Farmer Field School Manager

Description
BACKGROUND:

Passing Gifts Private Limited (PGPL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heifer International USA and it provides services in educating, consulting, training, advising, and providing professional and technical services to individuals, associations, and entities in India and abroad, particularly those who support or are working in the areas of social advancement and sustainable development. This position may also require service agreements, secondment agreements, between entities, etc.

PGPL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identify, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability.

Function
The Program Manager for Passing Gifts Farmer Field Schools (FFS) will provide strategic leadership, technical guidance, and operational oversight to a network of FFS across six districts of North Bihar and other geographies. This role is central to empowering women smallholder farmers by building their capacity in sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture.

The manager will be responsible for ensuring the quality, effectiveness, and impact of the FFS program, directly contributing to improved food security, enhanced livelihoods, and the economic empowerment of women farmers and their communities. This position requires a dynamic leader who comes with a good agriculture sector understanding, can manage a field team, build strong stakeholder relationships, and lay the groundwork for a state-wide scale-up of the initiative.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES: (including approximate percentage effort)

A. Program Management & Implementation: (30%)

• Lead the overall planning, budgeting, and execution of the FFS set-ups across the designated districts.
• Ensure the FFS curriculum is relevant to local agro-ecological contexts, context-specific, and participatory.
• Develop detailed annual and quarterly work plans and ensure timely implementation of all program activities.
• Oversee a team of program Coordinators and Community Facilitators from partner organizations engaged in FFS implementation, in providing mentorship, guidance, and support.

B. Technical Guidance & Capacity Building: (30%)

• Serve as the technical lead on sustainable agriculture practices, including Integrated Pest Management (IPM), soil health management, organic input preparation, and water efficient irrigation.
• Design and deliver Training-of-Trainers (ToT) programs for field staff and community master trainers (CFs – FFS / Krishi Sakhis).
• Ensure the technical content delivered in FFS is accurate, up-to-date, and easily understandable by women farmers.

C. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL): (20%)

• Extend support in developing and implementing a robust MEL framework to track progress, measure impact, and capture learnings. This may include support in developing a digital tracker cum dashboard as well
• Conduct regular field visits to monitor the quality of FFS sessions, assess farmer adoption of new practices, and provide on-the-spot guidance.
• Analyze field data to identify trends, challenges, and successes, using insights to drive adaptive management.
• Document success stories, case studies, and best practices for internal learning and external communications.

D. Stakeholder Engagement & Networking: (15%)

• Build and maintain strong relationships with government bodies (e.g., Department of Agriculture, ATMA, Jeevika), Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), partner organizations and local research institutions.
• Liaise with other NGOs, private sector actors (agri-input suppliers, buyers), and community-based organizations to create synergies and avoid duplication.
• Represent the organization at district and state-level forums related to FFS and agriculture-based livelihoods.

May perform other job-related duties as assigned (5%)

Qualifications And Skills

• Education: Master's degree in agriculture, Agronomy, Horticulture, Rural Development, or a related field.
• More than 7 years of program management experience, including at least 5 years in managerial role leading agricultural/livelihood projects
• Experience working with governments, private sector stakeholders, and international organizations.
• Direct, hands-on experience in dealing with smallholder farmers, regenerative and climate smart practices is highly desirable.
• Sound understanding and exposure of FFS across different geographies will be considered as a preference.
• Proven experience working with women's collectives, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), or farmer producer organizations (FPOs).
• Sound understanding of integrated development issues and critical analysis of the root causes of poverty in India.
• Knowledge of development issues, trends, challenges and opportunities and implications to community development.

Essential Competencies

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to navigate challenging situations to achieve goals and deadlines.
• Demonstrate a high degree of honesty and integrity.
• Motivated to work responsibly with little supervision.
• Ability to meet and deal with others in a courteous and tactful manner.
• Ability to work with sensitive information and to always maintain confidentiality.
• Ability and willingness to work a flexible schedule.
• Fluent in Hindi, English, and Local Language spoken as well as written.
• Have an interest in animals/agriculture community development.
• Willingness and ability to travel locally and internationally.
• Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, web designing, collaboration platform and tools, and electronic mail software (Microsoft preferred).
• Constant sitting, standing and walking, with occasional bending and lifting; may work at a computer for extended periods of time.