Title: Agriculture Technical and Project Expert Location: Washington, DC Introduction:Mindseeker is looking for an Agriculture Technical and Project Expert to join the Mindseeker Team and support the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). MCC has contracted with Mindseeker for the provision of Personal Services Contractor (PSC) staffing to selected areas of the agency. The selected candidate will work as a PSC member of MCCs Land and Agricultural Economy Practice Group alongside other PSCs and direct hires and represent MCC on agriculture matters internally and externally. Mindseeker will be the employer of record. Major Duties and Responsibilities:
- Serve as an LAE Practice Group agriculture project or activity lead and the lead agriculture technical authority within inter-disciplinary MCC country teams responsible for ensuring program development and implementation to achieve MCCs organizational objectives.
- Independently assess problems and their root causes within a country's agriculture sector and identify areas of programmatic investment to address selected root causes including critical policy and other conditions to ensure sustainability of results
- In coordination with partner country counterparts, propose and develop viable solutions to complex agricultural sector, market, policy, and project-effectiveness problems, consistent with best practices, MCC guidelines and approaches and other requirements
- Effectively communicate and collaborate within MCC teams and with partner government counterparts to successfully influence outcomes
- Lead project management during program design and advise and coach country counterparts on project management during implementation, establishing timelines and workplans and identifying and mitigating risks.
- Develop and advise on budgets for projects and on independent cost estimates for procurements
- Develop and advise on SOWs for procurements and associated contract technical directives
- Conceptualize and direct work of other MCC agriculture consultants, ensuring deliverables meet MCC needs and are within established budgets
- Provide input to and feedback on MCC analysis of economic benefits of agricultural projects, and on evaluation of the effectiveness of agriculture sector programs
- Represent MCC effectively and authoritatively on complex agriculture and agricultural economy technical matters with colleagues in a variety of disciplines at MCC and within the US government, and with external entities including foreign government officials, multi-lateral and bi-lateral development institutions (DFIs), private sector actors, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
- Perform other duties as assigned
Minimum Qualifications:
- Advanced degree (accredited Masters, Ph.D., etc.) in a discipline related to agriculture and agricultural economy development, projects or investments. An advanced degree may be substituted by experience that exceeds the minimum required qualifications.
- 10+ years of experience in design and management of complex multi-disciplinary agricultural sector projects in developing countries focused on topics such as agricultural value chains, agricultural production and marketing, policy and regulatory frameworks and institutional change, food security, agricultural sector finance and financial tools, agricultural commercial sector and business environment, trade, horticulture, livestock, farmer organizations including water user associations, and land management.
- 10+ years of experience managing or implementing consulting contracts and contractors, including drafting scopes of work, managing LOE against available budget, reviewing or submitting deliverables and indicating needed improvements in actionable terms.
- 5+ years designing and implementing agriculture and agricultural economy interventions that influence, reform, and/or strengthen the policy, legal, regulatory, and institutional environment for the operation of agricultural markets and/or national agriculture systems (i.e. for monitoring of production, stocks or prices; trade and export permitting; storage; statistics, etc.)
- Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate complex agriculture sector economic, market, policy/regulatory, institutional, and production principles to peers and non- specialists,
- Familiarity with quantitative and qualitative methods for assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of agriculture sector programs.
- Demonstrated ability to identify and implement workable solutions to complex project management problems of a technical, legal, political, financial, procurement/contractual, or management nature. Ability to undertake project work planning, scheduling, sequencing, budgeting, and risk identification, mitigation and management, particularly in a developing country context and within the agriculture sector.
- Demonstrated excellent inter-personal and negotiation skills and ability to work cooperatively and productively in teams to achieve agriculture-related results with other technical experts in diverse fields, foreign government officials and other stakeholders.
- Strong written and speaking communication skills and with proven ability to communicate clearly and concisely in speaking and writing. Writing skills must include the ability to produce and edit documents in a timely manner. Speaking communications skills must include the ability to facilitate meetings and make logical and persuasive oral presentations, including at conferences or in other public event contexts.
- Candidate must be a US Citizen
Preferred Qualifications:
- Professional proficiency in spoken French and/or spoken Portuguese
- Knowledge and experience with the policy and institutional enabling environment for agriculture; for instance, public revenue dimensions of agricultural sector commercial activity, including reforms to tax environment in developing countries for agricultural firms and investors among other foundational policies to increase overall agricultural productivity and investment.
Work Environment:
- Candidate must be able to work in a hybrid office setting in Washington, DC, including regular days in the office at MCC HQ combined with telework. Fully remote work may be considered for a well-qualified candidate.
- International and/or domestic travel is required, which may include countries with limited infrastructure and physically challenging environments.
Suitability Requirements:
- All Mindseeker employees supporting MCC must be able to pass a thorough MCC background investigation, including credit and reference checks, prior to starting.
Current direct hire federal employees who are considering applying to this announcement should immediately contact your Agency Ethics Officer for post-employment counseling. Selectee will be required to work directly with MCC's Office of General Counsel to complete a Confidential Financial Disclosure Form (OGE-450) due as a new entrant within 30 days of onboarding and then due annually by February 15th. Selectee is not requested to submit the Disclosure Form prior to the onboarding. EEOC Statement:Mindseeker provides equal employment opportunities to all applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.