lift themselves out of poverty. A non-profit organization operating in 29 countries, we work with enterprising men and women in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. By linking people to information, capital and markets, we have helped millions to create lasting prosperity for their families and communities.Founded over 50 years ago, TechnoServe has been named the by the Impact Matters charity ratings agency.

TechnoServe believes that achieving prosperity requires the full and free participation of women and girls. Our Gender Policy and our commitment to programmatic excellence requires that we involve, empower, and benefit both women and men, both at the level of our beneficiaries and at the level of our staff.

By joining our team, you will benefit from a respectful working environment of women and men that believe in the professional development of each one.

Program Overview:  

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) anticipates funding the five-year Feed the Future Local Food Systems (LFS) activity in Kenya. The activity will promote inclusive agriculture-led growth with a focus on climate-smart approaches, strengthen the resilience of people and systems by expanding economic opportunities, improve nutrition of women and children, as well as integrate cross-cutting themes. This activity is anticipated to cover a combination of staple and high value crops. 

The activity will implement solutions including:

Improving resilience of vulnerable populations Building the capacity of food system enterprises Catalyzing investment into local agricultural market systems Establishing strong and transparent relationships between food system actors Improving the availability and affordability of nutritious food products, especially for women and children Expanding employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, especially for youth and women

The Program will have the following teams: Financial and Administrative Team (Nairobi and regions); CLA Team (Nairobi and regions); Technical Integration Team (Nairobi); and Regional Implementation Team (regions). The role is contingent on award and funding. 

Position Overview’s

The Environmental Compliance Advisor will be responsible for environmental compliance of a multi-million US$ grants funding. Each grant proposal will need an environmental analysis and mitigation plan. The Advisor will also provide guidance on more complex environmental compliance documents, such as the annual project-level environmental mitigation and monitoring plan (project EMMP), and activity EMMPs for more complex environmental issues. Additionally, when called for by activity EMMPs, the Manager will provide more targeted support for specific activities, particularly the ‘grant agreements’ activities that take place in the context of FTF Premier´s partnership agreements. In this sense, the Manager will work closely with agricultural firms through MEL. 

Major Duties and Responsibilities

The main duties of the Environmental Compliance Advisor are

Responsible for compliance of the FTF activities Local Food Systems and grants with USAID Environmental compliance regulations and documents like the PERSUAP (Pesticide Evaluation Review And Safe Use Action Plan), EMMP (Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plans) and others; securing consultants as needed to support this work Develops and updates annual Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plans (EMMP). Ensuring restricted commodities have approvals in place prior to purchase or use. Performs, as required, initial Environmental Examinations (IEE) to all activities, assess environmental impact for field activities that will be supported by FTF LFS and develop environmental monitoring and mitigation plans for each of them. Develop information materials on the PERUSAP and EMMPs for FTF LFS grantees and partners Strengthen capacities of FTF LFS staff, grantees and partners on Environmental Compliance, EMMPs and PERSUAP Responsible for Environmental compliance and Monitoring of the FTF LFS activities and grant implementation Work closely with the MEL team to develop indicators in line with the project framework and incorporate into the EMMP monitoring plan  Produce monthly and quarterly EMMP progress reports for the FTF Premier program and for each individual grant that is under implementation.  Regularly communicate with USAID to understand reporting needs in regards to environmental issues and prepare those reports when needed.  As-needed tasks in support of the project activities

Qualifications/Requirements

Preferably a Master´s degree in Environmental studies, agriculture or a related field, with about 3 years of related experience or a Bachelor's degree and 3 years plus experience in related fields.  Relevant experience in environmental analysis and mitigation monitoring experience, agro business and food processing areas  Extensive experience (3 years) with USAID environmental risk analysis and mitigation planning and monitoring tools and methodology is required.  Proven experience with USAID’s environmental compliance and monitoring requirements is required including PERSUAP and EMMPs.  Experience with advising and training on environmental compliance.  Strong compliance skill and attention to detail, with minimal supervision, able to prioritize and manage a high volume work flow. Excellent written and verbal communication skills and relevant computer software skills with proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel and Word). Fluency in English and Kiswahili are required. The successful candidate will have a strong commitment to personal integrity.

Additional notes:

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.