Project Manager
Posted
Summary
Project Manager leading AKRSP India's landscape-based agroecology transformation in Ahwa, Dangs (Gujarat): planning and delivering regenerative farming, climate-resilience, community-institution and market-linkage programmes, plus M&E, budgets, partnerships and donor reporting. Needs 8-10 years in rural/agriculture programme management; tools include MS Office, MIS and GIS.
Project Manager – Landscape-based Agroecology Transformation
Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India (AKRSP India) is a non-denominational, non-political, non-government organization. AKRSP India was established in 1983 and it seeks to contribute to rural poverty reduction through community involvement and empowerment that leads to efficient management and an improved environment. For more details please visit:
Location: Ahwa, Dangs, Gujarat
Experience: 8-10 years of relevant experience
Education: Postgraduate degree in Agriculture, Agroecology, Natural Resource Management, Rural Management, Environmental Science, Climate Change, Development Studies, or a related discipline.
Position Summary
The Project Manager will lead the planning, implementation, coordination and learning of AKRSP(I)’s Landscape-based Agroecological Transformation in Ahwa, Dangs, with the objective of supporting a transition towards resilient, regenerative and resource-efficient farming and livelihood systems.
The position will provide strategic and operational leadership at landscape level, working across agriculture, livestock, natural resource management, water, biodiversity, climate action, community institutions, enterprises and markets. The Project Manager will work closely with farming communities, women’s groups, FPOs/cooperatives, village institutions, government departments, technical organizations, research institutions and donors.
The role will combine field-based programme management with technical leadership, ensuring that agroecological practices are locally appropriate, economically viable, socially inclusive and capable of being scaled across the landscape.
Key Responsibilities
1. Agroecology Programme Planning and Strategy
- Develop and operationalise a landscape-level agroecology strategy for Dangs in alignment with AKRSP(I)’s organisational priorities.
- Translate the programme strategy into annual plans, cluster-level plans, budgets, targets and implementation pathways.
- Identify agroecological transition pathways suited to different farming systems, agro-climatic conditions and livelihood groups in Dangs.
- Promote an integrated approach covering soil health, water management, crop diversity, livestock integration, biodiversity, ecological pest management, local inputs, climate resilience and farm economics.
- Ensure that interventions move beyond individual practices towards whole-farm and landscape-level systems change.
2. Programme Implementation and Quality Management
- Lead implementation across identified villages, farmer clusters and community institutions.
- Ensure timely achievement of programme milestones, outputs and outcomes while maintaining implementation quality.
- Guide field teams in participatory planning, farmer engagement, demonstrations, Farmer Field Schools and community learning processes.
- Establish protocols and quality standards for agroecological interventions and ensure their application in the field.
- Identify implementation bottlenecks and develop corrective actions in consultation with field teams and communities.
3. Agroecological Farming Systems
- Provide technical and programme-level guidance on transition towards low-external-input and agroecological farming systems.
- Support interventions related to soil organic matter, composting, mulching, crop rotations, intercropping, biological pest management, on-farm nutrient management, seed diversity and water-efficient agriculture.
- Promote integration of crop-livestock-tree systems, agroforestry and other locally relevant ecological production systems.
- Support development and validation of locally appropriate agroecological packages and transition protocols.
- Facilitate farmer experimentation, peer learning and documentation of locally successful practices.
4. Climate Resilience and Natural Resource Management
- Integrate climate-risk and vulnerability considerations into agroecology programme design.
- Promote practices that contribute to improved resilience to drought, rainfall variability, heat stress, soil degradation and other climate risks.
- Facilitate convergence between agroecology, watershed development, soil and water conservation, biodiversity and natural resource management initiatives.
- Identify opportunities for climate mitigation through reduced external inputs, improved soil carbon, biomass enhancement, livestock management and other context-appropriate interventions.
- Work with technical teams to develop evidence on climate and environmental outcomes.
5. Farmer Institutions, Women and Community Leadership
- Strengthen the role of FPOs, farmer groups, women’s collectives, village institutions and other community platforms in the agroecological transition.
- Promote meaningful participation and leadership of women and marginalised farmers in programme planning and decision-making.
- Develop local agroecology champions, community resource persons and farmer facilitators.
- Support community institutions to progressively take responsibility for knowledge dissemination, input systems, aggregation, enterprise development and other programme functions.
6. Markets and Economic Viability
- Ensure that agroecological transition is linked with improved farm economics and livelihood outcomes.
- Identify opportunities for aggregation, value addition, branding and market development for agroecologically produced commodities.
- Work with FPOs and market teams to develop viable value chains around suitable crops, livestock products and other landscape-based products.
- Generate evidence on changes in input costs, productivity, profitability, risk and household income associated with agroecological practices.
7. Partnerships and Convergence
- Establish and maintain partnerships with relevant government departments, KVKs, agricultural universities, research institutions, NGOs, private-sector actors and technical organisations.
- Facilitate convergence with relevant government programmes and schemes related to agriculture, horticulture, livestock, watershed development, tribal development, rural livelihoods and climate action.
- Represent AKRSP(I) in relevant technical and stakeholder platforms at district, state and other appropriate levels.
- Build partnerships that strengthen technical capacity, innovation, evidence generation and scaling.
