Direct Seed Marketing Project Leader Jobs in Ethiopia
Direct Seed Marketing Project Leader Jobs in Ethiopia
BackgroundThe Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) is a strategy and delivery oriented government agency created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of the country’s agriculture sector.
The ATA envisions that, by 2025, smallholder farmers are commercialized with greater incomes, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability, contributing to Ethiopia’s achievement of middle-income country status.
The agency focuses on two primary national approaches to catalyze agricultural transformation. First, we support the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoALR), its affiliate institutions, and other partners to identify and address systemic bottlenecks within an Agricultural Transformation Agenda.
Second, we support Regional Governments to accelerate development of high-priority commodity value chains in clearly defined geographic clusters, through the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) Initiative.
Our major activities include conducting strategic and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support, coordinating platforms to better integrate partners and projects, and designing and directly leading a number of implementation projects.
Our headquarters are in Addis Ababa, and we have regional offices in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray regional offices, allowing us to work closely with a wide range of public, private and development sector partners across the country.
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 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, 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.
Purpose of the position
Given the above background, ATA is looking to hire one Project Manager to work with MoA-regional BoAs, various development partners, and other stakeholders to oversee and coordinate the implementation of the DSM expansion project.
The project manager will lead a dedicated DSM team that is currently operating under the Inputs and Plant Protection Program.
The project manager will be tasked to coordinate project activities across each region. Moreover, the project manager will manage technical experts that are assigned to oversee the initiative in a given region.
The ideal project manager possesses a passion for improving the lives of small-holder farmers, and a deep familiarity with Ethiopia’s agricultural system.
The candidate should have strong skills and experience in project management, stakeholder management and coordination.
Moreover, the candidate is expected to have extensive background knowledge and experience in the marketing and distribution of agricultural inputs.
In addition, s/he should possess the operational and entrepreneurial ability to mobilize stakeholders across the seed system, and drive practical change on the ground
Major Duties and Responsibilities
Lead the development and successful implementation of the ATA Communications Strategy
to The major duties of the project manager include, but are not limited to, the following:
Work plan development: lead the development of detailed implementation plan for each region with clear activities, milestones and targets in close collaboration with critical regional stakeholders and development partners
Coordination: ensure alignment of different stakeholders and complementarity of project activities between each region so that DSM design principles are implemented uniformly
Administration: manage project resources (budget) and support technical experts who are currently overseeing the implementation of DSM in each region
Resource mobilization: identify resource needs and develop concept notes/ proposals for mobilizing resources (funding, technical support, etc) that are critical for implementing DSM
Capacity building: identify capacity gaps at different levels and design support programs in collaboration with technical experts e.g. training programs, organization of workshops, etc.
Monitoring, learning and evaluation: lead tracking of project results and outputs in accordance with ATA’s overall MLE framework
Reporting: document and report project progress and associated risks to ATA’s leadership (program director) and external partners (MoA, BoAs and development partners)
Support related projects: coordinate with external partners and ATA teams in co-launching Input Tracking system (ITS) and Input Credit through voucher system in selected woredas
Integration with related external projects/ program: liaise with external development partners and ensure effective integration of DSM project with other related programs e.g. CBSP, AOSS, IVS, etc.
Ad hoc support: provide ad hoc support to Inputs program and senior management team as required on issues relating to core organizational development, prioritization of interventions, problem solving, planning
Required Qualifications:
Educational qualifications: MA/MSc degree in fields such as Project Management, Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Business Management, Development Economics or other closely related fields
Professional qualifications: at least 8 years (BA/BSc) and 10 years (MA/MSc) of work experience in areas related to agricultural input marketing, Small and Medium enterprise (SME) development, cooperative development, value-chain development, and other related disciplines. The candidate should have worked 4-5 years assuming managerial positions.
Other qualifications:
Understanding of Ethiopia’s agricultural system with a broad perspective on interactions between public, private and informal actors in the seed system
Deep knowledge of agricultural input marketing and distribution systems across value chains of key crops such as maize, wheat, tef, etc.
Experience in project management, program design, performance management, stakeholder management, contract management, and MLE systems
Practical experience in developing and maintaining linkages between producers and markets
Ability to thrive in a fast-moving, start-up environment, with an emphasis on high-performance, teamwork and accountability
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty and desire to be of service
Fluency in Amharic and proficiency in English are essential. Knowledge of other Ethiopian languages desired.
How to Apply
We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to send
a cover letter,
CV (maximum 5 pages), and
a completed online ATA Application Form at https://apply.ata.gov.et Or email to Recruitment@ata.gov.etby 6th April 2019
Also, please Do Not submit scans of certificates with your application form.
Women are highly encouraged to apply.
NB. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.
