Technical Officer-Marketing (Re-advertisement), BD- 2017 Project

Job Description

Title: Technical Officer-Marketing (Re-advertisement), BD- 2017 Project

Company Name: Jagorani Chakra Foundation

Vacancy: 1

Age: At most 45 years

Job Location: Jashore

Salary: Tk. 55000 (Monthly)

Experience:

• At least 5 years

Bachelor's degree (minimum) in Agriculture/ Agriculture Marketing/ Agribusiness Management/ Agricultural Economics/ Rural Development, Development Studies/BBA/or a closely related field.

A Master's degree in any of the above disciplines will be considered an added advantage.

• At least 5 years

• Age At most 45 years

• At least 5-7 years of experience in the relevant agriculture marketing field.

• Basic computer skills in MS Office. Must have skills in making donor reports (English and Bangla).

• Ability to work under pressure and dual/multi-management. Have to drive a motorcycle with a valid driving license.

• Maximum 45 years (Age is relaxed for more experienced candidates)

Jagorani Chakra Foundation (JCF) is a national voluntary social welfare organization. JCF is implementing “Strengthening Climate-smart Vegetable and Flower Value Chain in Bangladesh (C4VFVC)” Project supported by Heifer International Bangladesh since 2023. The project aims to improve income and climate-resilient livelihoods of smallholder women farmers in Jashore district. To ensure the quality implementation of the project, JCF intends to recruit project staff from qualified candidates of Bangladeshi nationals.

Job Responsibility

:

Project Planning and Implementation

 Contribute to annual and quarterly project work-plan development in line with project objectives and program framework.

 Support the Project Coordinator in designing activity-level implementation plans, budgets, and timelines.

 Ensure timely execution of planned activities related to market development, cooperative support, and value chain strengthening in the target districts.

 Maintain close coordination with Cooperative PMC, project team and Heifer International Bangladesh's team to ensure Community collective activities.

 Identify implementation gaps and propose adaptive measures to ensure project milestones are achieved.

 Participate in project review meetings, planning workshops, and learning events as required.

 Conduct regular field visits to monitor progress, identify challenges, and provide technical guidance.

Cooperative Business Development

 Identify and Support to cooperatives to develop and implement their business development plans and service delivery models.

 Assist to cooperatives in developing sustainable business models for safe vegetable production, aggregation, packaging, transportation, and marketing.

 Develop cooperatives financial mechanism in business planning, budgeting, market assessment, pricing, cost-benefit analysis, and market expansion initiatives.

 Develop and strengthen cooperative-based market systems to enhance profitability and business sustainability.

 Conduct training, mentoring, and coaching sessions on safe vegetable production, business management, financial literacy, and marketing skills.

 Promote women’s participation and leadership in cooperative business operations and decision-making.

 Support women entrepreneurs in accessing finance, savings, loans, and market opportunities.

 Assist cooperatives in establishing product aggregation and bulking systems to improve market negotiation power.

 Facilitate linkages between cooperatives and input suppliers, financial institutions, and service providers.

 Monitor the performance of cooperatives and provide continuous backstopping and coaching to members.

Market Linkage and Supply Chain Development

 Map and analyze local, national, and export market opportunities for vegetables, agro-products (veggies, fruits, processed food).

 Identify new, privet company, input company, reliable international buyers and cultivate relationships with existing buyers for ensure MoU and Agreement between Cooperative and Buyer, Exporter for safe food export

 Coordinate the collection, grading, packing, and transportation of products to ensure freshness, reducing wastage during the post-harvest process.

 Establish and manage collection points for aggregation and marketing of vegetables and flowers from smallholder farmers.

 Develop and maintain business linkages with buyers, traders, retailers, wholesalers, and exporters in domestic and international markets.

 Facilitate formal market agreements and contracts between cooperatives/SHGs and buyers to ensure fair price and consistent market access.

 Strengthen forward and backward value chain linkages including sourcing of quality inputs (seeds, fertilizer, tools) at affordable prices for farmers.

 Identify value addition opportunities for vegetables to improve market positioning.

 Analyze market trends, price fluctuations, and consumer demand to inform cooperative and farmer marketing decisions.

Stakeholder Engagement and Networking

 Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with relevant public sector agencies (DAE, DAM, BADC, BARI, DLS, BARD, SRDI, cooperatives department, local government) and private sector entities.

 Engage with NGOs, development partners, research institutions, and academia working on agricultural market development in the region.

 Represent the project and JCF in district- and national-level stakeholder forums, coordination meetings, and trade fairs.

 Facilitate public-private partnerships (PPPs) to support cooperative business development and market access.

 Liaise with exporters, buyer groups, and trade bodies for potential international marketing of vegetables.

 Develop Upazilla and district based multi-stakeholder platforms involving cooperatives, government departments, NGOs, financial institutions, and private sector representatives.

 Mobilize leverage support and resources from government programs, private companies, and development organizations for cooperative business growth.

 Organize and facelifted national/sub national event on export, linkage meetings, networking events, fairs, exposure visits, and promotional campaigns for cooperative products.

Capacity Building and Technical Support

 Design and facilitate training programs for farmers, SHG members, and cooperative leaders on climate-smart agriculture, post-harvest handling, grading, packaging, and market-oriented production.

 Capacity building LSP, community leaders, community entrepreneur.

 Organize and oversee demonstration plots, hub, and field days for best agronomic practices in vegetable and flower cultivation.

 Train cooperative members in business development skills including record-keeping, pricing, negotiation, and contract management.

 Provide on-the-spot coaching and mentoring to community-level facilitators, field officers, and cooperative management committees.

 Develop training manuals, guidelines, and materials relevant to market development activities.

 Promote digital and innovative marketing approaches for cooperative products where applicable.

Documentation and Reporting

 Maintain proper documentation and up-to-date records of all field activities, beneficiary data, market transactions, and cooperative performance.

 Prepare timely monthly, quarterly, and annual cooperative business report, export report, progress reports for submission to the Project Coordinator and Heifer International Bangladesh.

 Collect and document success stories, good practices, and lessons learned from project interventions, specially Export activities, Cooperative collective business, women Entrepreneur.

 Support to baseline, mid-term, and end-line surveys, market assessments, and value chain analyses.

 Contribute to the project's M&E system by entering field data accurately and supporting data quality assurance processes.

 Document and share market intelligence and field observations to inform adaptive project management.

Professional Experience

• Minimum 5/7 years of practical field experience in agricultural market development, value chain promotion, cooperatives business development/Agricultural Marketing & Trade, collective business development with an NGO or development organization.

• Demonstrable experience in working with smallholder farmers, SHGs, and/or cooperatives in any of the following sectors: horticulture, vegetables, floriculture, or agri-business.

• Experience in establishing market linkages, buyer relationships, and supply chain management for agricultural produce.

• Prior experience working Stakeholder, privet sector engagement, Partnership Management

• Strong knowledge of Exports activities/chain is an advantage.

• Community Mobilization, cooperative development, and rural finance.

Skills and Competencies

 Proven ability to facilitate training, workshops, and demonstrations with diverse groups.

 Good understanding of gender-sensitive and climate-smart agricultural practices.

 Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; ability to work effectively with communities, government officials, and private sector partners.

 Ability to ride a motorcycle and travel extensively to field locations within the project area.

 Cooperative Governance & Management

 Problem-Solving and Adaptability, Integrity and Accountability, Cultural Sensitivity & Inclusion.

Safeguarding:

 Follow the organization's Child Safeguarding, Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA), Gender, Money laundering, Whistle Blowing and other Policies.

Tk. 55,000 per month, Consolidated and other admissible benefits as per organizational policy as well as the project.