Position:   Program Director

Term of Employment:   One Year with the possibility of extension  

Duty Station(s):             Addis Ababa

Required Number:         One

Application Deadline:    October 19, 2023

BACKGROUND:

The Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) has been established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify and address systemic bottlenecks to Ethiopia’s agricultural development. The Institute does this through problem-solving, implementation support, and capacity building of stakeholders involved in implementation of interventions that address the systemic bottlenecks. The Institute reports to a Transformation Council chaired by the Prime Minister and whose co-chair is the Minister of Agriculture. 

The programmatic focus of the Institute responds to a core set of needs identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Transformation Council. Within the Institute, issues are divided into three different groups:  Production and Productivity which includes Inputs and Crop Protection, Livestock, Research and Extension, Mechanization and Rural Finance; Agribusiness and Markets including Market Support Services, Commercial Farming, Argo-processing & Market Development, and Cooperatives Development; and Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Agricultural Growth including Natural Resource Management, Sustainable Land Management, Gender Equality and Nutrition, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, and Planning and MLE. Across the programs, the ATA engages public, private, and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models.

 Our Culture

We have an exceptional team of employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results.  Our culture is one where talented individual are committed to doing their best and work together to achieve excellent results. 

At ATA, 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, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training.  We recognize our most valuable assets are our people and are committed to providing our employees with the tools and training necessary to achieve their career goals. 

 Program and position summary

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) has designed a program called “Agriculture-focused Dignified Employment for Youth in Ethiopia” (ADEY) to address youth and women unemployment rate and increase the participation of young people in the labor market, particularly in the agriculture sector. ATI has mainstreamed youth employment, gender equality, climate-smart, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture in all its programs and projects with the primary objectives of increased access to sustainable and inclusive job opportunities for youth, inclusivity, and the sustainable use of natural resources while building resilience capacities to shocks at all levels.

 ATI, among others, currently works with more than 3 million smallholder farmers (540,300 are women and youth) engaged in the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) and digital agriculture programs designed to improve smallholder farmers’ production and productivity while supporting other actors along the value chain. Taking ATI’s reputable experience, ADEY program is designed to create inclusive and dignified work opportunities in ACC regions and Somali for over 600 thousand youth. The program will focus on several streams such as agriculture value chain development and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to strengthen access to agricultural input and output markets and finance; improve the competitiveness of youth-owned MSMEs through capacity-building activities; enhance the skills and mindsets of young women and men through technical and business skill development and create an enabling environment for work opportunities through policy interventions. Similar to ACC, ADEY will operate along the commodity value chain, largely using ACC infrastructures and complement the different ACC outcomes in general and outcome four in particular. A Program Management Unit (PMU) will be established to manage the day-to-day activities of the program.

The managing program director is responsible for the implementation of the ADEY project and the achievement of its planned results to a high level of quality and in a timely manner. To achieve this, he/she will supervise, guide, manage, coach and monitor the ADEY project PMU members.  He/She is expected to take an overarching coordinating role ensuring all aspects of the Project progress in accordance with the approved project proposal and international best practice. He/she will provide oversight across all financial and technical management and implementation tasks. He/she will liaise closely with ATI management as well as with the Master card Foundation office for Ethiopia. He/she will report to ACC Senior Director directly and closely work with Women and Social Affairs Director, Crop commercialization Director, Natural Resource Development and Climate Program Director, digital agriculture and rural financing director and Livestock Commercialization Director, Regional ATI Transformation Centers, Operations, Partnership team, and other verticals at ATI. Besides, He/she will closely work with primarily with Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, Labor and Skills, Ministry of Labor and Skills (MoLS), and Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).

 Major Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan and direct the program based on the proposal submitted to the Foundation and initiate innovative interventions that contribute to the objective of the program as required.

• Ensure the delivery of program outcomes, targets and KPIs effectively and efficiently.

• Manage and lead problem solving sessions, provide high caliber support to project team members and ensure team alignment, coordination, and build high performance culture and delivery on priority objectives.

