Country: Ethiopia
Closing date: 23 Aug 2015
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is working with African governments, donors, NGOs, the private sector and African farmers to significantly and sustainably improve the productivity and incomes of resource poor farmers in Africa through agricultural development.
AGRA has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and a regional office in Accra, Ghana. AGRA is seeking to recruit experienced and exceptional individuals to fill the following positions:
1. Country Manager, Ethiopia (Ref.: CM / 08-15)
Reporting to the Regional Head, East & Southern Africa (E&SA) Team, the Country Manager will represent AGRA in the country and will act as the catalyst for AGRA’s integrated interventions by coordinating activities and building necessary relationships with the government, private sector, donors and other key stakeholders. This position is on a three (3) year renewable contract and will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with travel at approximately 50% per month.
Specific responsibilities will include:
- Contributing to the development of country plans in collaboration with AGRA teams;
- Coordinating country-level interventions set out in the country plan, working with program teams to deliver innovative intervention models across the value chain;
- Building relationships with domestic government, private sector, donors, civil society organizations and others with a presence in-country and relaying feedback to other parts of the organization;
- Attending key meetings and forums of the government and its development partners including donor coordination meetings that contribute to the advancement of AGRA’s investments in the country;
- Providing technical and logistical support to AGRA’s Program Officers in the oversight and facilitation of the implementation of AGRA-supported investments in-country;
- Providing support to the Regional Head (E&SA) and Program Officers in the oversight of country-level research required to complete the country plan on a periodic basis, to ensure that country and program objectives are aligned to the national/government goals and objectives; and
- Identifying and pursuing opportunities to mobilize resources in support of AGRA’s priorities and/or advocating for public and private sector stakeholders.
Key qualifications, knowledge and experience required:
- A minimum of a Master’s degree in Agriculture, Economics, Development Studies, International Development, or Business (with a Strategic Analysis focus), or related field. A relevant Doctorate degree is preferred;
- A minimum of ten (10) years’ experience in agricultural or related large multinational development agencies with at least five (5) of these years’ at senior-management level, overseeing teams with a purview over both domestic and regional activities; and
- Ability to communicate and translate fluently between English and Amharic is highly desirable.
2. Program Officer, Fertilizers (Ref.: PO-F / 08-15)
Reporting to the Regional Head, East & Southern Africa (E&SA) Team, the Program Officer, Fertilizers role aims at catalyzing local production of appropriate fertilizers and/or their distribution through support to local companies that are providing appropriate blends and leads in extending grants to support the establishment and training of agro-dealers in AGRA-focused countries. This position is on a three (3) year renewable contract and will be based in Nairobi, Kenya with travel at approximately 50% per month.
Specific responsibilities will include:
- Developing and overseeing a grant portfolio for the agro-dealers program, that will train and expand the presence of agri-input dealers across target countries;
- Collaborating with the Program Officer, Agricultural Finance, in the design and implementation of innovative financing arrangements to provide credit and working capital to agro-dealers;
- Providing leadership for the development of digitized rural input distribution maps for rural areas, in each country of intervention;
- Developing and implementing a strategy for building the institutional capacity of agro-dealers and creating a viable agro-dealers associations at district, national and regional levels;
- Working with donors and governments in the design and implementation of ‘smart subsidies’ for agricultural inputs for poor farmers; and
- Working with the Program Officer, Seeds to jointly design and implement strategies for disseminating quality seeds of improved crop varieties and fertilizers.
Key qualifications, knowledge and experience required:
- A minimum of a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, MBA or related field. A relevant Doctorate degree is preferred;
- A minimum of ten (10) years’ experience with special focus on agribusiness, agricultural marketing or finance with at least five (5) years’ of research and development experience;
- Ability to negotiate positive medium and long-term changes within the agro-dealer development networks;
- Excellent knowledge of regulatory and other institutional frameworks relating to fertilizer production, quality control and distribution;
- Sound knowledge and understanding of effective curriculum development and pervious experience in Africa will be an advantage; and
- Ability to communicate and translate fluently between English and French is highly desirable.
For more information on these positions, applicants can visitwww.agra.org
How to apply:
An attractive remuneration package commensurate with the respective position’s responsibilities will be negotiated with the successful candidates. If you believe you can clearly demonstrate your abilities to meet the relevant criteria for any of the above roles, please submit your application with a detailed CV, stating your current position, current remuneration and e-mail and telephone contacts and quoting the respective reference number on your application letter.
To be considered, your application must be received by 23 August 2015addressed to:
The Director
Executive Selection Division
Deloitte Consulting Limited
Deloitte Place, Waiyaki Way
Westlands, Nairobi, Kenya
Email: agra@deloitte.co.ke
Tel: +254 20 423 0000