Vacancy Announcement

ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY

Position: Reginal  Project Officer II- NMIS

Term of Employment: Full time

Duty Station(s): Hawassa-SNNPR 

Required Number: One

Salary & Benefits: Competitive

Application Deadline: July 7, 2021

BACKGROUND:

The Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has been established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify and address systemic bottlenecks to Ethiopia’s agricultural development. The Agency does this through problem-solving, implementation support, and capacity building of stakeholders involved in implementation of interventions that address the systemic bottlenecks. The Agency reports to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and is Secretary to the Transformation Council chaired by the Prime Minister. 

The programmatic focus of the Agency responds to a core set of needs identified by the Agricultural Transformation Council, chaired by the Prime Minister. Within the Agency, issues are divided into four different pillars:  Production and Productivity which includes Inputs and Crop Protection, Livestock, Research and Extension, Mechanization and Rural Finance; Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Agricultural Growth including Sustainable Irrigation and Watershed Management, Sustainable Land Management, Gender and Nutrition, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Targeted Livelihood Support, Biodiversity and (temporarily) Planning and MLE; Agribusiness and Markets including Market Services, Commercial and Contract Farming, Domestic & Export Market Development, and Cooperatives; and Enhanced Implementation Capacity which includes ICT for Agricultural Services, Private Sector in Agriculture, and Organizational and Human Resource Capacity. In addition, the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters Initiative is another critical focus area for the Agency. Across the programs, the ATA engages public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models.

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

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Assume overall regional responsibility of supporting the hiring process and managing enumerators, including management of salaries and per diems and their day to day monitoring of the data collection activity in selected market performance.
• Work closely with federal NMIS project team and other relevant stakeholders existing in the area in relation to project planning and delivery, ensure effective project reporting and escalation of issues, and effectively manage project performance.
• Be responsible for data collection and encoding (with a minor role in data validation and processing), enumerator management and system promotion in their respective regions.
• Lead regular internal and external meetings with regional decision-makers and stakeholders to provide visibility on project progress, escalate decisions and issues requiring federal-level input, and ensure stakeholder alignment
• Engage stakeholders across the agriculture and trade sectors to foster effective linkages to the Project and promote broader awareness and adoption of the market information system
• Ensure the Project is well-integrated with other ATA’s regional programs and projects and adopt the region context to achieve synergies and outcomes that impact the broader agricultural system
• Conduct random market visits to check the adherence to the standardized data collection process and perform validation checks 
• Manage the translation of NMIS market information into the local language for dissemination through the NMIS different dissemination platforms
• Actively engage to prepare NMIS promotion materials, an organization of demo sessions for farmers, and dissemination of promotional materials.
• Collect and analyze regular users’ feedback on NMIS

Job Requirements

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's or Master’s Degree in Agribusiness, Agriculture, Information Technology, Marketing, Agricultural Economics, Economics, Agricultural Marketing or another relevant field
• At least 6 years (if Master’s Degree) or 8 years (if Bachelor’s Degree) of relevant experience in project management, preferably in the agricultural / agribusiness sector, and of which at least 2 years’ experience is in a senior program, leadership or managerial role in government, non-government, or private sector role
• Experience utilizing Information Technologies to collect, transmit, and disseminate information
• Good understanding of computer systems, mobile devices, smartphones, and other tech products
• Basic analytical skills, experience using excel to analyze NMIS’s traffic and other data being generated into the system 
• Background and experience in agricultural marketing, in particular, is strongly preferred (but not required)
• Understanding of Ethiopia’s agricultural system, with a broad perspective on how the entire system operates and how the public, private and informal actors operate and interact within the system
• Ability to thrive in a fast-moving, start-up environment, with an emphasis on high-performance, teamwork, adaptive problem-solving, accountability and results
• A strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty, and desire to be of service
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English, Amharic and local language of the respective piloting regions (SNNP).

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)at the website

It is mandatory to mention the position title in the subject line of your application email.  Please DO NOT submit scans of educational and experience certificates with your application.

 Women are highly encouraged to apply.

 Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.