West Africa Fair Fruit Jobs: Certification Specialist

West Africa Fair Fruit (WAFF) is a not-for-profit organization that specializes in promoting responsible production and trade in fruit, cocoa and other commodities. We aim to contribute to the promotion and strengthening of sustainable agricultural and business practices which generate sustainable sources of income and employment. West Africa Fair Fruit recruits: Certification Specialist/Master Trainer to be based in Accra Ghana

Job Description

The Certification Specialist / Master Trainer will be the backbone for WAFF’s field activities related to voluntary standards and certification. This work will involve:

• providing services for project partners related to a range of voluntary certification standards e.g. UTZ CERTIFIED, Organic, Fair Trade:
• leading gap analyses and pre-audit assessments to help partners gauge their current level of compliance;
• co-developing certification action plans;
• supporting the development of strong ICS and ICS teams;
  • coaching and supporting WAFF’s partners to identify training/capacity needs, and suggesting solutions;
  • developing and maintaining a library of suitable training material, for different audiences and different standards;
  • delivering training of trainers and of technical assistants (including WAFF colleagues) to help build understanding and human capacity around various voluntary certification standards;
  • contributing to a broader strategy to build overall capacity within West Africa on certification issues e.g. developing training modules to be taught at agricultural colleges and higher-education institutions; and
  • preparing standard-specific certification manuals that are tailored to the West African context.

Required Skills:

• Relevant Masters degree;
• Experience of at least 2 years in a comparable position as a Certification Specialist / Adult Trainer, and in total at least 4 years working experience;
• Practical experience of smallholder group certification of agricultural products;
• Expertise in training adults, supported by appropriate qualifications;
• Experience with Farmer Field Schools and/or adult learning;
• Good Twi speaker; excellent English speaker and writer; French language skills would be desirable;
• Experience of working with colleagues and partners in an international and multicultural context;
• (desirable) Knowledge of carbon footprinting techniques / carbon trading initiatives.

Personal competencies
The successful candidate should have a pro-active, enthusiastic nature, and strong interpersonal and relationship building skills. As well as their effective communication skills, s/he is someone who is keen to learn, is quick to solve problems and has reliable organisational skills.

How to Apply:

If you meet the above criteria, please submit a letter that explains your motivation for applying for this post and your Curriculum Vitae to the WAFF Administrator: [email protected], not later than 28th June, 2010.

PLEASE INDICATE CLEARLY IN THE SUBJECT LINE THAT YOU ARE APPLYING FOR THE CERTIFICATION SPECIALIST / MASTER TRAINER POSITION.

Only short listed applicants will be contacted.