Position:                           Senior Project Officer I-Digital Agriculture Extension Advisory Service (DAEAS)

Term of Employment:   One Year with a possibility of extension

Duty Station(s):             Addis Ababa

Required Number:         One

Application Deadline:    November 13, 2023

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

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. 

ATI provides a unique 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 teams with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.

The programmatic focus of the Institute responds to a core set of needs identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and other sectors along commodity value chains. Across the programs, the ATI engages public, private, and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models. Currently, ATI is tasked to coordinate the revised Agriculture and Rural Development policy agendas of the sector and such sectoral level delegation requires high level expertise in the policy areas and skillsets in coordination and networking with multiple stakeholders.

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 team work 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 Senior Project Officer will be responsible for the implementation of the digital agriculture Advisory Service roadmap intervenions. These include managing the design and implementation of the comprehensive Farmer Production Cluster (FPC) Digitalization Platform, with a focus on farmer profile, and maintaining the platform for monitoring on and off farm activities in the FPC. The SPO will also be in charge of introducing various tools that might be utilized for upskilling and supporting smallholder farmers (SHFs) and development agents (DAs) in around of the FPCs. These include the development and implementation of the DA Digital training Platform, the setting up of Internet kiosks at FTCs and nearby facilities, and the development of digital and financial literacy training platform for SHFs.Developed FPC Digitalization Platform· Lead the designing and development of the FPC Comprehensive Digitalization System 

o   Identify critical system gaps and important requirements for developing the Comprehensive Digitalization platform

o   Identify and obtain stakeholder acceptance on Farmer Profiling parameters o Analyze the requirements to precisely define and capture the needs of all stakeholders

o   Oversee the design of the FPC Digitalization Platform

o   Handle the identification of the the IT service provider for introducing the platform

o   Manage the development of Web and mobile-based applications with data collecting, processing, and reporting modules.

o   Assist the Digital Agri Project team lead in establishing the project by the supporting the recruitment of casual and fized term project staffs

o   Deploy the digital platform by managing the procurement of the required hardware, Telecom infractructure and connectivity  

o   Managing the FPC Digitalization Platform testing, implementation, and operationalization around the FPC program.

o   Enrich the farmer profile by conducting phone survey, survey, by partnering with relevant stakeholders, partners and digital platforms

o   Update the farmer profile in the FPC digitalization platform and integrate with internal digital tools such as 8028 Farmer profile, e-vochur system

· Support the Implementation of various tools for supporting and upskilling the Development Agents (DAs) and smallholder farmers (SHFs) in FPC program

o   Manage the development of a digital training platform for DAs

o   Select, design and develop contents for the training platform

o   Launching and facilitating the training

o   Support the Identififcation, selection of Farmer Training Centers (FTCs) and entrepreneurs, and piot the internet kiosk in the FPC program

o   Lead the design and development of the Digital and Financial literacy training for SHFs

o   Pilot the digital and financial litracey training for smallholder farmers via the existing the digital platforms such as 8028 Farmer Hotline.

 MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

· Lead the designing and development of the FPC Comprehensive Digitalization System 

o  Identify critical system gaps and important requirements for developing the Comprehensive Digitalization platform

o  Identify and obtain stakeholder acceptance on Farmer Profiling parameters o Analyze the requirements to precisely define and capture the needs of all stakeholders

o  Oversee the design of the FPC Digitalization Platform

o  Handle the identification of the the IT service provider for introducing the platform

o   Manage the development of Web and mobile-based applications with data collecting, processing, and reporting modules.

o   Assist the Digital Agri Project team lead in establishing the project by the supporting the recruitment of casual and fized term project staffs

o  Deploy the digital platform by managing the procurement of the required hardware, Telecom infractructure and connectivity  

o  Managing the FPC Digitalization Platform testing, implementation, and operationalization around the FPC program.

o  Enrich the farmer profile by conducting phone survey, survey, by partnering with relevant stakeholders, partners and digital platforms

o  Update the farmer profile in the FPC digitalization platform and integrate with internal digital tools such as 8028 Farmer profile, e-vochur system

· Support the Implementation of various tools for supporting and upskilling the Development Agents (DAs) and smallholder farmers (SHFs) in FPC program

o  Manage the development of a digital training platform for DAs

o  Select, design and develop contents for the training platform

o  Launching and facilitating the training

o  Support the Identififcation, selection of Farmer Training Centers (FTCs) and entrepreneurs, and piot the internet kiosk in the FPC program

o  Lead the design and development of the Digital and Financial literacy training for SHFs

o  Pilot the digital and financial litracey training for smallholder farmers via the existing the digital platforms such as 8028 Farmer Hotline.

·  Produce quarterly and annual plans, as well as technical project documents and reports on a regular basis.

. Performs other duties as required.

Job Requirements

• Master’s Degree in  Computer Science, Information Systems, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or in other related fields

• At least 6 years for master’s in Project implementation and Management, Implementing digital tools, software, GIS, Remote Sensing, Data Analysis, Information Management, administering databases.

• Experience in identifying requirements for designing the digital platform which can address the users’s

• Proven experience in leading the designing, development of web and mobile applications, GIS, Remote Sensing, Data Analysis, Information Management, Drone Mapping, Web GIS, and Project Management

• Knowledge of multiple front-end languages and libraries (e.g. HTML/ CSS, JavaScript, XML, jQuery)

• Knowledge of multiple back-end languages (e.g. C#, Java, Python) and JavaScript frameworks (e.g. Angular, React, Node.js, and others related tools)

• Expert in designing and developing data collection tools or applications specifically uding ODK and other related technologies

• Familiarity with databases (e.g. MySQL, MongoDB), web servers (e.g. Apache) and UI/UX design

• Experience in implementing the digital platforms in the rural communities and in the agriculture sector

• Great attention to detail, Organizational skills, An analytical mind

• Excellent communication (Oral and Written) and teamwork skills

• Fluency in English and Amharic is essential. 

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

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.