Senior Policy Advisor

Senior Policy Advisor

Effective with the release of this position announcement, Winrock International is recruiting applicants for the Senior Policy Advisor for the KISAN II Project; responsibilities, duties and qualifications are described in the attached position description.

GENERAL:

Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to increase economic opportunity, sustain natural resources, and protect the environment. Winrock matches innovative approaches in agriculture, natural resources management, clean energy, and leadership development with the unique needs of its partners. By linking local individuals and communities with new ideas and technology, Winrock is increasing long-term productivity, equity, and responsible resource management to benefit the poor and disadvantaged of the world.

SALARY:

The annual salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

APPLICATIONS:

Applicants must submit a cover letter and current CV to jobs.KISAN@winrock.org. Applicants should reference Senior Policy Advisor KISAN II by September 30, 2017 .

Winrock International is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer.

POSITION TITLE: Senior Policy Advisor

LOCATION: Kathmandu, Nepal

REPORTS TO: Enabling Environment Director

BACKGROUND:

The USAID/Nepal-funded KISAN II project is improving food security in twenty Hill and Terai districts in the Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western regions of the country and four districts in the Central region. The purpose of the project is to increase resilience, inclusiveness, and sustainability of income growth in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence. KISAN II will help lead firms, input suppliers, and private sector change agents catalyze agricultural productivity, competitive market systems, a stronger enabling environment, and business and literacy skills for households in two Zones of Influence.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

KISAN II aims to strengthen the enabling environment for agriculture growth and competitiveness. The project will support public-private sector collaboration to align Government of Nepal policy, regulations, administrative procedures, and investment strategies to support this objective.  The Senior Policy Advisor will provide technical and analytical rigor to the business enabling environment component. Specific responsibilities include:

• Work with the Enabling Environment Director to identify, assess, and prioritize system-level enabling environment barriers to agriculture competitiveness. Barriers that need to be addressed may exist at the municipality, provincial and/or national levels. Advise on barriers that KISAN II can have the most impact on during the project’s period of performance.
• Advise on the selection of enabling environment issues to be supported by KISAN II and develop a clear policy road map for each issue, identifying key milestones to be achieved over the life of project, identifying partners at the firm, industry, government and donor levels, and describing assessments that will need to be undertaken by the project to inform stakeholders.
• Conduct value chain analytics to identify commodity-specific enabling environment constraints. This could for example be related to food safety standards, grading, storage and warehousing, rural infrastructure management, finance, etc.
• Based on the analytics, develop a clear road map for addressing commodity-specific constraints. This includes identifying key milestones to be achieved over the life of project, partners at the firm, industry, government and donor levels, as well as key assessments that need to be undertaken up by the project. Work with the Enabling Environment Director to tie this work to broader efforts at the system level.
• Facilitate and contribute to efforts to build government and private sector capacity, particularly at the industry level, for evidence driven policy making and advocacy. As part of this effort, work closely with the CLA team to conduct regulatory impact analysis to ensure and demonstrate the positive impact of policy changes over time, as well as the costs and benefits associated with certain policies.
• Participate in assessing the advocacy capacity of private sector industry associations, and advise on how those industry associations can strengthen government relations and inform the agriculture policy agenda.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQURIEMENTS:

Education: Masters degree in relevant field, PhD preferred.

Experience: The ideal candidate will have the following experience:

• At least 12 years of relevant experience.
• Experience working with the Government of Nepal and/or the private sector to improve the enabling environment related to agriculture
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written with fluency in both English and Nepali required.

Other: Position is open to individuals of any nationality; however, this is a local hire position so international hire allowances will not be provided.

Disclaimer: This position is contingent upon donor approval.