Position:                        Senior Project II – Mechanization Entrepreneurship  

Term of Employment:  One year with a possibility of extension

Duty Station(s):             Oromia (Based in Addis Ababa), Amhara, and Tigray

Required Number:        Oromia (1), Amhara (1), Tigray (1)

Please Note: ‘’PLEASE MENTION THE SPECIFIC DUTY STATION/LOCATION THAT YOU ARE APPLYING FOR, BUT IF YOU DON’T MENTION THE SPECIFIC LOCATION YOUR APPLICATION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED”

   “We highly encourage competent FEMALE Candidates.”

 BACKGROUND

The Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) was established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify systemic bottlenecks, conduct studies, and provide recommendations, provide implementation support, manage projects, create linkages and coordination among activities and agricultural development programs. The Institute 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 that, to be the leading center of innovative solutions to catalyze and contribute to the transformation of Ethiopian Agriculture by 2030 where smallholder farmers are commercialized with greater incomes, inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability.

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 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.

Program and position summary.

ATI has designed a program called “Agriculture-focused Dignified Employment for Youth in Ethiopia” (ADEY) to address challenges of youth and women unemployment and enhance 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 increasing 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 was designed to create inclusive and dignified employment opportunities for over six hundred thousand youths in ACC regions and Somali. The program will focus on several streams such as agriculture 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 employment opportunities through policy interventions. Like ACC, ADEY will operate along commodity value chains, largely using ACC infrastructures and complement the different ACC outcomes in general, and outcome four (engagement of women and youth) in particular. The project on seed production, processing, and marketing and other seed sector value chains will be implemented in seven regions (Oromia, Amhara, Tigray, Sidama, South Ethiopia, Southwestern Ethiopia, Central Ethiopia). Particularly, employment in mechanization will focus on youth engagement in development of small and medium mechanization service enterprises along seed and crop value chains.

Position Summary

The regional senior project officer II (SPO-II) will be responsible for implementing and coordinating the overall interventions of planned activities in ADEY program. He/she will work at the regional Agricultural Transformation Center and strives for the achievement of its objectives with measurable outcomes. To achieve this, he/she will be responsible for planning, implementing, monitoring/supervision, and coaching of interventions implemented with other local partners in the regions. He/she will be responsible for data collection, reporting, documentation and sharing of lessons, as per the ATI and donor standards. .

He/she will report to the regional program manager and closely work with all ACC and other ADEY program staffs. Besides, he/she will closely work primarily with Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, Bureau of Labor and Skills, Cooperative Promotion Agencies, and ADEY program implementing partners under the guidance of the regional program manager. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Proactively assess, identify and promote potential and viable agri-business ideas for youth employment in areas of mechanization services along crop and livestock value chains. 

• Facilitate formation/strengthen existing small to medium mechanization centers to create youth employment in service provisions.

• Organize/strengthen common interest youth groups to engage in small to medium mechanization services along crop and livestock value chains.

• Strategize to ensure collaboration with key partners/stakeholders to develop functional working relationships to support youth employment.

• Support the regional project manager in managing day to day project activities, including leading and execution of major workstreams where the project is operating. 

• Align and closely work with regional Agricultural Transformation centers and other partners.

• Provide business advisory services to youth entrepreneurs to help improve their skills and knowledge in agribusiness development and organizational capacity development. 

• Produce and disseminate manuals and training modules for skill development of youths and local partners.

• Develop approaches for outreach and advocacy of the ADEY portfolio, implement and monitor activities, prepare progress reports, and report to the regional program manager.

• Provide advice and support to mechanization service providers and local partners in promoting youth-based mechanization services. 

• Support and advise youths on policies and regulations on mechanization services, business development, and requirements (e.g. investment, taxation, and financing).

• Design, implement, and monitor youth and women-focused training and capacity development programs in management, operation, and maintenance of farm machineries. 

• Promote digital technologies in mechanization service provision.

• Provide evidence-based advice and support to youth enterprises and local partners to replicate best practices of youth employment in mechanization service provisions.

Job Requirements

• Minimum of master’s degree in Agricultural Mechanization, Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Economics, Project management, Agri-business or Agrotechnology related fields. 

• Minimum of 8 years of relevant experience in agriculture, project management, enterprise development, and related responsibilities.

• Very good knowledge and experience of the Ethiopian agricultural system in.

• Experience related to agricultural mechanization service provision and other related business model development is a plus.

• Have deep knowledge and skills in pre- and post-harvest agricultural technologies/machineries. 

• Have high level of experience in preparing technical specification for agricultural machineries selection, operation, and evaluation. 

• Extensive experience in identifying, forming, and supporting different models of mechanization services, mainly small and medium scales.

• Skills in providing training on mechanization business development.

• Experiences in implementing and managing donor-funded projects.

• Very good experience in multistakeholder processes and collaborations.

• Experiences in supporting small mechanization enterprises to transform to medium mechanization service providers.

• Strong technical and analytical capacities, problem solving and reporting skills.

• Abilities to work under pressure and with multi-disciplinary teams.

• Proficiency in computer and internet-based communication tools.

• Willingness to conduct frequent field visits.

• Strong communication skills (written, verbal, presentation, etc.

• Proficiency in English, Amharic and knowledge of the regional language is required.

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) online using 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.

NB. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.