About IFDC 

IFDC is a public international organization active in 27 countries in Africa, Asia, and America. IFDC uniquely approaches the global issues of food security and poverty by bridging the gap between research and impact, combining science-based innovations, holistic market systems development, an enabling policy environment, and strategic partnerships to assist farmers and countries to identify and scale sustainable agricultural solutions, including improved nutrient use efficiency. These approaches are needed to boost soil health and crop productivity while reducing the environmental impact of fertilizer use. IFDC translates research into action by using locally driven, environmentally sound, and impact-oriented solutions. With our partners, we seek to close the yield gap, eradicate global hunger, safeguard the soil on which our lives depend, and generate economic resilience for farming households and the countries in which they live.    

Position Summary

The program component will lead to one of the four components of the TRANSFORM (Component 1), Customize Extension Services and Empower Farmer Households and Communities to Adopt Soil Health and Fertility Best Agroecological Practices,

The component lead will guide implementation of customize extension services, work with MoA (from federal to woreda level) extension to empower farmers and to adopt participatory bottom-up soil health and fertility and contributing to private sector lead extension effort.  The component lead will support TRANSFORM staff in validation, adapting, and scaling elements of the PIP approach to enable farmer households, communities, and other stakeholders (including from the public and private sector) to collectively engage in good stewardship of the land and its natural resources, from household to landscape level. 

Roles and Responsibilities

•  Provide input and guidance to the soil health and extension program component while leading the regional program management team, regional program team, technical specialist, staff and partners.

• Ensure the use of bottom-up and participatory methods in farmer engagement; promote private sector lead soil extension services for integrated soil fertility management (ISFM); in farming systems, last mile input distribution systems, sustainable land use, and watershed management.

•  Prepare work plans and annual budgets for the program component, according to the dates indicated in the grant agreement between the Donor and IFDC

•   Ensure the daily management of the program component across regions and partners, including financial management and management of program staff

• Contribute to the recruitment of program staff and coordinate/supervise their daily activities.

•  Contribute to the Business development process of IFDC (as required).

Reporting and Work Relationships

• The component lead is supervised by and reports to the Deputy Program Director - Technical.

Location

• This is a national recruitment with a duty station in the IFDC office based in Ethiopia.

Benefits

• IFDC's benefits include annual and sick leave, health and group life insurance coverage, a 13th month salary, social security and pension contribution in compliance with local laws and end-of-contract benefits. 

Salary Clause

The salary grade for this position is BG 9 with starting salary for this position is USD 1,779.913 gross per month paid in local currency. The determination of new employee salaries considers various factors. These include the salary range linked to the assigned job grade, the candidate's qualifications in relation to the job's responsibilities and prerequisites, internal fairness, the competitive state of the job market, as well as potential organizational and budgetary considerations.

Diversity Clause

IFDC is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion, and offers equal employment opportunities based on ability, performance, and potential. Equal opportunity is integral to the recruitment and selection practices at IFDC. IFDC recognizes the value in recruiting employees with different backgrounds, knowledge, experiences, perspectives, and beliefs. IFDC recognizes and values the contribution of people with a diverse background in capabilities, experience, and perspectives. Diversity encompasses gender, age, experience, education, ethnicity, religious, sexual orientation and cultural backgrounds as well as other dimensions such as lifestyle and family responsibilities.

About Program (TRANSFORM)

The Netherlands/DGIS and EU-funded Transform is a 7-year, 24 million Euro initiative. By 2030, TRANSFORM envisions the transformation of soil health and fertility management to sustainably increase the productivity of 100,000 small-scale food producers and improve the sustainable use of 65,000 hectares of farmland in three Regional States in Ethiopia. TRANSFORM also models a process for replication and scaling of soil health and fertility management nationally focusing on elements of extension, research, private input supply and creating enabling environment.

Job Requirements

Qualifications; 

•  Ph.D /MSc in Agricultural Extension, Rural development,  soil science /natural resources management, economics or business management with proven experience in Ethiopian agricultural extension system working with MoA.

• At least 8 years of experience successfully leading the management of complex agricultural, natural resource management focused projects (multi-year programs) , with a bottom-up and purely participatory approachwith a focus on soil health and fertility extension; developing last mile input distribution systems and agribusiness development.

•   Good understanding of the national extension system, gap in soil health extension system, experience in research, teaching and extension program

• Demonstrated ability in concepts, principles, and approaches around bottom-up and purely participatory methods in farmer engagement; PIP,  ISFM; last mile input distribution systems; fertilizer blending and fertilizer distribution systems; fertilizer extension and enabling environment.

•  Excellent skills in MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint; proficiency in MS Access preferred and Knowledge of other statistical packages like SPSS, STATA has an added advantage.

• English language fluency required.

• Must be a self-directed, highly organized person who can effectively prioritize and follow through on multiple initiatives simultaneously.

• Work with MELS manager, communication and Gender and youth specialist to address cross cutting issues of the component.

•  Represent and delegate deputy program director to lead regional program management team, (when assigned and in the absence of the deputy director)

•  Lead and guide component one of the program management team (regional) and program management teams

•   Collaborate with TRANSFROM component leads form design, plan to a system for capturing lessons learned and best practices promotion in platforms.

• This position will be located in Addis Ababa with frequent travel to all program sites.

How to Apply

interested and qualified applicants can apply through the link: TRANSFORM Component lead -Soil health and fertility Extension IFDC Ethiopia - Addis Ababa - International Fertilizer Development Center (silkroad.com)