Lead, Knowledge and Engagement, Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) At Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition

About the Role

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Lead, Knowledge and Engagement, Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) to head the Knowledge and Engagement (K&E) team of FOLU’s Global Secretariat. This role will be offered on a two(2) year fixed term contract, subject to availability of funding and will be based in either of our GAIN offices in Nairobi, Kenya or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Lead, Knowledge & Engagement(K&E) will be responsible for FOLU’s global thought leadership, business engagement strategy and its financial institutions engagement strategies contributing to accelerate ambitious action.

By working with the Coalition’s eight International Partners and seven country platforms, the Lead will coordinate to co-create shared workplans, implementing strategies to drive behaviour change across the targeted stakeholder groups.

The postholder will also have a leadership role – contributing to the broader strategy and operational delivery of FOLU as a member of FOLU’s Senior Leadership Team.

This unique opportunity involves working with some of the world’s most prominent institutions and individuals in the fields of food systems, agriculture, environment, health and nutrition.

The Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU) is a self-governed Coalition of organisations and individuals working collaboratively to achieve a shared objective: the urgent transformation of food and land use systems to deliver a better future for people, nature and climate. FOLU supports science-based solutions and helps to build a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities to unlock collective, ambitious action.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Leveraging your technical knowledge, work to ensure FOLU remains at the cutting edge of driving needed behavior change within food systems. Identify key leverage points and strategies for systemic transformation, which are allied with FOLU’s agreed International Engagement Strategy and Results Framework, with a focus on sustainable agriculture, land management, nutrition, food security, and climate impact reduction. Facilitate and coordinate a participatory process which draws on the expertise and inputs of coalition members and the learning and insights of FOLU’s Country Platforms.
• As part of the FOLU Senior Leadership Team, provide strategic advice to the coalition on FOLU’s overall impact strategy as well as knowledge / thought leadership opportunities. Provide input to impact strategies of FOLU country platforms and strategic partner initiatives.
• Lead and coordinate knowledge products and workstreams to generate new insights on transforming food and land use systems towards sustainability and resilience through coordination and alignment with FOLU’s international partners. Develop and produce high-impact knowledge products, such as reports, briefs, and policy recommendations, to influence stakeholders at local, national, and global levels. Collaborate with experts across disciplines, including economics, agriculture, climate science, and policy, to integrate diverse perspectives into research and product development.
• Responsible for delivery of K&E team activities, including strategic oversight of day-to-day activities and workstreams.
• Oversee grant and funder reporting for policy influencing activities.
• Identify opportunities to grow FOLU’s thought leadership and impact, particularly with shifting corporate and financial institutions’ behavior. Support and facilitate concept development for new workstreams, platforms or products working with the KE team, country platforms, international partners and potential funders.
• Build and maintain relationships across the FOLU coalition and with external partners across the private sector, civil society, financial institutions and international institutions. Engage with global and regional networks, academic institutions, NGOs, and other partners to build alliances and disseminate research outputs.

About you

We are looking for an individual with proven track record in leading multi-stakeholder initiatives, coalitions or campaigns on topics related to food systems, nutrition, climate change or other related environmental issues. You should have experience in multilateral global and national level policy processes related to food systems, nutrition, climate change or other related environmental issues with ability to spot challenges and opportunities in low- and middle-income countries.

The post holder should possess an extensive network in relevant areas combined with experience in representation with key stakeholders such as donors, government, food system investors etc. In addition to this, you should be experienced in developing strategies and solving complex strategic and tactical problems as they arise.

People management skills are critical to succeed in this role due to the number of partners involved in this coalition combined with excellent management and strategic leadership skills. You should be comfortable to travel internationally(15%). An educational background with a master’s in environmental studies or science; agriculture / food systems; international development, economics or related area is required.

About our Offer

The starting gross salary per annum on offer for each location is as indicated below.

• Kenya: KES 6,055,272 – KES 6,920,316 gross/annum
• Ethiopia: USD 26,760 – USD 30,600 gross/annum

GAIN has a fair and competitive salary structure that allows for annual progression subject to good performance. In addition, GAIN offers a total of 37 days holiday per year (including annual leave, public holidays and additional office closure days), an attractive pension scheme and competitive insurance cover including health, travel and life assurance. We are committed to the health of our staff, especially in these challenging times, and have developed a programme of wellbeing that includes flexible and hybrid working, additional leave allowances, wellbeing days, mindfulness coaching and access to independent and confidential counselling.

GAIN also has a strong commitment to professional development. We will support you to grow in your career through both formal and informal training, and are committed to providing opportunities through internal recruitment, secondments, and promotion. All of this is delivered in a supportive and collaborative environment.

About GAIN

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Due to COVID19, conflict in Ukraine and climate change, malnutrition and hunger have worsened significantly since 2019, reversing a decade of progress. There is growing recognition that our food systems need to change if we are to reverse these trends.

GAIN’s Strategy aims to transform food systems to make healthier diets from sustainable food systems accessible to all people and especially those whose are most vulnerable to shocks. By 2027, we aim to improve the access of 1.5 billion people to nutritionally enhanced staple foods, improve the access of 25 million people to healthier diets, and support positive food system change in 10 countries. This is bold and complex, and the only way to achieve this is to work together with partners including governments, businesses, and civil society at the country and global level. These goals, and the ways of achieving them, build on our twenty-year legacy of transforming people’s lives with improved nutrition through concerted action and effective policy change.

Our Working Culture and Environment

We provide a flexible working environment that includes a combination of home and office working opportunities through our global hybrid working policy. This encourages our staff to have a healthy work-life balance and increases staff motivation, enriches employee wellbeing, and improves performance and productivity.

All of our positions are based in one or more of GAIN’s designated offices as stated on our job advertisements. Successful candidates will be based in one of GAIN’s country offices and must have the existing right to live and work within a reasonably commutable distance of the relevant city / cities in which the role is advertised. Please note, that GAIN does not sponsor working visas and relocations.

GAIN reserves the right to withdraw an offer of employment for candidates who are considered to ineligible under the above conditions during or after the recruitment process.

Applicants must have the right to work and be currently based in the advertised country location, to be eligible to apply for this position.

This advert closes on 6th December 2024. Early applications are encouraged. GAIN reserves the right to close this advert early should we receive suitable candidates ahead of the closing date.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is committed to equality of opportunity and creating an inclusive environment where diversity is valued. We are keen to reflect the diversity of our society at every level within our organisation and therefore welcome applications from talented and committed people from all backgrounds, representing the diverse societies we operate in.