About the Project

The Centre for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD) of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), in collaboration with Sviluppo dei Popoli (CISP), Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSAS), Total Land Care (TLC), Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and Save the Children, is implementing a 3-year AGREE Malawi Project (Agroforestry for Resilient Management and Ecosystem Balance for Malawi). The project is a transformative initiative, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), that aims to promote climate-resilient agriculture, adoption of agroforestry, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable natural resource management to improve livelihoods and environmental sustainability in Malawi. The project seeks to strengthen smallholder resilience, improve landscape restoration, and foster evidence-based innovations through establishing living labs, partnerships involving farmers, research institutions, government and development stakeholders. Localmarket insights

Position Summary

The Project Officer, while closely working with the Director of CARD and the District Agricultural Office, will provide strategic and operational leadership for the AGREE Malawi Project, ensuring timely, effective, and high-quality implementation of project research activities in line with project objectives, donor requirements and institutional standards.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Project Officer will:

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the project and ensure effective coordination of all project components.
• Provide monthly and quarterly monitoring of project implementation progress.
• Lead planning, coordination and execution of project implementation.
• Facilitate linkages among farmers, researchers, district agricultural office, private sector actors and other project partners.
• Ensure project interventions align with approved workplans, institutional requirements and donor values and expectations.
• Supervise district-level and field activities, ensuring delivery of high-quality technical and field support.
• Implement implementation schedules, field operations, paneled data collection and stakeholder engagement processes.
• Prepare technical progress reports, success stories, lessons learned and project knowledge products.
• Support monitoring, evaluation, learning and adaptive management processes.
• Represent the project in technical forums, networks, policy dialogues and stakeholder meetings.
• Prepare district technical reports, policy briefs, research outputs and dissemination materials.
• Provide district level leadership in identifying risks, resolving implementation bottlenecks and ensuring project targets are achieved.
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by relevant project authorities.

Key Qualifications and Requirements

Applicants should possess:

• Bachelor’s degree in Agroforestry, Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Agricultural Economics or related field.
• Minimum 5 years proven experience in project management, preferably in agriculture, agroforestry, climate resilience or rural development programs.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-stakeholder and field-based projects.
• Strong coordination, communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience in supervising and managing field research or development activities.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation, work planning and reporting.
• Proven ability to write high-quality reports, research papers and policy briefs.
• Strong organizational, leadership and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with donor-funded project implementation and compliance requirements is an added advantage.

Terms of Engagement

The successful candidates will be engaged on an initial 1-year contract, renewable subject to project requirements and continued availability of project funding. Remuneration shall be in accordance with the project terms and conditions of engagement.

• Oversee day-to-day operations of the project and ensure effective coordination of all project components.
• Provide monthly and quarterly monitoring of project implementation progress.
• Lead planning, coordination and execution of project implementation.
• Facilitate linkages among farmers, researchers, district agricultural office, private sector actors and other project partners.
• Ensure project interventions align with approved workplans, institutional requirements and donor values and expectations.
• Supervise district-level and field activities, ensuring delivery of high-quality technical and field support.
• Implement implementation schedules, field operations, paneled data collection and stakeholder engagement processes.
• Prepare technical progress reports, success stories, lessons learned and project knowledge products.
• Support monitoring, evaluation, learning and adaptive management processes.
• Represent the project in technical forums, networks, policy dialogues and stakeholder meetings.
• Prepare district technical reports, policy briefs, research outputs and dissemination materials.
• Provide district level leadership in identifying risks, resolving implementation bottlenecks and ensuring project targets are achieved.
• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by relevant project authorities.

• Coordination
• Communication
• Stakeholder engagement
• Supervision
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Work planning
• Reporting
• Report writing
• Research paper writing
• Policy brief writing
• Organizational skills
• Leadership skills
• Problem-solving skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Agroforestry, Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Agricultural Economics or related field.
• Minimum 5 years proven experience in project management, preferably in agriculture, agroforestry, climate resilience or rural development programs.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-stakeholder and field-based projects.
• Strong coordination, communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience in supervising and managing field research or development activities.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation, work planning and reporting.
• Proven ability to write high-quality reports, research papers and policy briefs.
• Strong organizational, leadership and problem-solving skills.
• Familiarity with donor-funded project implementation and compliance requirements is an added advantage.