Position:                               Senior Project Officer II – Digital Agribusiness and Rural Finance 

Term of Employment:         One year with a possibility of extension

Duty Station(s):                    Oromia (Based at Addis Ababa), Amhara (Based at Bahir Dar), Tigray ( Based at Mekelle), and Hawassa

Required Number:               Oromia (1), Bahir Dar (1), Mekelle (1),  Hawassa (1)

Application Deadline:       June 28, 2024 

 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”

PROGRAM 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 canter of innovative solutions to catalyse and contribute to the transformation of the 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 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.

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 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. 

The Digital Agribusiness and Rural Finance Officer is responsible for implementing and leading the digital agriculture and rural finance services related interventions planned in ADEY program at the Federal and regional level and for the achievement of its planned results to a high level of quality and in a timely manner. The jobholder will be responsible for developing digital agriculture financial service products and implementing the programs and initiatives that focus on creating jobs for youths in the agriculture sector. To achieve this, he/she will be responsible for guiding, managing, coaching, and monitoring the ADEY program’s digital agriculture and rural financial interventions implemented by the ATI and other partner institutions in the region. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of digital agriculture and rural financial inclusion landscape, as well as experience working with entrepreneurs and startups.

He/she will report to the regional ADEY program regional program manager administratively and to ADEY Program Deputy director at Federal level in matrix. He also works closely with the relevant regional parallel project officers and to the federal digital agribusiness and reports to the regional program manager. Besides, He/she will closely work primarily with Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, Labor and Skills, Women Affairs and partners implementing ADEY program in the region. 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES and RESPONSIBILITIES:

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

• Develop and implement digital agribusiness and rural finance programs and initiatives that focus on creating jobs for youths in the agriculture sector.

• Ensure the delivery of program outcomes, targets and KPIs related with the digital agribusiness and rural finance program 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. 

• Lead the development of the digital agribusiness and rural finance platforms and applications that address the needs of the agriculture sector, entrepreneurs can create new businesses and generate employment. 

• Leverage the digital technologies to train rural youths in new skills, such as data analysis and programming, which can help them find jobs in the agriculture sector or other related areas.

• Closely follow-up with implementing partners (subgrants) and/or agritech startups and MSMEs for the proper implementation of technical and financial matters. 

• Work with entrepreneurs and startups to develop and launch digital agribusiness and rural finance businesses that create jobs for youths.

•  Provide technical assistance and support to entrepreneurs and startups.

• Supervise and manage project technical teams, 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 technical 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.

• Liaise and coordinate with project stakeholders relating with digital agribusiness and rural finance interventions.

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

• 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 and all other program teams at regional level, Crop commercialization program, digital agribusiness 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 delivery. 

Required Qualification, Competencies and Experience

• Minimum master’s degree in digital agriculture, Economics, Agricultural Economics, Project management, Agricultural Science, Rural Development or other related fields.

• Minimum of 8 years of experience for master’s in designing and implementation of youth and gender-inclusive agribusiness activities.

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

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

• Experience in 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 and livestock agribusiness activities and MSME’s.

• Experience working on donor projects in the agriculture sector. 

• Experience in participatory development approach, stakeholder collaboration and partnership.

• Teamwork, and collegial and institutional relationship building abilities.

• Willingness to undertake frequent field visits.

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

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Proficiency in English and Amharic, and knowledge of the regional language is an advantage

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.