The International Centre of Insect Physiology & Ecology (icipe) seeks to hire a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) & Market Development Officer I who will provide business and market linkage expertise to the development and promotion of youth owned micro, small and medium-size businesses. S/he will build strong relationships with a range of players in enterprises related to the MOYESH project and will use these relationships to improve business and market opportunities for those MSMEs. S/he will provide technical expertise under the MOYESH project to expand and create new enterprises and create sustainable market linkage across the value chain in project locations. S/he will provide technical support to project staff and partners on enterprise development and market linkage to rural youth, input supplier, aggregators, processors and exporters and other agricultural value chain actors within MOYESH project. S/he will support efforts to leverage innovative and technology led solutions to achieve the program’s goals She/he will be a member of icipe Ethiopia office which is located at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

General: The International Centre of Insect Physiology & Ecology (icipe) is a pan-African and non-profit Centre of Excellence for research and development and capacity building in insect science and its applications. Its mission is to help alleviate poverty, ensure food and nutritional security and improve the overall health status of peoples of the tropics by developing and extending management tools and strategies for harmful and useful arthropods, while preserving the natural resource base through research and capacity building. Since its establishment in 1970, icipe has become a significant contributor to science and innovation required to meet the health and food security challenges of sub-Saharan Africa. The Centre has achieved this status by developing alternative and environmentally friendly pest and vector management technologies and products that are effective, selective, non-polluting, non-resistance inducing, and are affordable to resource-limited rural and urban communities. Employing close to 500 international and national staff, icipe also has approximately 150 graduate students who contribute to its research portfolio annually. The Centre currently has operations in more than 40 African countries, and thriving partnerships with universities and research organizations across the world.  For more information visit: www.icipe.org.

icipe is partnering with Mastercard Foundation to implement the MOre Young Entrepreneurs in Silk and Honey project (MOYESH). The purpose of this partnership intervention is to secure fulfilling and dignified employment and income for unemployed young women and men by scaling up integrated beekeeping and silk farming businesses, building on lessons learned from YESH project and leveraging the public-private partnerships that are already created. The MOYESH project targets to provide 100,000 youth with appropriate skills and to enable 100,000 youth (of which 60% are female) secure dignified and fulfilling work in four target regions of Ethiopia including the Amhara; Oromia; Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNP); and Tigray.

Main Responsibilities:

• Assists with special projects, such as trade fairs, promotional events, advertising, and product development support in close collaboration with project clients
• Conducts training to build the capacity of business service providers to better support MSMEs
• Through both secondary and primary information gathering, develops an understanding of and document youth group access to structured market within and outside the region
• Mobilizes experts and undertakes industry demand analyses for honey and silk products and develops and shares specific knowledge of the youth, and SMEs on market opportunities, industry preferred market channels, quality and quantity requirements, price officers and available market demand
• Assists in identifying and mobilizing youth groups and SMEs for sustainable supply of honey and silk to the structured market
• Efficiently coordinates project resources to achieve market linkages related results of the project in the region 
• Identifies and mobilizes formal buyers of the honey and silk products to build long term business partnership with farmers
• Undertakes capacity needs assessment of youth and SMEs and provides inputs for intervention plan
• Provides technical assistance to youth and SMEs to develop bankable business and marketing plans and facilitates linkages with financial institution
• Collaborates and participates in different platforms and enhances synergy between the project market related objective and other programs in the region
• Plans and organizes trainings and workshops that are planned under the project component
• Serves as resource person in the development of training material and undertaking trainings on topics such as contract farming, business planning, marketing strategies, access to finances and etc.
• Provides expert advice to key partners in developing innovative business services, new business partnerships, and market oriented information systems
• Assists with development of manuals, lending forms, portfolio reviews and acquisitions, and serves on task forces or committees as required in the promotion of opportunities in the honey and silk sector
• Works with public institutions and research institutions, entrepreneurs, cooperatives, business community to build sector-wide, mutual benefits on value chain, including reduction of transaction costs, reduced waste, risk reduction, increase in market and employment opportunities
• Performs other duties as assigned by immediate supervisor

Minimum Requirements:

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness, Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, Investment Finance or Marketing, or other relevant discipline

Experience:

• At least five years’ experience demonstrating success in business consulting, investment finance, marketing or private sector entrepreneurship.

 Skills:

• Knowledge of production (Agriculture), including quality control, market standards, and/or product development

• Excellent oral and written communication in English including report writing

• Deep understanding of Ethiopia’s economic and business environment, particularly at the MSME level
• Agricultural Markets and/or Value Chain development
• Development of Business Services, finance and financial services
• Private sector experience, particularly entrepreneurship

• Computer skills: Microsoft Office Applications, specifically Excel and Word and Access

Core Competencies:

• Result oriented and sound decision making
• Demonstrating accountability and commitment
• Ability to communicate effectively and work within a team
• Ability to gathering information, assist with research
• Build relationships and ability to bring people together
• Managing and improving team performance

Duty Station:   Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Position level:   HG 13

Minimum Base salary:                  

•  Birr 19,112 per month (Negotiable depending on salary history of the candidate)

Terms of appointment: This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, initial appointment is for three years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. icipe offers a multicultural, collegial research environment with competitive salary and excellent benefits in line with ILRI salary applicable for its Nationally Recruited Staff. icipe is an international and equal opportunity organization and believes that diversity of its staff contributes to excellence. 

The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus with dining and sports facilities that are located on site.

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter, a detailed curriculum vitae including names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees and a letter providing a point by point response to the essential and desirable person specifications. The position and reference number: MSME/46/19 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter. All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 30 October 2019.