Vacancy Announcement

ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCy 

Position:             Senior Technical Expert II

Term of Employment:  6 months

Duty Station(s):             Addis Ababa

Required Number:        One

Salary & Benefits:          Competitive

Application Deadline:   July 23, 2021

BACKGROUND:

The 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 (MoA), its affiliate institutions, and other partners to identify and address systemic bottlenecks within an Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Second, we support Regional Governments to accelerate the 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 sectors 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 teamwork 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 to 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. 

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Technical Expert II will be accountable to IADP Coordinator and support the development (designing) of the IADP of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

Provide technical assistance to the project designing team in the following thematic areas:

• Market and Enterprise Development Component- identification of key intervention strategies, activities, and key indicators for outputs, outcomes, and impacts.
• M&E components- approaches, process, identification of key result indicators, documentation, and reporting systems.
• Conduct rapid assessments of AGP and related agricultural development programs/projects: (i) Focusing on Monitoring and Evaluation process, feedbacking systems, and implementations of corrective measures; (ii) Review documents and carry out a quick stakeholder’s analysis to identify major challenges of marketing and value chains of agricultural inputs and outputs and identify strategic intervention areas; and (iii) identify best practices, lessons, and document key intervention areas.
• Identify constraints and barriers (financial, technology, infrastructure, human resources/skills, marketing, regulatory, policy, institutional) that must be addressed to enable the development of the value chains focusing on marketing and enterprise development interventions. 
• Recommend public investments required to support selected commodity value chains. In the case of public infrastructure (soft and hard), recommend arrangements for financing (i.e., public, private, public-private) and mechanisms for sustainable operation and maintenance.
• Develop appropriate models/options for the engagements of the private sector in the prioritized agricultural value chains; and develop procedural guidelines to support the development of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in enterprise development.  
• Identify and define current financing choices and options, financing constraints at all stages and across all scales of enterprises in the selected commodity-based value chains.
• Assess and review existing financial institutions (public and private) to define constraints in product innovation, new financial instruments and mechanisms; and develop suitable enterprise development financing models.
• Review government policies, agricultural development/ extension strategies; AGP documents, M&E and working progress reports.
• Develop, review, update, and oversee the implementation of agricultural Marketing and enterprise development strategy and coordination with project technical staff, various enterprise development support agencies (ABSOs) contracted in the project and government institutions and private agencies.
• Explore and identify all existing implementation opportunities and indicate in the document means of utilizing these opportunities during the implementation of the program.
• Development of modules for facilitation in developing linkages between FCIGs, Agri-business support agencies and suppliers for processing and marketing of vegetables, other agriculture commodities and certified organic produce.
• Development of procedural guidelines for demonstration of value addition, harvesting, packaging, post-harvest handling of high-value perishable commodities, supply chain, support enforcement of necessary regulatory reforms – particularly for improving the licensing system to farmers’ interest groups and farmers organizations for various agriculture products and making them self-sustaining producer companies and propose different options of federating FCIGs into enterprise/company, cooperative, etc.
• Develop training and capacity development plan/module for implementation of Marketing and enterprise development component.
• Undertaking a desk review of relevant marketing and enterprise development activities conducted by government or other development partners and documentation of best practices and success stories in Marketing and Enterprise development interventions.
• Facilitate marketing infrastructure development, market need assessment, market linkages and innovative marketing interventions.
• Develop a strategy and procedural guidelines on how to facilitate linkages of farmers, farmers interest groups and cooperatives to public & private organizations including financial institutions.
• Develop training, procedural guidelines and plan to the government and private sector staffs, community-based organizations and farmers based on expressed need.
• Develop a strategy and procedural guidelines how to build the capacity of government officials (i.e., inter-departmental task force for facilitating enterprise development), financial intermediaries, public-private collaboration platform stakeholders, and enterprise development entities through mentoring and facilitation of learning by doing the process.  
• Develop content & design technical brochures, handouts, pamphlets & other printing materials in collaboration with the project design team for Marketing and Enterprise development interventions.
• Lead consultations with the IA, regions, private sector, and others to establish the scope and methodology for conducting the task related to marketing and enterprise development (under the overall scope of work).
• Explore and identify all existing implementation opportunities and indicate in the document means of utilizing these opportunities during the implementation of the program.
• Develop work plan and budget for Marketing and Enterprise development interventions stretched over the program period.
• Ensure the crosscutting issues such as Gender, youth, nutrition, and climate-smart agriculture are mainstreamed in the program components and subcomponents.
• Layout and organize the whole documents – Project Design Document and Project Implementation Manual of the project; and finally edit the entire document and produce formatted & refined document. 

Job Requirements

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Ph.D. or master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Enterprise development. 
• At least 6 years (for PhD) or 8 years (for master’s) of experience in the field of Agriculture especially marketing & Agribusiness. 
• Experience in developing or designing complex programs or projects. 
• Experience in advising or facilitating or participating in the development of complex programs or projects.
• Excellent analytical and proposal/technical report writing skills.
• An understanding of Ethiopia’s agricultural system in general and livestock, with a broad perspective on how the entire system operates and how public, private, NGO and informal actors interact.
• Excellent skills and experience in the use of computers and common office applications.
• Experience in prioritizing and sequencing both programmatic and operational activities. 
• Ability to thrive in a fast-moving, start-up environment, with an emphasis on high-performance, teamwork, accountability, and results. 
• Ability to build relationships with all kinds of people. 
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and data gathering and analysis skills.
• A strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty, and desire to be of service.
• Fluency in both written and spoken English and Amharic.
• Excellent coordination & communication skills.

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 https://apply.ata.gov.et

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.