One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI) is a nonprofit organisation advancing health, animal welfare, sustainable food systems, environmental sustainability and resilient communities through the One Health approach.
As OHDI expands its food-systems programming across Africa, we are strengthening our regional delivery model to deepen country-level engagement, strengthen regional partnerships and support more effective and sustainable programme implementation.
We are seeking two experienced and proactive Programme Coordinators – Responsible & Sustainable Food Systems to coordinate and strengthen OHDI’s Responsible & Sustainable Food Systems (RSFS) portfolio with one Coordinator responsible for West Africa and the other responsible for Southern Africa.
Position Summary
Position: Programme Coordinator – Responsible & Sustainable Food Systems
Programme/Portfolio: Responsible & Sustainable Food Systems (RSFS)
Positions Available: Two, one for West Africa and one for Southern Africa
Duty Station: Remote/Hybrid within the applicable region
Travel: Regular regional and occasional international travel may be required
The Programme Coordinators will coordinate the development, implementation and strengthening of OHDI’s Responsible & Sustainable Food Systems portfolio within their respective regions.
The successful candidates will have significant responsibility for activities under the Africa Fish & Aquaculture Welfare Programme (AFIWEL), including country-level implementation, government and stakeholder engagement, capacity strengthening, policy and standards processes, producer engagement and programme follow-up. Beyond AFIWEL, the Coordinators will help identify and develop opportunities across responsible food production, animal health and welfare, antimicrobial use and stewardship, biosecurity, food safety, environmental sustainability, producer capacity, market systems and other interconnected food-system priorities.
The roles require professionals who combine strong programme coordination and execution with technical understanding, regional knowledge and effective stakeholder engagement.
Key Responsibilities
1. Regional Programme Coordination and Delivery
- Coordinate implementation of OHDI’s RSFS programmes, projects and activities within your region.
- Translate programme strategies into practical regional and country workplans, activities, timelines and deliverables.
- Coordinate implementation across multiple countries and maintain oversight of agreed activities and commitments.
- Identify implementation bottlenecks and work with relevant teams to address them.
- Ensure programme activities, progress and outcomes are appropriately documented and reported.
2. AFIWEL Regional Coordination
- Coordinate implementation and continued development of AFIWEL activities within your region.
- Support country processes relating to fish and aquaculture welfare standards, guidelines, policies, assessment and verification systems.
- Coordinate stakeholder consultations, technical workshops, validation processes, training and Training-of-Trainers programmes.
- Support engagement and capacity strengthening of fisheries authorities, veterinary services, inspectors, producers, researchers and industry stakeholders.
- Support sustained implementation and institutionalisation of AFIWEL interventions beyond initial workshops and technical activities.
3. Country-Level Programme Strengthening
- Support the progression of country programmes from initial stakeholder engagement through technical development, validation, adoption, implementation and follow-up.
- Develop country-specific workplans and longer-term engagement pathways for priority countries.
- Strengthen government and institutional ownership of OHDI-supported interventions.
- Maintain regular engagement with priority stakeholders and identify opportunities for follow-on technical support.
- Promote programme depth, institutionalisation and measurable outcomes within priority countries.
4. Responsible & Sustainable Food Systems Portfolio Development
- Identify opportunities to expand OHDI’s engagement across responsible production, animal health and welfare, biosecurity, antimicrobial stewardship, food safety, environmental sustainability and resilient production systems.
- Support development and adaptation of farmer capacity-strengthening, responsible-production, verification and market-engagement approaches.
- Engage producers, producer organisations, buyers, industry actors and other value-chain stakeholders.
- Contribute regional evidence and intelligence to the development of new programmes and interventions.
5. Government, Partner and Stakeholder Engagement
- Build and maintain productive relationships with government ministries and agencies, regulatory bodies, universities, research institutions, professional associations, producer organisations, private-sector actors, civil-society organisations and development partners.
- Coordinate stakeholder meetings, consultations and technical engagements.
- Represent OHDI at approved meetings, conferences, workshops and other engagements.
- Support development of strategic partnerships that strengthen programme implementation and sustainability.
- Ensure stakeholder commitments and follow-up actions are appropriately documented and progressed.
6. Research, Evidence, Monitoring and Learning
- Support programme-linked research, assessments, evaluations and evidence-generation activities.
- Contribute to reports, policy briefs, guidelines, publications and other knowledge products.
