Executive Director, Haiti Food Systems Alliance

Supervisor: HFSA Steering Committee or Board of Directors  
Location: Haiti 
Start Date: ASAP 
Contract: Employee 
Travel: Approximately 25% travel 
Application Date: September 30th, 2024

About the Haiti Food System Alliance:  
The Haiti Food Systems Alliance (HFSA) is a locally-led coalition that believes in and supports the power of local smallholder farmers to transform food systems in Haiti from the ground up. The HFSA was founded by proven local organizations that have been working together for many years and in partnership with anchor-funding support from the WK Kellogg Foundation. More importantly, HFSA members work across agriculture, education, healthcare and community development and represent hundreds of Haitian staff and workers, tens of thousands of Haitian farmers, students, and patients, and thousands of affiliated Haitian community organizations. To date, the HFSA’s founding members have provided over 75,000 children and vulnerable people with locally sourced feeding kits, meals and snacks, supported over 40,000 farmers with in-person and digital assistance, inputs, financing and market access, sustained over 1,200 rural food systems jobs, and launched over 75 partnerships with other food systems actors. Additionally, HFSA members have aggregated and sold over $2 million in local farmer production to dozens of private sector buyers, feeding programs, and international organizations. 

To learn more about the work of the HFSA, please visit: hfsalliance.org  

About This Role:  
The Executive Director, working in close collaboration with all HFSA members, will be responsible for oversight of all HFSA activities, including achieving project milestones, developing workplans, overseeing budget and reporting on execution and progress. The Executive Director will report to the HFSA board of directors and will have full programmatic and impact responsibility and lead the HFSA to impact tens of thousands of farming families in Haiti, while creating new opportunities and catalyzing new investment in rural communities throughout the country. In addition, the ED will also support the Board in their different endeavors. The Executive Director must ensure the credibility and integrity of HFSA, that policies set by the Board and procedures established for the organization are followed, and that the organization meets all legal requirements, the highest professional standards, and all commitments to clients, partners, donors, and stakeholders.  

Key Responsibilities: 
The duties listed below are intended as illustrations of the types of duties that may be performed. The omission of specific duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to this position. 

Overarching responsibilities: 

• Support members and increase coordination to cement, leverage, and strengthen partnerships among organizations working across diverse aspects of the food system and value chain development including research, training, production, and feeding.  
• Support members and increase coordination to improve nutrition for thousands of children in schools, hospitals, and vulnerable rural communities through locally sourced production in strategic value chains.  
• Support members and increase coordination to improve the incomes of thousands of rural farming households and women through increased distribution and purchasing of local production in strategic value chains.  
• Support members and increase coordination to increase competitiveness, profitability, and sustainability of agricultural value chains by using applied research, leveraging existing operations, and cementing market access.  
• Work with all HFSA members to expand the alliance 
• Work to build new productive clusters and value chains based workgroups 
• Manage the terms of joint ventures, strategic partnerships, grant sub-contracts, or consulting opportunities for Board approval. 
• Represents HFSA to the media, and through public speaking engagements at meetings, trade shows, conferences, etc.  
• Nurtures and strengthens HFSA relationships with a network of stakeholders including influential individuals, organizations, and businesses. 
• Collaborate with the BACs and the Ministry of Agriculture across the different interventions of the HFSA to influence the development of agricultural policies. 

Specific responsibilities:  

• Oversee HFSA website and communications strategy 
• Share and promote HFSA case studies, research and training materials and tools.  
• Develop a sustainability and fundraising plan for HFSA 
• Develop gender strategy to maximize inclusiveness and equity at all levels of HFSA activities from smallholder and food systems workers to governance.  
• Develop and engage an HFSA advisory board consisting of diverse Haitian experts and thought leaders, with focus on incorporating women as well as community organization leaders.  
• Develop community and farmer engagement strategy for HFSA to ensure maximum participation of all voices.  
• Develop and oversee HFSA data, impact and reporting strategy and execution.  
• Recruit additional HFSA production, service and feeding members and allies 
• Create a youth agriculture vocational training program that will empower and motivate youth to shape Haiti’s future utilizing the infrastructure and expertise of all Alliance Production Members.  

Additional responsibilities: 

• Draft presentations, concept notes and full project proposals.  
• Maintain project work plans and ensure timely project implementation. 
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with community stakeholders, including funders, relevant government departments, private sector companies and business associations.  
• Ensure project activities are implemented with sound managerial, technical, human resource and overall programmatic practices. 
• Conduct visits with members and allies.  
• Manage and monitor HFSA project budget variances to ensure spending rates are on target and realign as required. 
• Produce and share HFSA project performance metrics, including dashboards, Program Status Reports (PSRs) and impact data. 
• Proactively identify successful strategies and tactics, or bottlenecks to effective execution of HFSA objectives. 
• Represent HFSA to the steering committee or board of directors and at internal and external functions. 
• Interface with program funders and engage them around the HFSA and other projects. 
• Understand, respect and promote the HFSA’s mission, vision and strategy in implementation of assigned duties. 

Qualifications:  

• Entrepreneurial spirit with ambition for growth. 
• Demonstrates a ‘can-do’ attitude and willingness to go above and beyond to assist the Alliance’s members and beneficiaries. 
• Good analytical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills with the ability to conceive and implement new opportunities to drive impact. 
• Passionate about community wealth creation and improving farmer livelihoods and adopting new solutions to solve poverty.  
• Successful experience engaging economic development funders and a broad understanding of the development sector in Haiti. 
• Ability and desire to travel to remote locations in Haiti and deal directly with farmer groups, intermediaries, processors and buyers. 
• Strong project management and budgeting skills, and experience leading multi-year, multi-million program budgets. 
• Experience working with multiplayer initiatives. 
• A Master’s degree or major course work in business, international development, agriculture or economics, or a related field. 
• Ten years minimum experience managing development programs in Haiti. 
• Oral and written fluency in Creole, French and English. Proficiency in Spanish is a plus 

Application Instructions: 
To apply, please upload your resume and cover letter in the form below by September 30th, 2024. In order to be considered, we ask that you submit your application materials in English. 

Acceso has served as the fiscal sponsor of the HFSA since its launch. Acceso remains the fiscal sponsor of the HFSA, and the Executive Director will be contracted by Acceso on behalf of the HFSA. For more information about Acceso and careers with us, please visit Acceso.org/careers. 

Acceso is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.