Vacancy Announcement

ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY

Position:                        Senior Project Officer I-Crop Value Chain

Term of Employment:    One year with possible extension  

Required Number:          One

Duty Station(s):               ATA Amhara Regional Office (Bahir Dar)

Salary & Benefits:          Competitive          

Application Deadline:    May 22, 2023

BACKGROUND:

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) is a strategy and delivery-oriented government Institute created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of the country’s agriculture sector. The ATI envisions to be the leading centre of innovative solutions for the transformation of Ethiopian Agriculture by 2030.

The Institute focuses on two primary national approaches to catalyze agricultural transformation. First, we support the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), its affiliate institutions, and other partners to identify and address systemic bottlenecks within an Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Second, we support Regional Governments to accelerate the development of high-priority commodity value chains in clearly defined geographic clusters, through the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) Initiative.

Our major activities include conducting strategic and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support, coordinating platforms to better integrate partners and projects, and designing and directly leading a number of implementation projects. Our headquarters are in Addis Ababa, and we have regional offices in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP/ Sidama/South-West Ethiopia, and Tigray regional offices, allowing us to work closely with a wide range of public, private and development sector partners across the country.

Our Culture 

We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results.  Our culture is one where talented, dedicated and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great teamwork to achieve excellent results.   

At ATI, we provide an exceptional platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector.  We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training.  We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our employees with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Regional ATI Branch Office consists of ACC Program, Team Lead and several additional professional staff, including Crop Value Chain Development Expert. The Crop Value Chain Development Expert will report to the Regional ACC & Programs Director, provide crop value chain knowledge and expertise to the ACC team and monitor progress and provide technical backstopping on cluster interventions across the entire value chain from input and production to markets at the regional level. The Crop Value Chain Development Expert will also support the diagnosis, design and implementation of ACC strategies and interventions. As an integral part of the crop value chain definition, there is a natural flow or sequencing of activities from production to markets, so that, the Crop Value Chain Development Expert will also engage in coordinating stakeholders along the Value Chain (including those involved in aggregation and market linkage activities). The ideal candidate will therefore possess very strong knowledge and experience of agricultural value chains and market linkages. The candidate will also demonstrate a passion for transforming agriculture and improving the lives of small-holder farmers. 

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Support the Regional ACC Director in day-to-day stakeholder and program management in respect to crop value chain development in the Region, and other areas as required

• Monitoring of progress on ACC interventions in the priority crop value chains across the entire value chains from inputs and production to aggregation and marketing

• Drive the implementation of specific priority ACC interventions in the priority crop value chains in the Region

• Build the capacity and ensure coordination among key government, private and other actors in the priority crop value chains

• Drive identification, design and coordination of implementation of critical policy and other interventions in the priority crop value chains to promote market linkages in the clusters

• Provide content direction and input to other members of the Regional ACC team

• Facilitate communication and coordination between the different stakeholders of the priority crop value chains

• Facilitate market linkages among producer groups, private sector and public sector

• Initiate periodic experience sharing and learning sessions, particularly with the representatives of the producer organizations and Value Chain Actors

• Identify systemic and operational issues affecting the priority crop value chains at regional and cluster levels

• Ensure regular technical and administrative reporting on cluster progress

Job Requirements

• MSC degree in Agronomy, Crop Science, Crop Protection, Plant Breeding, plant science and related fields

• Minimum of 6 years experience in a senior program management role in government, non-government, or private sector

• Practical experience on linking farmers’ groups with potential markets

• Additional experience in market intelligence is a plus

• Deep understanding of Ethiopia’s agricultural system, with a broad perspective on how the entire system operates and how public, private and informal actors operate within the system

• Strong team player with good people management skills

• Ability to work and perform under pressure and changing environment

• Excellent stakeholder management skills including thorough knowledge and understanding of various regional level and federal level institutions; extensive experience in facilitating dialogue with relevant stakeholders. Passion and skill in networking, partnership, collaboration and alliance building

• Strong operational, organizational and managerial skills

• Practical experience in implementing solutions at the local level and the zeal to work with rural communities to change their situations

• Experience in prioritizing and sequencing both programmatic and operational activities

• Demonstrable track record in program and systems design and implementation

• Strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty and desire to be of service

• Fluency in English and Amharic.

How to Apply

We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to submit (i) a cover letter and (ii) CV (maximum 3 pages) to https://apply.ata.gov.et by mentioning the position title on the subject line.

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.