Term of Employment:  One year with a possibility of extension

 BACKGROUND

The Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) was established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify systemic bottlenecks, conduct studies, and provide recommendations, provide implementation support, manage projects, create linkages and coordination among activities and agricultural development programs. The Institute 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 that, to be the leading center of innovative solutions to catalyze and contribute to the transformation of Ethiopian Agriculture by 2030 where smallholder farmers are commercialized with greater incomes, inclusiveness, resilience, and sustainability.

ATI provides a unique 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 teams with the tools, training, and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.

The programmatic focus of the Institute responds to a core set of needs identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and other sectors along commodity value chains. Across the programs, the ATI engages public, private, and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models. Currently, ATI is tasked to coordinate the revised Agriculture and Rural Development policy agendas of the sector and such sectoral level delegation requires high level expertise in the policy areas and skillsets in coordination and networking with multiple stakeholders.

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.

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) has designed a program called “Agriculture-focused Dignified Employment for Youth in Ethiopia” (ADEY) to address unemployment challenges of youths, especially young women, including those with disabilities, and increase their participation in the labor market, particularly in the agriculture sector. ATI has mainstreamed youth employment, gender equality, climate-smart, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture in all its programs and projects with the primary objectives of increased access to sustainable and inclusive job opportunities for youth, inclusivity, and the sustainable use of natural resources while building resilience capacities to shocks at all levels.

ATI, among others, currently works with more than 3 million smallholder farmers (540,300 are women and youths) engaged in the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) and digital agriculture programs designed to improve smallholder farmers’ production and productivity while supporting other actors along the value chain. Taking ATI’s reputable experience, ADEY program is designed to create inclusive and dignified work opportunities in ACC regions and Somali for over six hundred thousand youths. The program will focus on several workstreams such as agriculture and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to strengthen access to agricultural input and output markets and finance; improve the competitiveness of youth-owned MSMEs through capacity-building activities; enhance the skills and mindsets of young women and men through technical and business skill development, and create an enabling environment for work opportunities through policy interventions. Similar to ACC, ADEY will operate along commodity value chains, largely using ACC infrastructures and complement the different ACC outcomes in general and outcome four (engagement of women and youth including those with disabilities) in particular.

The Gender, Safeguarding and Youth Inclusiveness Senior Technical Expert at the ATI HQ will be responsible to ensure that gender, disability and youth issues are consistently and thoughtfully mainstreamed in ADEY program. She/he will ensure integration and coordination with ATI programs and projects at federal and regional levels. The position holder will directly report to the ADEY Program Director and to the Women and Social Affairs in a matrix. She/he will closely work with all ADEY and ACC program staff. Besides, he/she will closely work with the MoA, Women and Social Affairs office, Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, bureau of Labor and Skills, Light for the World and partners implementing ADEY program on the directions given from the program management.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Coordination  

• Coordinate and support the program team to ensure gender, disability and youth inclusion are consistently and thoughtfully mainstreamed to ensure achievement of the LoP target indicators.

• Liaise and coordinate with relevant stakeholders including Government, NGOs, CSOs, Private Sector, and Implementing Partners to obtain critical inputs, mobilize young women to participate in ADEY, and create institutional collaboration to promote gender, disability and youth inclusive interventions.

• Facilitate establishment of gender and disability inclusive youth advisory groups in the areas where ADEY is operating to gain insights from the youth perspective and amplify their voices.

• Mobilize and work with formal and informal women’s associations, organization of persons with disabilities, and organizations working with refugees and IDPs, etc., to help identify target participants and implement gender, disability and youth-responsive interventions in ADEY. 

• Provide technical supports to non-gender project team members of ADEY and ensure the team uses gender and disability lenses to implement their day-to-day activities.  

• Ensure the gender inclusive interventions are implemented per the project document and ATI gender policy and guidelines.  

• Collaborate with internal departments (such as HR, legal/compliance, communication) and external stakeholders including relevant government agencies, community organizations, Mastercard Foundation’s and other community of practices, as required, to implement standard safeguarding practices and create safe environment for program participants.

• Oversee the physical performance and budget utilization of the project related to safeguarding gender, disability, and youth integration both at HQ and regional levels.  

Design And Implementation

• Develop action plan and lead implementation of feasible and pragmatic project interventions based on the expected projects’ outputs, KPIs, and workstreams that contribute to the overall objective of the program. 