8. Team Leadership and Capacity Building
- Lead and mentor project staff, development professionals and technical personnel working on agroecology.
- Develop capacity-building plans for field teams, community resource persons and farmer institutions.
- Facilitate training, exposure visits, Farmer Field Schools and cross-learning events.
- Encourage a culture of field experimentation, reflection, documentation and adaptive management.
- Support integration of agroecology with AKRSP(I)'s other thematic programmes.
9. Monitoring, Learning and Evidence
- Develop a practical M&E framework to track adoption, transition, productivity, profitability, resource use, soil health, biodiversity, climate resilience, gender inclusion and institutional outcomes.
- Establish appropriate baseline, process and outcome indicators for agroecological transition.
- Ensure timely collection, validation and analysis of field data through AKRSP(I)'s MIS and other digital systems.
- Use monitoring data and field evidence to identify what is working, what requires modification and where further investment is needed.
- Lead documentation of case studies, farmer innovations, transition pathways, lessons and evidence for programme learning and scale-up.
- Coordinate internal and external assessments, studies and evaluations.
10. Resource Mobilization, Budget and Reporting
- Prepare project proposals, concept notes, budgets and technical programme plans related to agroecology.
- Support resource mobilization and development of partnerships with donors and other funding agencies.
- Manage programme budgets and ensure appropriate utilisation of financial resources.
- Ensure timely preparation of donor, management and government reports.
- Maintain high-quality documentation of programme activities, outputs, outcomes, photographs, data and learning.
11. Knowledge Management and Scale-Up
- Develop an evidence base on agroecological transition in the Dangs landscape.
- Identify successful practices and models with potential for replication and scale.
- Develop practical tools, manuals, protocols, training materials and implementation guidelines.
- Facilitate cross-learning between Dangs and other AKRSP(I) programme geographies.
- Contribute to organisational learning and policy dialogue on agroecology, climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable rural livelihoods.
Required Skills and Competencies
- Strong understanding of agroecology, sustainable agriculture and smallholder farming systems.
- Demonstrated experience in managing multi-dimensional rural development or agriculture programmes.
- Understanding of agroecological principles and their practical application at farm and landscape scale.
- Strong programme planning, implementation and team-management skills.
- Ability to work across agriculture, natural resources, livestock, climate and livelihood themes.
- Strong analytical, documentation and report-writing skills.
- Ability to interpret quantitative and qualitative field data and translate evidence into programme decisions.
- Strong facilitation and participatory engagement skills.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder-management abilities.
- Strong budgeting and financial-management orientation.
- Proficiency in MS Office and digital data-management tools.
- Willingness to undertake extensive field travel and work closely with rural and tribal communities.
- Fluency in English and Hindi, with good working proficiency in Gujarati.
Desirable Experience
- Experience in agroecology, natural farming, regenerative agriculture, organic/low-external-input agriculture or climate-resilient agriculture.
- Experience working with tribal and smallholder farming communities.
- Experience with Farmer Field Schools, participatory extension or community-based learning systems.
- Experience working with FPOs, cooperatives or producer collectives.
- Experience in soil health, biodiversity, agroforestry, livestock integration or natural resource management.
- Exposure to climate-risk assessment, GHG accounting or environmental outcome measurement.
- Experience with GIS, digital agriculture/MIS or geospatial approaches will be an advantage.
- Experience in donor-funded programme management and resource mobilisation.
Key Performance Areas
The performance of the Project Manager will be assessed against:
- Quality and scale of agroecological transition across the project landscape.
- Adoption and sustained practice change among participating farmers.
- Improvement in farm economics and livelihood resilience.
- Soil, water, biodiversity and climate-related outcomes generated by the programme.
- Participation and leadership of women and community institutions.
- Strengthening of farmer institutions and agroecological value chains.
- Quality and timeliness of programme implementation and reporting.
- Team capacity, partnerships and institutional convergence.
- Quality of monitoring, evidence generation and learning.
- Replication and scale-up of demonstrated agroecological models.
Personal Attributes
The candidate should demonstrate:
- A strong field orientation and willingness to work directly with farming communities.
- Systems thinking and the ability to connect ecological, economic and social dimensions of agriculture.
- Curiosity and openness to farmer-led experimentation and local knowledge.
- Ability to work collaboratively across thematic teams and institutional boundaries.
- Strong ownership, initiative and problem-solving ability.
- Commitment to inclusion, gender equality and community-led development.
- Ability to balance long-term agroecological transformation with short-term programme delivery requirements.
Key Benefits:
- Opportunity to work with a renowned NGO.
- On-site and off-site training opportunities.
- 5-day work week.
- Comprehensive medical insurance for employees, spouse, and children.
- Maternity and paternity leave as per organizational policy.
- 15 General Leaves and 16.5 earned leaves annually (earned leaves can be encased if not utilized).
- 10 declared public holidays and 3 optional holidays.
- Diwali breaks for 5 days every year.
We strongly encourage women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and especially abled candidates to apply
Apply Now: Please submit your application at the earliest through our website –‘Get involved’ section - careers page.
Please note that we will begin the search immediately, and if a suitable candidate is found, we will close the application process!
