Position:                            Project Team Lead-I, Agriculture One-Stop Shop (AOSS)

Term of Employment:    One Year with a possibility of Extension

Duty Station(s):              Addis Ababa

Required Number:          One

Application Deadline:      October 2, 2023

 BACKGROUND:

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) 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 to be the leading centre of innovative solutions for the transformation of Ethiopian Agriculture by 2030.

The Institute focuses on two primary national approaches to catalyze agricultural transformation. First, we support the Ministry of Agriculture (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, Sidama, South-West, 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 teamwork 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.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The team leader will manage an operational team and oversee regional offices. S/he bears overall responsibility for program delivery and managing progress and expenditure against the project’s key deliverables. Key responsibilities include managing program delivery, ensuring strong operational systems are in place for finance, procurement, logistics, transport, converting detailed program agreements into implementable strategies. S/he will develop work plans against milestones with key deliverables and do Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to support project implementation. S/he will manage both federal and regional teams, and hold strong representation and coordination with partners, and partners/stakeholders, including AOSS owners. The Project Team Lead will also ensure planned activities are executed against the approved Project Management Plan (PMP) with M&E data indicators efficiently addressed with quality and professional ethical code of Conduct. In general, the project team lead manages the overall project’s physical and financial performances against annual and project’s plans and will report to the director of crop commercialization program.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

 Strategic thinking

• Proactively identify gaps across the value chain of agricultural inputs related to AOSS.

• Perform diagnostics of the projects, interventions' and propose solutions.

• Strategize to ensure collaboration with key partners/stakeholders across agricultural input value chains to develop functional working relationship and facilitate B2B market linkages for the key actors involved in input and service supplies.

• Develop and manage strong internal systems for monitoring of project performance and ensuring the project deliverables and their milestones are met.

• Ensure progress against key project deliverables and milestones through development of detailed project implementation plans and performance monitoring plan, in collaboration with project team, regional staff and partners,

Problem solving

• Proactively identify project level and across input VC level challenges and solve accordingly.

• Effectively translate high-level strategy into project & intervention for entire input value chains related to AOSS.

• Identify key real challenges for the effectiveness of AOSS and suggest appropriate mitigations.

Capacity building

•  Identify training needs for project staff and ensure that the team receives appropriate short-term training.

• Develop strategies and plans to provide clear direction to all relevant teams on Team’s goals and action plan.

 Data management and progress reporting

•  Coordinate and manage to regularly update the required data as per KPI indicators in IPM.

• Produce annual work plan for projects and ensure effective and efficient implementation as per approved budgets.

• Ensure that evidence is documented after each milestone is accomplished and regularly submitted.

• Produce timely and quality periodic reports.

Administrative works

• Approves request and plan of direct report.

• Perform administrative tasks as required.

•  Conduct performance evaluation of physical and staff members.

• Review/approve leaves, AOSS team’s plan, performance goals/targets, budgets, reports, procurement, travel.

Overall Monitoring and evaluation

• Monitor progress against detailed activity and budget plans with technical teams ensuring that objectives and milestones as well as indicators are achieved.

• Prepare and review periodic reports incorporating activity and financial progress for projects’ activities conducted in all regions.

• Lead the planning and coordination of project activities with technical staff and partners as required ensuring that an integrated approach is exercised.

• Ensure that project monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment systems and tools are in place.

• Oversee delivery of outcomes of the different technical components of the projects in the regions.

• Oversee and evaluate staffing of project-office in Addis Ababa (HQ), Oromia, Amhara, SNNPR and Tigray Regions to implement project activities and ensure key deliverables are met.

• Provide leadership, guidance, and management support in the establishment/strengthen the existing and effective operation of OSSs.

• Undertake periodic and regular monitoring and evaluation of project activities and implementation of lessons learnt from these monitoring and evaluation activities and other best practices.

Coordination & representation

•  Participate in project related meetings providing strategic oversight to the project delivery and ensure updates on project progress, risks, and risk mitigation strategies. 

•  Lead periodic meetings with regional teams to review project progress.

• Ensure that effective engagement is maintained with partners, stakeholders, and sub-grantees to ensure responsive and sustainable programming.

• Represent the projects in any forum with partners, Federal & Regional Governments, Donors, and other external stakeholders as required; and

• Attending other internal and external meetings as required.

• Closely work with ATI’s project teams to ensure that the integration of AOSS in their service provision.

• Undertake other assignments as may be requested from the immediate supervisor or the concerned Senior Director

Job Requirements

• Minimum of master’s degree in agriculture, Development Studies, Agricultural Economics or Economics, Agribusiness, or related fields.

• Minimum 10 years (only for master’s degree) of relevant experience and at least 5 years’ work experience in managing large and complex multi-year projects, mainly related to agricultural input supplies value chains, and programs with staff of diverse background.

• Extensive experience in management of donor funded projects and good organizational, management and leadership skills.

• Experience of building, leading, and developing teams with diverse backgrounds and expertise.

• Experience managing complex procurement processes.

• Strong communication and partnership management skills, with demonstrated experience in managing teams in a multicultural setting.

• Experience in solving complex issues through analysis, definition of a clear way forward and ensuring buy-in

• Understanding of Ethiopia’s agricultural system, with a broad perspective of the inputs supply and distribution system, with particular focus on agrochemical and/or veterinary drug usage.

• Strong technical and analytical capacities, problem solving and reporting skills.

• Strong communication and partnership skills, with demonstrated experience in managing teams in an agricultural setting.

• Strong experience in facilitation and process of procurements and sub-grants to achieve the goal of the project.

• Ability and willingness to shoulder responsibilities under hectic conditions.

• Team player.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office including advanced proficiency in Excel and required.

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 CLICK HERE

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.