TechnoServe Ethiopia is recruiting for an experienced expert in managing people to lead the agronomy advisory unit of a large-scale five-year program in Yirgacheffe. If you want to be a part of a project from its inception this is the opportune moment to join TechnoServe as we move to the next phase of impact within the Ethiopian coffee industry.

If you are enthusiastic about good agricultural practices, an expert in facilitating behavioral change, an organized manager with the capacity to lead a large technical team, if you are comfortable overseeing program field operations and support staff, and if you are a skillful communicator, then you may be exactly the person that we are looking for!

The role

As the Agronomy Program Manager you will directly contribute to the Regrow Yirga program’s deep impact by leading a team of agronomy advisors and farmer to train more than 42,000 coffee farmers over five years. You will hire, train, and supervise you team to provide monthly training on good agricultural practices to farmer groups. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the roll out of an innovative Farmer Stumping Fund at scale to encourage private-sector supported rejuvenation of the Yirgacheffe orgin. You will report directly to the COP while supervising the agronomy unit and managing local government relationships. You will ensure the effective, timely, and high quality delivery of trainings and follow-up support activities to program farmers

The Project

The project will help farmers boost productivity and expand trade. Specifically, the Regrow Yirga program seeks to serve 42,000+ farmers, 45+ processing businesses, and coffee industry service providers. The project will launch an innovative Farmer Stumping Fund which will facilitate direct incentive (tools or cash) transfers to farmers to encourage tree rejuvination which has the potential to be scaled up to over 1 million coffee farmers nation-wide.

This USD 15 million project finds its roots in TechnoServe’s 10+ years of experience working with the coffee farmers in Ethiopia. Our work was recently honored as the “Origin Charity of the Year” by the National Coffee Association – the leading trade organization for the coffee industry in the United States.

What we Offer

We offer competitive salaries and career growth opportunities. We offer online learning resources from top universities. We provide regular training to all our staff to equip you with the coffee-specific technical know-how for you to excel. We provide autonomy in your job and you get to be part of a stellar team and shape the project from its inception. You will be challenged and grow as a professional. We offer a diverse team environment and highly encourage women and underrepresented groups to apply. And of course… we serve great coffee and host regular fun team activities.

Job Requirements

Our ideal candidate -

• Is knowledgeable about agronomy, business development, or project management.
• Has a Master’s degree (preferred) with at least 5 years of experience or a Bachelor’s degree with at least 7 years of experience in agronomy, plant science, business and administration, sociology, rural development, engineering, or other related discipline.
• Is an excellent people manager with at least 5 years of professional management experience, preferably including experience in or with the private sector.
• Demonstrates high attention to detail with excellent leadership, management, and planning skills, with a history of working independently and within agreed timelines.
• Has excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Amharic (knowledge of Afan Oromo, Sidamigna, or Gedigna is an added advantage) with proven report writing, presentation, and numerical analysis skills.
• Is passionate about working with farmers and rural development; willing to be located in Dilla town with frequent time spent traveling to project training sites in rural areas.
• Embraces our values of collegiality (we stick our necks out for each other), integrity (doing the ‘right thing’ regardless), resourcefulness (solve problems) and results (bias for action).

How to Apply

Our hiring process

Interested? Click here to apply for this position and submit a cover letter and resume as a single document (either Word or PDF) by June 30, 2021. We are not accepting CVs that are not sent through the indicated link. Once you apply and are selected to move through one of our hiring rounds, you can expect a rigorous process that reflects our high baseline requirements for people skills. Our process reflects that and can take up to two months.

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