The job
We are looking for a Country Manager to oversee the local projects and to liaise with the stakeholders of our client. The Country Manager mainly has an operational role in leading the office and managing 25+ office and field staff, and a representation role towards local farmer groups and partners. However, in your role, you will be working in collaboration with the procurement team, and with project managers responsible for various portfolio’s. The role of the Country Manager is to facilitate and enable the execution of all on the ground sustainability activities from documenting land titles for 3.000 farmers to starting 100 savings groups for farmers in Ivory Coast.

Key activities and responsibilities

1. Represent the organization towards clients, donors, govt agencies and sector partners
• Be a spokesperson at sector events/conferences, and feed sector developments to HQ
• Maintain meaningful relationships with govt offices and sector partners
• Identify and develop new partnerships with local funding or implementing partners
• Organize partnership events and field trips for client representatives

2. Manage the country office with sustainability team of 50+ of program managers and field teams
• Ensure internal communication (meetings, documents) to document and align with the team on project targets and planning, procurement volumes and task division between the team members.
• Manage recruitment, HR performance management, personal development for all staff
• Support office processes, such legal entity establishment, rent, insurance, CAPEX procurement
• Ensure alignment within the team, facilitating exchange and coordination among different portfolio’s

3. Monitor progress of certification, mapping and traceability activities of suppliers and coordinate M&E digital data collection with project managers and the field staff;
• Directly manage the certification officer in the planning and execution of field activities (such as farmer trainings, certification audits, premium payments)
• Provide support to M&E project manager on the strategy and execution of farmer database management, mapping and traceability recordkeeping to ensure up to date reporting to HQ
• Report to HQ on project indicators and with narrative reports for client/donor programs

4. Supplier relation management and support on procurement and shipment
• Maintain relations with farmer group management to facilitate project execution and procurement
• Coordinate annual contracting with farmer groups on volume + sustainability premiums
• Directly manage the Shipment liaison to realize shipment

5. Finance and project audits
• Manage and optimize the expenditure of country budget and cash request, by identifying cost savings and synergies and finding solutions when budget lines risk to be exceeded
• Ensure accurate financial administration for management reports and coordinate financial project audits (financial report, time sheets etc)
• Coordinate contracted premium payments to suppliers and liaise on cashflow for operations with financial management of suppliers

Qualities we are looking for
• A bachelor’s or master’s degree, preferably in Business, International Development or related field
• At least 5 years’ experience in operational management and leading a team
• Experience in managing field activities in rural context
• Comfortable with intercultural communication
• Working well in a fast-paced working environment
• Self-starter, problem-solver, an ambitious and passionate worker
• Driven to improve projects and procedures
• Fluency in English and French

Are you interested in becoming a Country Manager Cote d’Ivoire? Apply now at the top or bottom of our page.