BACKGROUND:

Passing Gifts Private Limited (PGPL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heifer International USA and it provides services in educating, consulting, training, advising, and providing professional and technical services to individuals, associations, and entities in India and abroad, particularly those who support or are working in the areas of social advancement and sustainable development. This position may also require service agreements, secondment agreements, between entities, etc.

Heifer International through PGPL is partnering with Cargill Inc and the International Poultry Council in the implementation of the Transformational Strategies for Farm Output Risk Mitigation or “TRANSFORM” in India. TRANSFORM is a USAID funded project and a critical part of the Health Security Program that seeks to advance market driven animal health solutions to increase global health security, and increase access to safe, affordable, animal sourced nutrition while improving farm productivity and farmer incomes. TRANSFORM focuses on protecting human health by improving practices related to animal production through mitigation of antimicrobial resistance and prevent emerging infectious disease (zoonotic and transboundary animal diseases-TADs) while improving farmer livelihoods in India. Heifer is leading the deployment of biosecurity trainings to farmers and other value chain players through community agro-veterinary entrepreneurs (CAVEs) and farmer agrobusinesses, Social and Behavior Change awareness campaigns in biosecurity measures using different approaches, supporting farmer and value chain actors’ access to finance and market linkages to input suppliers, off-takers, and other actors in the market system.

PGPL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identify, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability.

FUNCTION:

Under the leadership of the Project Manager, the Project Officer- Livestock Technology and One Health will be responsible for providing technical support and coordination with the implementing partner in conducting trainings and promoting adoption of biosecurity, antimicrobial use, and good farm management practices among smallholder backyard poultry farmers in AP.

The Project Officer will also support Social and Behaviour Change (SBCC) campaigns to increase farmer knowledge on biosecurity, antimicrobial use, and good farm management practices as well as support efforts

to ensure farmer and value chain actors access to financing to adopt biosecurity, antimicrobial use stewardship and good farm management practices.

The Project Officer will also support farmer producer organizations through the implementing partner(s) to offer quality and reliable services to their members, through a robust extension system which will facilitate easy access to inputs and services, all of which will ultimately contribute to increased production and productivity. The Project Officer will also support partnerships with Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) partners in India, Government (both at State and District/ Block Levels) and other stakeholders implementing similar projects under the one health approach.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES: (including approximate percentage effort)

Training and Technical Support in Biosecurity, Antimicrobial Use and Good Farm Management Practices (45%)

• Responsible in leading the review, preparation, and development of training curriculum and materials on biosecurity, antimicrobial use, and farm management as well as animal health and nutrition related issues;
• Mobilize Community Agrovet Entrepreneurs (CAVES) and technical experts as appropriate, and arrange their trainings on biosecurity, antimicrobial use stewardship and farm management practices in collaboration with local implementing partner, Producer Organizations and relevant Government and other stakeholders partnering with the Project;
• Support deployment of farmer trainings and promote adoption of biosecurity, antimicrobial use stewardship and good farm management practices;
• Support research on the Return on Investment (ROI) on the adoption of biosecurity, antimicrobial use, and farm management practices as well as holistic nutrition in poultry value chain;
• Provide technical support to farmer producer organizations to offer quality and reliable services to their members, through a robust extension system which will facilitate easy access to inputs and services to increase production and productivity and promote adoption of biosecurity, antimicrobial use, and good farm management practices;
• Engage with State and District level veterinary technical personnel and other stakeholders (as required) in disease surveillance and reporting.

Project Planning, Administrative Management, Budgeting & Reporting (30%)

• Support the development and implementation of project workplans and budgets in line with the

donor and Heifer’s/PGPL regulations, guidelines, and requirements;

• Support implementation of approved workplans and budgets to achieve project objectives and targets as set out in the Cooperative Agreements, Results Framework and approved workplans and budgets in line with the donor and Heifer’s policies, guidelines, and requirements;
• Support the development and timely submission of high-quality reports, budgets, and other contractual project deliverables in line with the donor and Heifer’s policies, guidelines, and requirements;
• Provide advice and support monitoring of project activities for results, keeping track of project progress and actual or potential problems and recommending remedial options.

Technical Support to Social and Behaviour Change Campaigns (SBCC), Access to Finance and Project Monitoring and Evaluation (20%)

• Provide technical input in the development of SBCC messaging and communication campaigns materials;
• Ensure that technically sound social behavioral change messaging is deployed to communities in the target counties where the project is implemented;
• Support development of Access to Finance biosecurity focused products and farmer access to financing to implement biosecurity, antimicrobial use, and good farm management practices;
• Provide technical support in the development of a monitoring and evaluation tool, conducting monitoring, evaluation and learning (MELS) activities and reporting;

• Support periodic reporting of project results in line with the donor and Heifer’s results framework

and reporting guidelines and requirements.

May perform other job specific duties as assigned (5%) QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

• Bachelor's degree in Veterinary Science (B.V.Sc & A.H) with (3) years of relevant experience;
• Master’s Degree in Veterinary Science (M.V.Sc) with a specialization in Poultry Science and two (2) years of experience;
• Knowledge and experience in poultry and livestock programs;
• Experience in running campaigns;
• Knowledge of feed mill and hatchery management;
• Familiarity with fodder development;
• Experience with community organizations;
• Fluent in Hindi, English, and the local language (spoken and written);
• Good leadership qualities and communication skills;
• Interest in animal/agriculture-based community development;
• Excellent organizational skills with a strong attention to detail.

ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES:

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to navigate challenging situations to achieve goals and deadlines;
• Demonstrate a high degree of honesty and integrity;
• Motivated to work responsibly with little supervision;
• Ability to meet and deal with others in a courteous and tactful manner;
• Ability to work with sensitive information and to always maintain confidentiality;
• Ability and willingness to work a flexible schedule;
• Fluent in Hindi, English, and Local Language spoken as well as written;
• Have an interest in animals/agriculture community development;
• Willingness and ability to travel locally and internationally;
• Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, web designing, collaboration platform and tools, and electronic mail software (Microsoft preferred);
• Constant sitting, standing and walking, with occasional bending and lifting; may work at a computer for extended periods of time.