Senior Capacity Building Officer – Pakistan

Senior Capacity Building
Officer – Pakistan
Starting Date: As soon as possible
Contract type: Full Time, permanent
Salary: As per respective salary band
Location: Lahore, Pakistan
Application closing date: May 28, 2023

Background

Better Cotton is the world’s largest cotton sustainability programme. Our mission: to help cotton
communities survive and thrive, while protecting and restoring the environment. In challenging times,
we are meeting the challenge head on. Through our network of field-level partners we have trained over
2.5 million farmers - from the smallest to the largest - in 23 countries in more sustainable farming
practices. A quarter of the world’s cotton is now grown under the Better Cotton Standard. We have
united the industry’s stakeholders behind our efforts, from ginners and spinners to brand owners, civil
society organisations and governments. Everyone who cares about cotton and its sustainable future
can now be part of something better.

Description

The Senior Capacity Building Officer will work on capacity building measures, cascading models,
relationship management with programme partners and continuous improvement of the sustainable
practices at the farm level. The Sr Capacity Building Officer will provide support in designing and
executing strategies that programme partners ensure quality implementation to achieve impact 2030
targets. Further, the Sr Capacity Building Officer will facilitate capacity building team in conducting
Master Trainer Training, Production Unit (PU) Managers Training and other capacity development
activities.

Under the management of the Capacity Building Manager – Pakistan and matrix managed by the global
team, the Senior Capacity Building Officer will facilitate knowledge management and exchange
activities to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices. The work scope requires frequent travel
to cotton-growing regions and time spent in the field with farmers and Better Cotton partners. Some
international travel may be required. The Lahore office supports & coordinates the work in Pakistan and
works closely with the Geneva/London offices, representing Better Cotton globally.

Responsibilities

Capacity Building

• Facilitate the capacity building activities including the cascading model, master trainer program, PU

Managers training and relevant follow-up activities jointly with programme partners.

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• Support the capacity building team in devising organisational development models for programme

partners to strengthen their sustainable cotton farming practices and learning methodologies.

• Provide research & development and knowledge management support to the capacity building team

in identifying the latest social and environmental good practices and orient programme partners

regularly in a systematic way.

• Identify the training needs of programme partners and provide capacity building support to ensure

the continuous improvement according to Better Cotton Standard Systems (BCSS).

• Execute knowledge exchange networks via creating online/face-to-face formats on key

sustainability issues to facilitate programme partners.

• Operate a systematic relationship management approach to increase the quality of delivery through

programme partners and conduct regular virtual and in-person meetings.

• Implement progress review and learning areas to support the quality programme delivery with

structured coordination systems to work with programme partners.

• Work closely with the capacity building team to ensure that partner progress and potential of scale

up are well communicated and execute measures for the continuous improvement.

• Conduct assessment activities with the assurance team when required.

Information, Data and Knowledge Management

• Provide required support in managing databases from programme partners according to the needs

of the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS) by ensuring the data is used for quality analysis of
relevant indicators.

• Share the results of data analysis to facilitate programme partners learning and encourage the

continuous improvement of participating farmers.

• Support programme partners on Better Cotton reporting tools and processes to ensure that

deadlines are followed to ensure the continuous improvement of Better Cotton systems.

• Provide required information to Assurance, Membership, Supply Chain, M&E and Traceability teams,

so that the Better Cotton project database is up to date and contains accurate information.

• Support the analysis of agronomic, economic, and social indicator data, to ensure accurate

referencing to regional contexts.

• Share the results of data analysis to facilitate Producer Units’ learning and encourage the

continuous improvement of participating farmers.

• Support Producer Units’ staff, matters concerning Better Cotton reporting tools and processes to

ensure that deadlines are respected and to collect their feedback to ensure the continuous

improvement of Better Cotton systems

Cross functional Working

• Develop close liaison with Assurance, Membership, Supply Chain and Traceability teams to

understand the programme's needs in Pakistan.

• Assist the global grants team in developing proposals for other funding opportunities.


• Provide support to the membership team in the country to arrange events.

Beyond these specific responsibilities, the Senior Capacity Building Officer is expected to collaborate

on additional activities agreed with the Country Director – Pakistan, Capacity Building Manager -

Pakistan and matrix manager (s) from Better Cotton global team

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Profile

The candidate will have the following Skills, Knowledge, and Experience:

Experience
Essential
Minimum of 5 years of work experience in development program/project
At least 2 - 4 years’ experience of capacity building and partnership Management
Experience of working in team and individually will be an advantage
Experience of working with multi-sector i.e., government, public and private institutes
Experience working with projects in rural settings
Understanding of Field dynamics of Pakistan, especially Sindh and Punjab
Desirable
Experience in monitoring and evaluation and/or auditing and/or capacity building
Experience with working in cotton farming
Experience with working in the agriculture sector of Punjab and Sindh province of Pakistan
Skills and Knowledge
Essential
Master’s degree, or equivalent higher education qualification, in a relevant field
Demonstrated interest in sustainability and international development

Superior skills and aptitude to appraise arguments critically and logically, organise ideas in
a clear and concise manner, and draw conclusions and formulate arguments in a way that
is effective, concise, and precise
Excellent interpersonal skills, along with the ability to work independently, proactively, and in
a collaborative manner with a team.
Excellent written and communication skills with the ability to communicate clearly and
concisely, and to assimilate and process information for wide-ranging audiences
Fluency in English and Urdu (spoken and written)
High proficiency in MS Office and data analysis.

Willingness to frequently travel domestically, and occasionally overseas
Desirable
Objective and meticulous professional with the ability to multi-task
Academic background in rural/agricultural development and sustainability
Knowledge of Punjabi / Sindhi/ Siraiki

Working Arrangements

The successful candidate will report to the Capacity Building Manager – Pakistan.

The position is full-time (40 hours per week) and will be based in the Better Cotton Pakistan office in
Lahore. Better Cotton offers flexible working, with core hours being 10am – 4pm and the option to work
from home up to 3 days per week. Frequent travel to cotton-growing regions will be required. Some
international travel may be required.

Applications

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Interested applicants with the required attributes are asked to send a detailed CV (2 pages maximum)
and a motivational letter (1 page maximum) in English by applying via this link.

Application Deadline: 28th May 2023

We thank all applicants for their interest; however only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Better Cotton is currently unable to provide sponsorship for work permits, and candidates need to have
a pre-existing right to work in the location where they will be based.

Better Cotton is an equal opportunity employer, and is committed to good practice and transparency

in the management of natural, human and financial resources.

Better Cotton has a zero tolerance approach to any attitudes or behaviours that put children or adults
at risk of harm. Safeguarding incidents are acts of serious misconduct and are grounds for
disciplinary action, up to and including, dismissal and referral to relevant authorities for criminal
prosecution.

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