Markets and Trade Advisor

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Early Warning Team (EWT) seeks a full-time markets and trade (M&T) advisor based in Washington, D.C. While the preference is for the M&T advisor to be based in Washington D.C., qualified applicants who do not intend to reside in D.C. and those based in countries where FEWS NET operates outside of the U.S. are eligible to apply. The M&T advisor is expected to set the technical direction for this sector’s work and advise the FEWS NET EWT Senior Management Team on associated technical and administrative priorities for the project. The M&T advisor provides leadership, guidance, and technical support to the FEWS NET EWT and partners in the areas of M&T monitoring, analysis, and reporting.

FEWS NET is an integrated set of activities funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is intended to provide timely, accurate, evidence-based, and transparent food security early warning information and analysis. Chemonics International (Chemonics) implements the FEWS NET EWT, a team charged with integrated emergency food insecurity analysis through a Washington-based technical office and more than and more than 20 field offices.

FEWS NET’s food security analyses, early warning of threats to food security, and food assistance decision support depend heavily on the monitoring and analysis of markets and prices associated with staple foods, cash crops, livestock, and labor. The markets and trade (M&T) advisor is expected to set the technical direction for this sector’s work and advise the FEWS NET EWT Senior Management Team on associated technical and administrative priorities for the project. The M&T advisor provides leadership, guidance, and technical support to the FEWS NET EWT and partners in the areas of M&T monitoring, analysis, and reporting. The M&T advisor will work with members of the FEWS NET EWT technical team in the home, regional, and field offices, particularly the regional food security specialists-markets and trade (RFSS-MT), to design, execute, and coordinate activities in the M&T technical area. These activities will include providing key inputs to and drafting decision-support products, providing technical assistance and guidance to colleagues across the project, strengthening the capacity of the FEWS NET EWT and partners to conduct relevant market analyses, and leading efforts to improve sectoral scenario building and associated staff capacity strengthening. The M&T advisor will contribute to providing high-quality and effective early warning of threats to food security associated with price and market shocks, and support efforts to mitigate food insecurity and prevent food crises through the provision of actionable market-related food security analyses.

Responsibilities

The main responsibilities of the M&T advisor include, but are not limited to:

Technical Activities

• Leading monitoring, analysis, and reporting on sector-relevant issues for acute food insecurity early warning.
• Overseeing the production of monthly monitoring products reporting on market trends in countries the FEWS NET EWT monitors, including the Monthly Price Bulletins (national and regional) and Price Watch and Annex.
• Overseeing the production of Supply and Market Outlook reports (regional and national).
• Leading analysis and drafting of reports on market trends and policies, as needed, in relation to early warning projections and in close collaboration with members of the FEWS NET EWT home, regional, and field offices.
• Providing guidance to and overseeing staff responsible for compiling market data, including staple food prices, cross-border trade flows, crop production estimates, and commodity balance sheet estimates collected from countries monitored by the FEWS NET EWT.
• Ensuring the establishment and maintenance of systematic and efficient M&T data collection and management processes among home, regional, and field office staff.
• Identifying, developing, and implementing innovative methods for the collection of critical M&T-related data, including but not limited to food/livestock prices, informal cross-border trade, labor wages, and stock information.
• Monitoring and analyzing international market and policy developments concerning staple food commodities and other commodities relevant to food security early warning analysis.
• Identifying emerging market issues and providing input to the analysis of regional and local food security conditions and decision-support processes.
• Contributing to technical discussions and the content of products and activities with an M&T-related element.
• Leading technical management of subcontractor activities related to M&T, including but not limited to initiating requests, developing scopes of work, liaising with subcontractor technical points of contact, liaising on subcontract administration with the Chemonics project management unit, and reviewing and approving deliverables.

Technical Capacity Development and Guidance

• Providing technical assistance and guidance to enable home, regional, and field office staff to deliver high-quality market information and analyses pertaining to food security analysis, early warning, and associated decision support.
• Identifying key M&T analytical support needs and establishing, refining, or enhancing methods, tools, and guidance to meet those needs. This will involve coordination with the quality assurance and methods advisor.
• Regularly reviewing the consistency and accuracy of price projections and other M&T-related food security forecasting in FEWS NET EWT early warning analysis and incorporating associated learning into sector methods, processes, and products.
• Providing assistance with the design and implementation of market assessments and with the improvement of price and market monitoring methods.
• Providing technical assistance and guidance for remote monitoring start-up activities related to markets and price monitoring.
• In collaboration with members of the home office, transferring knowledge and providing short-term training to strengthen the capacity of field teams to understand the structure and functioning of markets and to monitor, analyze, and report on food commodity markets and other markets that determine household food security.

Inter-Pillar Collaboration

• Engaging with the FEWS NET Data and Learning Hub (also known as “Pillar 2” and the “Hub”) to ensure that the M&T data FEWS NET uses is appropriately uploaded, organized, and accessible via FEWS NET’s data storage and data access platforms.
• Managing, through the Hub’s help desk tickets and other mechanisms as appropriate, ongoing collaboration and coordination around M&T-specific inter-pillar activities.
• Advising and collaborating with future implementers working under FEWS NET’s analysis of the dynamics of food, nutrition, and livelihood security pillar (Pillar 3) to identify key M&T-related evidence base gaps to be filled and/or provide technical inputs/insights to ensure relevance to and consistency between relevant Pillar 3 work and early warning analysis.

Leadership, Representation, and Global Collaboration

• Supervising a home office-based team of market analyst(s) in addition to short-term consultants.
• Contributing to the identification of priority M&T activities in line with the strategic orientation of the FEWS NET project.
• Designing, executing, and leading technical and operational work in the M&T discipline.
• Monitoring and, as appropriate, contributing to activities undertaken by the FEWS NET EWT that aim to enhance capabilities in market monitoring, early warning, and associated decision support.
• Seeking collaboration with partners to enhance the quality and impact of M&T work for food security early warning purposes.
• Liaising with international partners to exchange information and promote a dialogue on market and institutional issues pertaining to food security early warning.
• Contributing to FEWS NET’s capacity building and institutional strengthening objectives.
• Facilitating training workshops and the transfer of FEWS NET market monitoring and analysis methods, tools, and systems to regional and international organizations.

Minimum qualifications for this position include:

• Fluency in English required; French and/or Spanish language skills desirable.
• Education and experience in a discipline relevant to the M&T work of FEWS NET (e.g., PhD and at least two years of relevant experience; Master’s degree and at least four years of relevant experience; Bachelor’s degree and at least six years of relevant experience; less than a Bachelor’s degree and at least eight years of relevant experience).
• Relevant education includes, especially, agricultural economics. Relevant work experience includes humanitarian and/or development work, of which at least two years must be directly relevant experience in food security, contingency and response planning, and decision support; overseas and management experience highly desired.
• Detailed knowledge of, and experience with, global network M&T partners.
• Experience with implementing USAID projects and associated field operations, programs, policies, and procedures is desirable.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent computer skills; GIS applications and mapping, and statistical software skills are an advantage.