- Track programme progress against approved workplans, indicators and milestones.
- Maintain appropriate country and regional programme trackers.
- Document implementation lessons, challenges and emerging good practices.
- Support integration of programme learning into subsequent programme design and implementation.
7. Programme Budgets and Resource Coordination
- Support preparation and monitoring of programme and activity budgets.
- Monitor assigned activities against approved budgets and identify potential resource constraints early.
- Coordinate required programme documentation with Finance and Operations.
- Support efficient use of programme resources and timely planning of travel, logistics and stakeholder activities.
8. Programme Development, Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation
- Identify emerging regional and country programme opportunities aligned with OHDI’s RSFS priorities.
- Monitor relevant funding and partnership opportunities.
- Contribute technical and regional inputs to concept notes, proposals and donor reports.
- Support partner identification and consortium development where appropriate.
- Help develop follow-on programming based on demonstrated country needs and successful OHDI interventions.
9. Team Coordination and Internal Collaboration
- Support personnel, consultants and other contributors supporting regional programme activities.
- Work collaboratively with OHDI’s Programme Operations, Research & Policy, Finance & Operations, Communications, Digital Technology and other functions.
- Support programme planning, reviews, organisational learning and knowledge sharing.
- Support development of junior team members and contribute to internal knowledge transfer.
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
Applicants should possess:
- At least a Master’s degree in veterinary medicine, aquaculture/fisheries, animal science, food science, agriculture, public health, One Health, environmental science, development studies, international development or another closely related field. A relevant professional first degree with substantial applicable experience may also be considered.
- A minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in programme implementation, coordination, research, policy, food systems, agriculture, animal health/welfare, public health, development or a related area.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating programmes, projects or multi-stakeholder activities.
- Experience engaging government institutions, technical stakeholders, academic or research institutions, producers, industry or development partners.
- Strong understanding of areas relevant to responsible and sustainable food systems, including animal health and welfare, aquaculture/livestock production, food safety, biosecurity, antimicrobial stewardship, environmental sustainability or agricultural development.
- Strong programme planning, coordination and follow-up skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Residency in a country within the region for which the applicant is applying and legal ability to work from the country of residence.
- Willingness and ability to undertake regular regional travel.
Desirable
- Experience working across more than one country.
- Experience in aquaculture, fisheries or aquatic animal health and welfare.
- Experience with government policy, standards, guidelines or regulatory processes.
- Experience working with farmers, producers or agricultural value-chain actors.
- Experience supporting research, monitoring and evaluation, policy development or technical publications.
- Experience within a nonprofit, international development, research or regional organisation.
- Experience contributing to funding proposals, donor reporting or programme development.
- Relevant professional networks within your region.
- For West Africa: Working knowledge of English, French and/or another language widely used within the region. Bilingual proficiency in both languages is highly desirable.
- For Southern Africa: Working knowledge of Portuguese and/or another language widely used within the region.
Core Competencies
The successful candidates should demonstrate:
- Programme ownership and execution: Ability to take responsibility for progressing activities and delivering agreed results.
- Strategic thinking: Ability to connect individual programme activities with longer-term country and regional objectives.
- Stakeholder management: Ability to build credible relationships with government, technical, community and private-sector stakeholders.
- Technical curiosity and learning agility: Ability to work across interconnected food-system issues and rapidly understand new technical areas.
- Organisation and follow-through: Ability to systematically manage multiple countries, activities, stakeholders and deadlines.
- Initiative and problem-solving: Ability to anticipate challenges, identify practical solutions and escalate issues appropriately.
- Communication and representation: Ability to communicate complex issues clearly and represent OHDI professionally.
- Collaboration: Ability to work effectively across programmes and organisational functions.
- Adaptability: Ability to work effectively across different country contexts and within a growing organisation.
- Integrity and accountability: Demonstrated professionalism and responsible management of organisational relationships and resources.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should complete the online application form and submit the required documents, including:
- A detailed CV.
- A cover letter highlighting relevant experience in regional programme coordination, responsible and sustainable food systems, stakeholder engagement, multi-country implementation and/or aquaculture and fisheries.
Application Deadline: October 5th, 2026
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted regarding the next stage of the recruitment process.
Join One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI) and contribute to advancing responsible and sustainable food systems, strengthening regional partnerships and building resilient food systems across West Africa and Southern Africa.
For any concerns, contact us at info@onehealthdev.org
