Zambia Country Technical Lead – FEWS NET Full Time NEW

Introduction

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) is an integrated set of activities funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USG) and is intended to provide timely, accurate, evidence-based, and transparent food insecurity early warning information and analysis. Created in 1985 in response to famines in East and West Africa, FEWS NET provides global coverage of acute food insecurity. FEWS NET’s work is implemented across several mechanisms by a team of partners that includes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the University of California-Santa Barbara’s Climate Hazards Center (UCSB-CHC), University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences, American Institutes for Research (AIR), and Chemonics International (Chemonics). Chemonics implements FEWS NET’s Decision Support Team (DST), which is charged with providing integrated monitoring and analyses of current and forecast acute food insecurity in countries worldwide to support the United States Government’s (USG) policy and programmatic decisions. The DST operates through a Washington-based technical office, regional FEWS NET offices, and national staff presence in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and eastern Europe.

FEWS NET’s objective is to produce timely, evidence-based decision support to enable the efficient allocation of humanitarian assistance on the basis of need.

Based on an in-depth understanding of local livelihoods, FEWS NET monitors information and data on factors that affect food security, such as conflict, weather and agroclimatology, crops, pasture, markets and trade, and nutrition. The FEWS NET DST produces regular reports, including Food Security Outlooks and Outlook Updates, emergency alerts, market and price updates, and targeted analyses. FEWS NET makes reports available at www.fews.net and distributes them globally to governments, relief agencies, and other organizations engaged in humanitarian response and development programs.

The eighth phase of FEWS NET began in 2024. The work of the FEWS NET DST relies on close collaboration with international, regional, and national partners on food security-related data and information gathering and analysis. Major activities include joint monitoring and assessments, data sharing and exchanges, collaborative analysis and reporting, and support of local and regional food security networks.

Position Description

The FEWS NET DST maintains virtual and physical field offices in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and eastern Europe. Five regional offices coordinate and oversee the technical and administrative management of over 40 country offices. Each country office falls into one of three tiers, depending on the complexity of the context and operating environment, with Tier 1 countries requiring a larger staffing footprint, and Tier 3 countries requiring a smaller staffing footprint. There are four main technical positions at the country level: Country Technical Lead (CTL); Country Technical Manager (CTM); and Country Technical Senior Specialist for Food Security (CTSS-FS); and Country Technical Specialist for Food Security and Instability & Conflict (CTSS-FS&IC). The CTL serves as the technical analysis leader within the country across all three tiers. Tier 1 and 2 countries have a CTL, CTM, and different numbers of CTSSs. As a default, Tier 3 countries have a CTL and one CTSS, although in select cases, they may have more than one. In addition, the CTL is responsible for supporting and supervising all staff in the country, including the Country Technical Manager (CTM), the Country Technical Senior Specialists (CTSSs) and others, in the following activities:

• Efficient, focused acute food insecurity monitoring, data collection, assessment, and early warning analysis
• Effective communication of early warning analysis to the USG, partners and decision-makers through high-quality reports and participation in briefings and formal and informal meetings
• Close collaboration with key partners, such as host government ministries, UN agencies, and international and local NGOs, among others
• Supporting and helping to build strategic partner networks by addressing identified gaps in effective early warning systems and through supporting network capacity building efforts spearheaded by FEWS NET
• Project administration and management at the national level
• Monthly meetings with USG mission staff
• Regular participation in IPC/CH analyses
• Regular collection of data and field information, as required, and uploaded to the FEWS NET Data Warehouse (FDW)
• Coordination and effective collaboration with other FEWS NET mechanisms

The CTL is responsible for supporting, supervising, and providing quality control for national and sub-national level project deliverables and ensuring that activities and products for the country are delivered in a high-quality and timely manner.

Responsibilities

The main responsibilities of the Zambia CTL include, but are not limited to:

• Overseeing the fulfilment of monthly reporting requirements, including providing writing and providing critical inputs to part or all the Food Security Outlooks (FSOs), FSO Updates, Price Watch, and key messages; contributing to Food Assistance Outlook Brief reports; and providing regular briefings to USG and other partners.
• Reaching out monthly to USG Mission counterparts to offer and, upon agreement with the USG Mission, delivering food security briefings and/or updates to relevant Mission staff. Overseeing the capture and transfer of meeting notes from these engagements within two days of the event.
• The CTL will ensure the integrated food security analyses (FSOs, FSOUs, FAOB input) classify and communicate the severity of acute food insecurity in line with the globally recognized Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) scale. Where IPC compatibility is not possible, the CTL will ensure analyses remain globally comparable.
• Support the DST in meeting USG’s expectations on timely delivery of decision support products, which include, but are not limited to: delivery of monthly reporting for all presence countries no later than 7 days after the last day of the reporting month; responding to urgent questions on acute food insecurity within one day; providing briefings within one week of request; and assessing acute food insecurity in Expanded Global Early Warning (EGEW) countries within one week of request.
• Maintaining a knowledge base comprised of, at a minimum, livelihood zone profiles, commodity trade flow maps, sub-national seasonal monitoring calendars, commodity price data, nutrition data, security monitoring, conflict data, migration, remittances, labor, humanitarian food assistance, and other technical data covering rainfall, agricultural production, population, etc., in collaboration with other FEWS NET 8 implementing mechanisms, as applicable
• Maintaining and transferring relevant national technical databases built from primary and secondary data sources, from national and sub-national partners, and through inputs entered into the FEWS NET Data Warehouse
• Developing and updating national seasonal monitoring plans and participating in national acute food insecurity monitoring, as applicable
• Providing proactive, high quality, and effective early warning of acute threats to food security in the country and supporting efforts to mitigate acute food insecurity and prevent food crises through effective communication of actionable food security analysis
• Providing strategic leadership in the planning and execution of technical activities in the country, including working closely with the Regional Technical Lead and the relevant home office Food Security Analyst(s), to develop annual workplans that ensure that the in-country team is capacitated to carry out high-quality early warning analysis that produces IPC-compatible analyses
• As part of ensuring high quality decision support, the CTL will support collaboration with Regional Technical Senior Specialists (RTSSs) to improve the integration of thematic technical areas (e.g., conflict, markets and trade, livelihoods, nutrition and agroclimatology) into regular and ad hoc decision support (including briefings) and facilitate interaction among regional and country office technical staff to further integrate sub-national and national technical and thematic analyses into decision support
• Engage with the CTM and CTSSs, in the country, to identify sectoral support needs and collaborate with the RTL and RTSSs to coordinate support, based on identified priorities
• Collaborating with national and national partners in food security monitoring and analysis in the country, including through implementation of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) or Cadre Harmonisé (CH) protocols
• Developing and maintaining strong collaborative national relations, both formal and informal, with USG Mission representatives, US Embassy technical contacts, UN agency representatives, government ministry staff, and key international, regional, and national NGO counterparts to facilitate technical exchanges, promote consensus-building, work to resolve technical disagreements, and facilitate joint, coordinated actions to mitigate food insecurity
• Supporting the FEWS NET CTM and CTSSs to collect, archive, analyze, and share food security data and information and to undertake network development activities
• Participating in Early Warning Assessment Team missions, as requested, to support rapid monitoring of emerging crises as guided by the Washington D.C.- based technical team, in coordination with the RTL
• Supporting analysis of the EGEW countries as designated by the RTL and in coordination with the Washington D.C.-based technical team
• Participating in all required meetings
• Ensuring the organization of project documentation and files for the country
• Conducting regular independent and joint field assessments of food security conditions in areas of most concern in the country
• Contributing to the development of other FEWS NET DST information products required by the regional office or the Washington D.C.-based technical team
• Ensuring information on the relevant country page of the FEWS NET website is current and accurate
• Supporting network capacity development efforts in coordination with the Regional Capacity Development and Communications Senior Specialists and the Network Capacity Development Advisor
• Representing the FEWS NET DST at regular and ad hoc formal and informal meetings within the food security network for the country
• Supervising, mentoring, and supporting the professional development and performance of the CTM and CTSSs, as well as technical and administrative staff in the country office
• Leading recruitment efforts for country office technical and administrative staff, monitoring all recruitments in the country and, when necessary, participating in technical and administrative recruitments.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in written and spoken English, and in a principle local language, is required.
• Bachelor’s degree in a discipline relevant to the work of FEWS NET, such as economics, agricultural economics, agronomy, nutrition, climatology, anthropology, or social geography is required; advanced university degree (Master’s degree or higher) is desirable.
• At least six years of relevant experience (with PhD), ten years of relevant experience (with Master’s degree), or 15 years of relevant experience (with Bachelor’s degree) is required. Relevant experience includes working on food security information systems, food security analysis, early warning, or other related fields; experience working with UN agencies and/or NGOs is desirable.
• Demonstrated experience setting the strategic direction for or otherwise leading and managing a team of colleagues, including an ability to mentor and coach staff.
• Excellent planning, organizational, analytical, and report writing skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with others at all levels, including an ability to effectively liaise with host governments, UN, NGO, and other relevant stakeholders and an ability to coordinate effectively with remote colleagues.
• Excellent computer skills, GIS applications. and mapping skills are desirable.

Location and Reporting

The CTL will be based in Lusaka, Zambia and is directly supervised by the Regional Technical Lead (RTL). For technical activities, the CTL collaborates and coordinates with the in-country CTM and CTSSs, regional technical senior specialists in the region, and relevant home office-based food security analysts. For office administration and financial management, the CTL collaborates with the country-level or regional office administration and finance staff and the relevant Washington D.C.-based Project Management Units. The CTL will be required to travel regularly within the country, and some regional and international travel may also be required, security permitting.

Tagged as: Chemonics, Zambia