Starting Date: ASAP

Contract type: Full-time and open-ended

Salary: 6,520,044 PKR, commensurate with relevant experience and skills

Location: Lahore

Application closing date: 25 05 2025

About the Job 

Are you purpose-led and ready to embark on a journey to shape the future of sustainable cotton? Join us at Better Cotton as Senior Programme Coordinator Capacity Building  and play a pivotal role in driving Better Cotton’s 2030 Strategy, ensuring measurable progress in sustainable farming practices for the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative – we support more sustainable farming practices and farm livelihoods for nearly 3 million farmers in the Better Cotton network in 23 countries around the world.

The Senior Programme Coordinator – Capacity Building (CB) will lead country’s capacity building measures, cascading models, relationship management with programme partners and continuous improvement of the sustainable practices at the farm level. The Senior Programme Coordinator will provide support in designing and executing strategies that ensure quality implementation at field level to achieve impact 2030 targets. Further, the Senior Programme Coordinator will facilitate the Programmes team in conducting Master Trainer Training, Production Unit (PU) Managers Training and other capacity development activities. Finally, (s)he will also provide strategic guidance in setting strategies for large farm and Central Asia portfolio management.

The Challenge

Looking ahead to 2030, we are targeting reducing GHG emissions from cotton production by half, big cuts in synthetic pesticide use, improve soil health across our network, improve farm income and support women’s empowerment among farmers and farm workers.

Better Cotton embraces Programme Coordinators and the overarching idea that it gives back, rather than takes from nature and society and in our approach, we emphasize the interrelation between nature and people.

Areas that play to your strengths

The Senior Programme Coordinator will take leadership of the Partnerships stream within the Programmes team and be responsible for:

PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT – IDENTIFICATION, ONBOARDING, ENGAGEMENT AND MONITORING

• Facilitating the capacity building activities including the cascading model, master trainer program, PU Manager training and relevant follow-up activities jointly with programme partners.
• Supporting the country and global Programmes team in devising organisational development models for programme partners to strengthen their sustainable cotton farming practices and learning methodologies.
• Providing research & development and knowledge management support to the capacity building team in identifying the latest social and environmental good practices and orient programme partners regularly in a systematic way.
• Identifying, onboarding and managing knowledge partners to cater to emerging knowledge gaps found in the field pertinent to BCSS implementation or field level impact acceleration on certain thematic areas.
• Executing knowledge exchange networks via creating online/face-to-face formats on key sustainability issues to facilitate programme partners.

IMPACT AREA EXPERTISE AND SUPPORT IN 2030 COMPANY TARGET

• Building and demonstrating expertise of at least one impact area/principle and develop guidelines/knowledge outputs for field level design and delivery and to enable accurate monitoring and reporting or progress along with impact targets
• Identifying opportunities to standardize impact measurement and reporting processes at farmer, partner and organizational level.

LINE MANAGEMENT

• Identifying opportunities to standardize impact measurement and reporting processes at farmer, partner and organizational level.
• Line managing and providing direction, mentorship, and support to 01/02 direct reports to foster a collaborative culture aligned with Better Cotton's mission, enhancing team productivity and cohesion.
• Working collaboratively with line and matrix managers as well as direct reports to set clear, outcome-based objectives that align with function-wide and organisational goals

SUPPORT TO IMPACT/THEMATIC AREAS

• Building and demonstrating expertise of at least one impact area/principle and developing guidelines/knowledge outputs for field level delivery and enabling accurate monitoring and reporting or progress along with impact targets.

DATA, COMMUNICATIONS, AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• Gathering, cleaning and reporting monthly programmatic and cross-country updates on internal and global platforms.
• Assisting global Comms team in ensuring country representation through partners, farmers, and farm workers
• Providing required support in managing databases from programme partners according to the needs of the Better Cotton Standard System (BCSS) by ensuring the data is used for quality analysis of relevant indicators.
• Sharing the results of data analysis to facilitate programme partners learning and encourage the continuous improvement of participating farmers.
• Supporting programme partners on Better Cotton reporting tools and processes to ensure that deadlines are followed to ensure the continuous improvement of Better Cotton systems.
• Developing close liaison with Certification, Digitalization, Supply Chain and Traceability teams to understand the programme's needs in Pakistan.

Beyond these specific responsibilities, the Sr Programme Coordinator is expected to collaborate on additional activities agreed with the Country Director – Pakistan, Programme Manager - Pakistan and matrix manager (s) from Better Cotton global team.

