Farm Service Program Manager

About the role

Barry Callebaut’s “Forever Chocolate” strategy includes strong commitments towards improving cocoa farmers’ livelihoods, under the Prospering Farmers Pillar. Corresponding objectives have specifically been formalized to reflect Barry Callebaut’s ambition to aim for a long term poverty reduction perspective for cocoa farmers and to transform the way cocoa is produced by enhancing the existing farming model in West Africa, and beyond: 

• By 2025, more than 500,000 cocoa farmers in our supply chain will have been lifted out of poverty.
• By 2030, we will have mobilized key stakeholders around a transformative cocoa farming model generating living income

The Farm Service strategy is the main tool within the Prospering Farmers pillar and is structured around access to planting materials (cocoa and non cocoa), access to fertilizers and crop protection solutions and access to labor through the deployment at scale of labour groups. The scope of Farm Service covers Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Indonesia, Brazil and Ecuador and roughly 600,000 cocoa farmers. Within this pillar, the Farm Service Program Manager will manage the corresponding programs of the appropriate farming, cocoa planting material and poverty reduction approaches and procedures.

Key Responsibilities include

• Supervise the Prospering Farmers Strategy implementation within the countries in scope of Farm Service
• Align and manage program coordination within the Prospering Farmers Strategy portfolio, for both existing and new programs
• Support equipping the Farm Service coaches with tools in order to facilitate the right service to farmers in scope of the Farm Service strategy
• Facilitate the coordination of coach deployment on the ground
• Interact with key stakeholders supporting the Global Farm Service Lead in partnership management within the Farm Service Strategy
• Act as second point of contact for Farm Service related topics for key partnerships
• Interact with key customers to provide insights and knowledge on the Farm Service Strategy
• Provide underlying knowledge for refinement of programme design for customer programme proposals
• Act as second point of contact for Farm Service related topics for customer programmes
• Support in identification and evaluation of strategic research initiatives and opportunities

About you

• Preferably MSc degree in Agronomy, Environmental Sciences, Biology, Sustainability, Policy, Development or a similar discipline
• 5-7 years of experience in a corporate organization or in NGOs in the areas agriculture, food or sustainability
• Profound knowledge and experience in program and/or project management
• On the ground experience in Africa, Latin America or Asia in agricultural supply chains is an advantage
• Excellent English language skills, good command of French is mandatory. Spanish or Portuguese are a plus
• Ability to influence and gain ‘buy in’
• Thrives under pressure while maintaining a high level of personal and professional integrity
• Positive “can do” attitude
• Self-starter and hands-on working style
• Collaborative, solution oriented working style
• Understanding of commodity supply chains, preferably cocoa
• Understanding of agriculture, preferably with a focus on tropical agriculture
• Proven track record of successful project and/or program management
• Ability to operate in international & multicultural environments
• Ability to work closely with large and complex remote teams, without hierarchical authority
• Creative, out of the box thinking
• Flexible and adaptable to change
• Travel requirements approximately 15%

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