Since 1944, Heifer International has empowered over 46 million smallholder farmer families globally to overcome hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. Our goal is to close the Sustainable Living Income (SLI) gap for 10 million additional households by 2030.
Heifer Ethiopia’s contribution to this goal is to support 1 million smallholder families to achieve a sustainable living income by 2030 through its Signature Program focused on dairy, poultry, small ruminants, and horticulture — driving transformation and resilience in Ethiopia’s agricultural sector.
Reporting directly to the Africa Senior Vice President, the Country Director will lead the design and execution of Heifer Ethiopia’s country strategy, ensuring operational excellence, culture transformation, and delivery of Sustainable Locally Led Development (SLLD). The role will also drive long-term strategic partnerships, business growth, and impactful program delivery across Ethiopia.
The Country Director will serve as a visionary servant leader — fostering a high-performing, values-driven team, promoting shared leadership, and embedding Heifer Africa’s Value-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) approach in all programs and operations.
The ideal candidate will hold a Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Business Administration, or a related field, with a minimum of 15 years of senior leadership experience, including at least 10 years leading diverse and multicultural teams.
They will bring proven expertise in agribusiness, market systems development, and community transformation, alongside strong business acumen, stakeholder engagement, and partnership-building skills. Experience working with major funders such as USAID, DFID, IFAD, AFDB, and FAO is essential.
ABOUT HEIFER INTERNATIONAL AND ITS ETHIOPIA COUNTRY OFFICE
Heifer International is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with some form of disability.
Since 1944, Heifer International has empowered over 46 million smallholder farmer families globally to overcome hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. Our new goal is to close the Sustainable Living Income gap for 10 million more households by 2030.
Heifer Ethiopia’s contribution to the Global 10 million households target is to help 1,000,000 of Heifer Africa’s 6.745 million households achieve sustainable living income by 2030. Heifer Ethiopia’s maiden Signature Program, focusing on dairy, poultry, small ruminants and horticulture, will set the pace.
Reporting Directly to the Africa Senior Vice President, the position will be responsible for shaping and leading the execution of the country strategy, fostering meaningful long-term sustainable business development partnerships and growth, while embodying and leading with our Heifer Africa Values/Value-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) approach. The role will also ensure Country Operational Excellence and Culture change to deliver Sustainable locally led development (SLLD) in Ethiopia’s Signature Programming.
The role will provide effective leadership and drive team spirit to build a high-performing country team that delivers sustainable, permanent, scalable impact and results through long-term partnerships in a diverse environment. In addition, the role holder should also inspire and empower employees to bring their best selves to work each day, fostering a culture of trust, collaboration, and excellence.
The position holder will be a visionary servant leader, a highly self-aware leader of leaders with a proven track record of leading people and organizations through evolutionary change. He/she will possess a master’s degree
with 15 years of senior leadership experience, ten (10) of which will have demonstrable diverse and multicultural team development in the development sector, inspiring teams to action with sustainable locally led development (SLLD) and impact.
The successful candidate will preferably have professional experience in agribusiness and/or community development in a matrix structure. To meet the diverse needs of this role, s/he will have solid experience in market systems development approach, strong business acumen/Entrepreneurial leadership, relationship building, and possess high standards of integrity and accountability. Experience leading and co-designing programs in partnerships with bilateral, multilateral & government organizations is critical.
Duties and Responsibilities
DELIVERABLES/ ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES
A. Business Development and Strategy (45 %)
Lead the strategic vision for Heifer International at the country level under the Africa Regional priorities and align it with government and donor priorities.
In collaboration with the Regional Office, lead the Country Office's annual business planning process.
Ensure the cascade of the country business plans, monitoring and reviewing performance against business plans for successful delivery e.g Monitoring & delivering on Burn rates targets in a nimble & agile way.
In collaboration with the New Business Development Teams, ensure the development and implementation of new business strategies with full landscape analysis.
Stay abreast of industry trends and funder priorities in the region.
Lead proposal development initiatives in collaboration with the Business Development Team to build winning proposals.
In partnership with Signature Program leaders work to identify and deploy capital investments across the signature programs.
Ensure handshake with the Signature Program Technical Lead in-country to facilitate onward co-designing of Signature Program in line with agreed partnerships proposals/agreements.
Provide technical and strategic support to broaden access to agribusiness finance in Heifer International Ethiopia Accelerator Programs and liaise with Heifer Impact Capital (HIC) and other critical stakeholders (development partners, equity investors, etc) to drive Access to Finance strategic framework for Heifer International Ethiopia.