We are looking for someone who has

The following skills, knowledge, and experience:

Essential

• Minimum of 7+ years of work experience in development program/project management.
• At least 4-6 years’ experience of capacity building, programme delivery and partnership Management.
• Master’s degree, or equivalent higher education qualification, in a relevant field
• Superior skills and aptitude to appraise arguments critically and logically, organise ideas in a clear and concise manner, and draw conclusions and formulate arguments in a way that is effective, concise, and precise.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, along with the ability to work independently, proactively, and in a collaborative manner with a team.
• Notable experience of direct line management
• Experience of working with multi-sector i.e., government, public and private institutes
• Experience of working with projects in rural settings
• Understanding of Field dynamics of Pakistan, especially Sindh and Punjab

·   Desirable

• Experience in monitoring and evaluation and/or auditing and/or capacity building, programme design and delivery
• Experience with working in cotton farming
• Experience with working in the agriculture sector of Punjab and Sindh province of Pakistan
• Excellent written and communication skills with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely, and to assimilate and process information for wide-ranging audiences
• High proficiency in MS Office and data analysis.
• Willingness to frequently travel domestically, and occasionally overseas
• Academic background in rural/agricultural development and sustainability
• Knowledge of Punjabi / Sindhi/ Siraiki

What we offer

• The opportunity to work from anywhere in the world for up to one month per year
• Competitive salary
• Hybrid working – Two to three days/week in the office
• Flexible working, with core hours from 10 am to 4 pm local time
• Continuous learning and development
• 25 days paid annual leave, plus 9 Bank Holidays
• Enhanced parental benefits
• A warm, positive working environment where everyone is valued
• The opportunity to make your mark and make a difference.

Working arrangements

The position is full-time (40 hours per week) and will be based in Lahore. Better Cotton offers flexible working, with core hours being 10 am – 4 pm.  Frequent travel to cotton-growing regions will be required. Some international travel may be required.

Apply now

Send us your CV (2 pages maximum) and a brief cover letter (1-page maximum) by or before 25.05.2025 via this link. 

In your cover letter, please include an explanation of why your experience is specifically relevant to this role at Better Cotton. We want to see your personal style – what makes you tick and why you think your next opportunity is here with us.

Our hiring process

Initial Screening:

Applicant screening is a crucial step in our recruitment process. This stage may involve a brief phone interview or video call to evaluate your suitability for the position. During this screening, we review resumes and cover letters, and may conduct initial background checks to narrow down the pool of applicant. Internal candidates are encouraged to inform their line manager about their application to promote transparency and help facilitate a smooth transition if selected.

Interviews:

If you successfully pass the initial screening, you will be invited for interviews. The interview process at Better Cotton may include one or more rounds of interviews with various stakeholders, such as the hiring manager, team members, and potentially senior management. As an internal candidate, you may have discussions regarding your current responsibilities and how they will transition to the new position.

Assessment and Testing: 

Depending on the role, you might be required to complete assessments, technical tests, or skills evaluations to gauge your competency and suitability for the position. Internal candidates may have the option to demonstrate their existing skills through current job performance or past project outcomes.

Reference Checks: 

Once you progress further in the process, reference checks are conducted to validate your work history, skills, and qualifications, and for some roles, your education and criminal history. Internal candidates may be asked for references from current or previous supervisors within Better Cotton to provide insights into their performance and capabilities.

Offer stage:

After completing interviews, assessments, and reference checks, the hiring team evaluates your performance and fit for the role. If you are selected and your references are relevant and satisfactory, you will receive a formal job offer letter outlining the terms of employment, compensation, benefits, and any other relevant details. For internal candidates, the offer process may include a discussion about how your transition to the new role will be managed and any support needed for a smooth handover.

About Better Cotton

Better Cotton is a global not-for-profit organisation supporting the production of more equitable and sustainable cotton at farm level. We exist to catalyse the cotton farming community with partners, governments and others to continuously drive positive impact by setting standards and facilitating the supply and demand of more sustainable cotton from farm to brand. In just 15 years we have aligned more than a fifth of the world’s cotton with our standard and helped farmers and farming communities thrive. Join us in building a better, more sustainable future for cotton worldwide.

About our Values

The post holder will be expected to operate in line with our workplace values which are:  

• Trustworthy (including honest, transparent, credible) 
• As having Integrity (including responsible, authentic) 
• Positive (including problem-solving, pragmatic) 
• Engaging (including adaptable, inclusive, holistic) 
• Daring (including courageous, innovative, game-changing)  

Being you @ Better Cotton

Better Cotton is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to good practice and transparency in the management of natural, human, and financial resources.

We have a zero-tolerance approach to any attitudes or behaviours that put children or adults at risk of harm. Safeguarding incidents are acts of serious misconduct and are grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including, dismissal and referral to relevant authorities for criminal prosecution. Therefore, all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks.