Better Cotton Initiative (BCI)
Senior Programme Officer – Assurance (Pakistan)
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Posted date 12th January, 2023 Last date to apply 29th January, 2023
Category Program Management
Status Closed

Senior Programme Officer – Assurance (Pakistan)

 

Starting Date: As soon as possible

Contract type: Permanent

Location: Lahore, Pakistan

Salary: Competitive salary commensurate with experience

Application closing date: January 29, 2023

Background

Better Cotton is the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. In under 12 years, we and our Partners have supported 3 million farmers in 23 countries in adopting more sustainable agricultural practices. Thanks to these efforts, Better Cotton accounts for around 21% of global cotton production. We are truly a joint effort, encompassing stakeholders from farms to fashion brands and civil society organisations, driving the cotton sector toward sustainability. Our mission is to help cotton communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment; and we are currently about to embark upon our next strategic phase until 2030, when our focus will be on deepening impact across our programmes.

About this role

Under the line management of the Senior Coordinator Assurance and the matrix management of the Standards & Assurance team, the Senior Programme Officer – Assurance will support the successful, rapidly expanding implementation of the Better Cotton programme in Pakistan.

Assurance covers the auditing and monitoring systems to ensure farmers participating in the Better Cotton programme meet essential requirements. S/he will support in ensuring that assurance activities are carried out in a consistent and credible way at country level, in line with global processes.

 

The Senior Programme Officer - Assurance will, monitor the activities of programme partners (PPs), feed into PP evaluations and funding mechanisms. Programme Partners are organisations with local expertise who oversee the setup and management of farming groups (Producer Units) under the assurance model. S/he will ensure the credibility of the information collected from the field and contribute to the understanding of the Impacts of Better Cotton in Pakistan.

 

The Lahore office supports & coordinates the work in Pakistan and works closely with the Geneva/London offices, which represents Better Cotton globally.

 

Key responsibilities 

Assurance

»      Conduct verification visits on farmers to assess whether they comply with the BC Standard around sustainable cotton production.

»      Develop clear, detailed, and timely reports after verification visits, including identification of non-conformities and supporting evidence.

»      Through field visits, identify areas for improvement and specific capacity needs of farmers participating in the BC programme. 

»      Carry out frequent travel to project locations during the growing and harvest season to conduct partner support visits and verification activities.

»      Review Corrective Action Plans and conduct visits for verification of their compliance.

»      Review readiness check reports prepared by PUs and provided feedback to partner and ensure to develop their understanding as per Assurance requirement.

»      Review PU support visit reports and provide feedback to partner, and ensure their understanding of requirement as per Assurance manual.

 

Information, Results and Data Management

»         Support the analysis of agronomic, economic, and social indicator data, to ensure accurate referencing to regional contexts.

»         Support in collection of data from project and control famers by Producer Units to ensure BCI requirements and deadlines are met. Conduct online trainings/webinar, if required.

»         Effectively contribute to field level data quality management especially the quality management of farmers lists that includes desk review, finding error, communication potential error for physical verification.

»         Update Sales Force and Project Database on need basis.

»         Review Corrective Action Plans and their implementation by Producer Units.

 

Training and capacity building

»        Helping Pakistan Assurance team to execute trainings, i.e., 3PV, Readiness Check, PU Support Visit, etc.

»         Support Sr. Coordinator Assurance in conduct of PP staff capacity building trainings on Standard and contribute to developing content for the training and participate in PP trainings where needed.

Beyond these specific responsibilities, the Senior Programme Officer is expected to collaborate on activities as agreed with the Senior Coordinator Assurance and Programme Manager Pakistan.

Profile

 

The selected candidate will have the following skills, knowledge, and experience:

 

Experience

Essential

Minimum of 4 years of work experience in development program/project

Experience of working in team and individually will be an advantage

Experience working with projects in rural settings

Experience in field data collection

Desirable

Experience in monitoring and evaluation and/or auditing and/or capacity building

Experience of working in cotton farming

Experience of working in agriculture sector of Punjab and Sindh province of Pakistan

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

Master’s degree, or equivalent higher education qualification, in a relevant field

Demonstrated interest in sustainability and international development

Superior skills and aptitude to appraise arguments critically and logically, organise ideas in a clear and concise manner, and draw conclusions and formulate arguments in a way that is effective, concise, and precise

Excellent interpersonal skills, along with the ability to work independently, proactively, and in a collaborative manner with a team.

Excellent written and communication skills with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely, and to assimilate and process information for wide-ranging audiences

Fluency in English and Urdu (spoken and written)

High proficiency in MS Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook

Willingness to frequently travel domestically, and occasionally overseas

Good aptitude for statistics and data analysis

Desirable

Objective and meticulous professional with the ability to multi-task

Academic background in rural/agricultural development and sustainability

Understanding of Decent Work principles in the context of Pakistan

Knowledge of cotton production

Knowledge of Punjabi / Sindhi/ Siraiki

Working arrangements

The position is full-time (40 hours per week) and will be based in Lahore. Better Cotton offers flexible working, with core hours being 10am – 4pm and the option to work from home part of the time, if desired. During COVID-19, Work from Home arrangement can be offered for an eligible candidate who is able to effectively work remotely.

Apply By:

Interested applicants with the required attributes are requested to send a detailed CV (2 pages maximum) and a motivational letter (1 page maximum), in English, by email to https://forms.monday.com/forms/a8234a5e353ec6138aaab936904bc360?r=use1

 

Application deadline:  January 29, 2023

We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only candidates short-listed for a telephone interview will be contacted. Better Cotton is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to good practice and transparency in the management of natural, human, and financial resources.

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