Commission market-based demand-driven value chain studies to build the signature programs within the country.
B. Shared Leadership within an Inverted Organogram Culture (20%)
Establish Effective Shared Leadership: Set up Country Shared Leadership Team, promoting cross-functional collaboration and shared decision-making.
Shared Decision-Making Processes: Design and implement frameworks for collective decision-making, ensuring that decisions reflect input from relevant stakeholders at all levels.
Role Clarification: Ensure role clarity for the leadership team, responsibilities accountabilities and areas of ownership, ensuring that authority is distributed appropriately across functions and power balanced.
Leadership Circles/Committees: Establish and coordinate cross-functional leadership circles or working groups to address specific strategic issues or projects.
Foster a Culture of Shared Leadership from Frontline to Leadership within the Inverted Organogram Culture: Work closely with the Shared leadership team to embed shared leadership values into the organizational culture through training, communication, and role modeling.
Capacity Building: Develop and implement leadership development programs to enhance skills related to collaboration, communication, conflict resolution, and decision-making within a shared leadership framework.
Team Building Initiatives: Organize team-building exercises to foster trust, collaboration, and a sense of collective ownership within the leadership team and across departments.
Facilitate Open Communication Channels: Establish and maintain effective communication platforms (e.g., regular leadership meetings, online tools, feedback mechanisms) to promote transparency and ensure information flows across leadership levels.
C. Operational Excellence and Culture Change (20%)
Champion a culture of operational excellence by fostering a collaborative environment that values innovation, continuous improvement, and the pursuit of best practices.
Lead and embed the Heifer Africa Values/Value-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) approach in the country office.
Ensure Country Operational Excellence and Culture change to deliver Sustainable Locally Led Development (SLLD) in Ethiopia’s Signature Programming.
Foster a culture of continuous organizational learning by actively seeking out and embracing new ideas, technologies, and methodologies.
Establish and maintain a robust risk management framework, including the identification, analysis, and mitigation of legal and compliance risks.
Oversee the fiduciary responsibilities of the organization, ensuring sound financial management, transparency, and accountability in accordance with established policies and regulatory standards.
Facilitate/Enable signature program leaders to deliver quality programs aligned with Heifer’s model; using the IPMS to monitor and ensure program quality.
D. Board Management and Brand Ambassador (10%) (Where applicable)
Effective management of Board matters including timely submission of Board packs, keeping within Board agenda, ensuring adherence to regulatory board requirements.
Enhance Heifer’s public presence by building strategic partnerships with stakeholders such as public and private sector institutions, non-governmental organizations, donors and other development agencies.
Lead in enhancing Heifer's value proposition for internal and external audiences.
Position Heifer as a thought leader by leading creative and innovative initiatives on thematic issues such as livestock, agriculture, livelihoods, women, and youth).
E. Any Other Assigned Function (5%)
Job Requirements
EDUCATION
EXPERIENCE
Minimum of 15 years of relevant experience with at least ten (10) years in a supervisory capacity. Fluent in English and local language/s, both spoken and written.
Demonstrated knowledge of working with major funders such as USAID, DFID, IFAD, AFDB, FAO, etc.
Proven professional experience and results in agribusiness or community development is highly desirable.
Proven experience in representing the organization effectively at high level partner and stakeholder engagements.
Demonstrated success in new business or project development, including a track record of achieving impact and results.
Preferred Requirements
KEY BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES
Accountability
Taking ownership of actions, decisions, and outcomes with integrity, reliability, and a commitment to continuous improvement, upheld internally and externally
Effective Communication
Ensuring clarity, honesty, and respect in sharing information, promoting understanding, alignment, and collaboration across internal teams and external stakeholders.
Humility
Recognizing the value of others, embracing learning, and leading with respect, openness, and self-awareness in all internal and external interactions.
Customer First
Prioritizing the needs and experiences of farmers, partners, and colleagues through empathy, responsiveness, and quality service delivery, practiced both internally and externally.
Transparency
Engagement
Encouraging active participation, inclusiveness, and teamwork that foster shared ownership and collective success, both internally and externally.
Leading Edge Skills RequiredFully Operational Skills Required
Strategic thinker with the ability to translate vision into actionable plans to achieve organizational objectives.
Strong understanding of the local business environment, regulatory landscape, and cultural dynamics.
Exceptional leadership skills with a track record of motivating and managing high-performing teams.
Excellent interpersonal and networking skills to build and maintain key partnerships.
Proven ability to identify and capitalize on new business or project opportunities.
How To Apply
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