• Closely follow-up with implementing partners (subgrants) for the proper implementation of technical and financial matters 

• Direct ADEY program with proper communication with donors, other implementing partners and stakeholders.

• Coordinate project implementation and achieve planned results to international quality standards, including logistics, procurement, political, bottlenecks in implementation, project management compliance, etc

• Supervise and manage project personnel, including the preparation of annual work plans and budgets, establishing performance objectives and standards, and ensuring timely and appropriate feedback, guidance, and support for optimum performance.

• Provide technical and strategic advice to all members of the PMU and facilitate capacity building when needed.

• Oversee the monitoring of project progress and the evaluation of results.

• Monitor project risks, supervise implementation of risk mitigation measures, and update the risk and mitigation measures yearly.

• Identify needs for external technical support for effective implementation, organize and oversee short term missions.

• Oversee administrative and financial management, including procurement of goods and services, budget and expenditure analysis or contractual management.

• Review/approve ADEY staff leaves, ADEY project plan, performance goals/targets, budgets, reports, procurement, travel, etc.

• Liaise and coordinate with all project stakeholders such as MoA, MoLS, implementing partners and report to ATI and McF.

• Coordinate the drafting of all project related reports in a timely manner (annual, semi-annual or quarterly progress and operational reports, as per requirements), including reporting to ADEY Steering and technical committee.

• Build partnerships whenever relevant and possible.

• Facilitate knowledge management, particularly in terms of lessons learned and best practices which may feed a dialogue with government authorities and other DPs as well as contribute to future interventions and policy making.

• Identify needs and oversee the design and elaboration of project related communication and capitalization material.

• Develop a strategy or plan for outreach and advocacy of the ADEY portfolio. Organize and prepare stakeholder meetings, workshops and related activities and prepare materials as needed to expand the outreach and advocacy.

• Align and closely work with Women and Social Affairs, Crop commercialization program, Digital agriculture and rural financing, livestock directorate, natural resource and climate directorate, Agri-business and marketing directorate and other verticals in ATI for planning and execution of all relevant activities to ensure collaborative Value Chain.

Job Requirements

• Master’s degree or PhD in Agricultural Economics, Project Management, Agricultural Science and Rural Development, and related fields.

•  Minimum 12-years for Master and 6 Years for PhD of relevant experience in implementing projects in international organizations at the regional or national level. Of which of Six years’ experience in leading country level program as a manager or deputy manager in international organization.

• Experience in leading, designing and implementation of youth, gender-inclusive initiatives and peoples with disabilities along the agricultural value chains.

• Experience in leading and contributing to successful designing and implementation of donor-funded projects.

• Experience in providing management guidance and technical oversight on national level projects.

• Experience in leading development of program learning - identify opportunities for learning, research, and publication.

• Facilitate dissemination and institutionalization of best practices and lessons with implementing partners.

• Experience leading multi-dimensional teams and complex work programs.

• Analytical skills, including livelihood and farming system analysis.

• Training or demonstrated experience of agricultural economy.

• Experience in crop - livestock - Natural resource -Agri business value chains and MSME’s

• Experience in successfully completing at least 2 donor projects with major impacts exceeding the indicator targets and receiving a recognition award for outstanding performance a plus.

• Inclination towards participatory management (at team and beneficiary level), capacity to implement and experience of participatory planning methods.

• Desire of improving the lives of smallholder farmers.

• Leadership, autonomy, and integrity.

• Strong capacity to facilitate teamwork.

• Conflict management capacity.

• Willingness to undertake frequent field visits.

• Strong Communication skills (writing, speaking, composing, presenting, etc).

• Proficiency in oral and written English and Amharic. Other local language is a plus.

• Computer literacy.

How to Apply

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to submit (i) a cover letter and (ii) a CV (maximum 5 pages) to this LINK

It is mandatory to mention the position title under the subject line of your cover letter.

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

NB. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.