• Support the regional staff in planning and implementation of youth and gender-responsive, and disability inclusive interventions.  

• Coordinate and lead implementation of youth and gender analysis, as required, and develop action plans with targets to be included in the M&E framework of the program.

• Lead development of gender and youth strategy and action plans, especially to empower young women and ensure their participation and benefits in the agricultural value chains.

• Develop or review gender and safeguarding policies, and establish clear and accessible reporting and response mechanisms for any concerns and incidents that may occur.

• Support program partners and service providers to become gender, disability and youth responsive in their business practices, policies and actions.

• Provide technical support and guidance to women enterprises to effectively and efficiently manage their business operations.

• Facilitate linkages of women enterprises with private sectors and markets to develop business partnership and enhance their performance.

• Ensure mainstreaming of persons (youths) with disabilities in enterprise development activities, and linkages with private sectors and market opportunities.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Oversee and support the regional team in monitoring and evaluation of the impacts of gender, disability and youth-inclusive interventions. 

• Solicit feedback from youth advisory groups to ensure that youth voice and agency is incorporated in ongoing programing.  

• Contribute to design of gender and disability-inclusive M&E framework and tools for data collection on target indicators. 

• Supervise and provide backstopping on implementation of the program interventions in a youth and gender-responsive manner.  

• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of implementation of safeguarding initiatives, and conduct risk assessments to identify potential risks and develop mitigation measures.

• Support the regional teams in proper data collection on program achievements, and closely work with the M&E Advisor on the data analysis and reporting. 

• Document and share lessons learned, best practices, and success stories related to gender, safeguarding and youth responsive program interventions.

• Ensure that women from different categories including those with disabilities are benefited from the program interventions.  

Training  

• Coordinate and provide tailor-made training on gender, safeguarding and youth inclusiveness for program and partner staff.

• Support and guide the regional gender, safeguarding and youth inclusiveness experts, and the implementing partners in organizing gender-specific knowledge and experience sharing. 

• In collaboration with the other team, plan and facilitate training of trainers for youth beneficiaries on mindset change, business and technical skills.  

Others  

• Prepare quality reports (quarterly, semi-annual and annual) and provide feedback to the beneficiaries, stakeholders and Women and Social Affairs based on progress performance and lessons learned. 

• Represent the program in national working groups, meetings, workshops and other events, and provide feedback and integrate lessons learnt into the program implementation. 

• Work closely with responsible persons at the ATI and Mastercard Foundation to ensure alignment and compliance with the gender and safeguarding policies, and the Foundations’ disability inclusion strategy.

• Undertake any other related works as assigned by the program director.   

Job Requirements

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in gender studies, sociology, psychology, anthropology, socioeconomics, agricultural economics, agricultural extension, rural development and other related fields.

• Minimum of 8 years relevant experiences in leading, designing and implementing gender, safeguarding and youth inclusive initiatives in the agriculture sector.

• In-depth knowledge of gender equality, and women and youth empowerment in the agriculture sector.

• Proven experience in design, implementation, and evaluation of women and youth empowerment projects or programs.

• Demonstrated technical and analytical skills to produce quality reports, training modules implementation guidelines. 

• Demonstrated experience and ability to provide adult trainings.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, and ability to develop stakeholder collaboration and partnerships.

• Ability to stay composed and positive in difficult moments, and handle tense situations.

• Ability to complete multiple assignments and produce quality results under tight schedules.

• Experience in providing technical advice and management guidance on gender and youth inclusiveness.

• Experience in managing development of program learning - identifying opportunities for learning, research, and publication.

• Good experiences in dissemination and institutionalization of best practices and lessons with implementing partners.

• Ability to work with multidisciplinary team and develop collegial relationships.

• Experience in youth employment in agriculture (crop, natural resource, livestock value chains) and MSME’s development.

• Willingness to undertake frequent field visits.

• Strong communication skills (written, verbal, composing, presentation, etc.).

• Proficiency in verbal and written English and Amharic.

• Outstanding strategic thinking skills with strong grasp of the latest strategic and policy frameworks and experience in aligning program activities.

• Excellent negotiation and conflict resolution 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) online by using THIS LINK

It is mandatory to mention the position title under the subject line of your cover letter.

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

NB. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.