The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

The Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO) division works to catalyze sustainable and transformative socio-economic change. In the face of inequities and market failures, GGO seeks to realize the potential of untapped markets, and ensure that economic and social benefits reach everyone. We focus on the areas of Agricultural Development; Financial Services for the Poor; and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene. We seek solutions that are sustainable, transformative, and inclusive with an eye toward applying technology innovations as well as data evidence to drive change in the world’s developing countries.

The Agricultural Development (AgDev) program aims to catalyze a country-led, inclusive, agricultural transformation (IAT) process by developing and scaling products, services, policies, and system-wide innovations that benefit small scale producers (SSPs), empower women, and improve nutritional outcomes. We want farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA) to be empowered with the knowledge, tools, and technologies to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

The overall goal of the Enabling Country Systems Africa Portfolio (ECS-Africa) is to drive IAT through better policy engagement with governments, improving the technology adoption by both the public and private sectors, and catalytic investments through our key partners.

ECS-Africa portfolio’s Bodies of Work (BOWs) jointly focus on a) accelerating IAT at the country level through clear country strategies that reflect government priorities and maximize potential impact; and b) on driving innovative products and scaling practices within SSA, through building regional platforms for scaling technology adoption, data for decision making and private sector engagement.

The work by the team includes interpretation, packaging and communicating our comparative advantage in technological innovations for SSPs, aligning with leadership vision at country level and nurturing partnerships that drive co-creation and implementation of interventions that drive IAT. The BOWs are discrete areas to better track our progress against a set of portfolio targets and milestones. The prioritized investments from across AgDev portfolios come together in focus countries to support the strengthening and modernization of select systems.

Your Role

We are looking for a globally minded Senior Officer, Agriculture Ethiopia to support the effective implementation of the Ethiopia IAT roadmap, coordinate the consolidation of our investments across the various teams, strategically manage country relationships (e.g. government, donors, private sector), as well as fully support and succinctly communicate the country strategy.

The ideal candidate will posse a deep understanding of international agricultural development, as well as the Ethiopian context, and be skilled in managing complex partners’ relationships.

The role is based in Addis Ababa, however, for the right candidate, we may be open to considering candidates from geographies in Africa where we have offices. The postholder will administratively report into the Ethiopia Country Office (ECO) Director, and technically to the Deputy Director Africa.

What You'll Do

The selected candidate will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Provide technical guidance on strategy and investments in Ethiopia, to improve the policy enabling environment, fostering evidence-based policy formulation and implementation.

• Be the focal technical person for AgDev investments that directly drive IAT in Ethiopia.

• Increase alignment and coordination of core intervention areas, leveraging crops, livestock, and digital farmer services transferable assets.

• Leverage resources and technical capacity of government, private sector, and development partners to drive adoption of innovation by SSPs in Ethiopia.

• Build and expand partner networks by working with current partners such as the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres (CGIAR) in the country and how they partner with national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES); engaging extensively with new Africa-based partners and establishing new networks for the foundation; interacting and communicating clearly and consistently with grantees and partners in the field, within Ethiopia.

• Provide advice and support to key foundation partners, including participation in strategic meetings, committees and represent the foundation in related fora.

• Support foundation’s work and IAT roadmap in other countries and regions in SSA by sharing learnings from Ethiopia.

• Serve as a member of the ECO Leadership Team, providing programmatic expertise and support in developing, modifying, and implementing the One foundation Ethiopia country strategy.

• Attend meetings to represent the foundation and shape country agendas in line with foundation priorities in IAT and climate adaptation.

• Implement other duties as assigned.

Your Experience

We are looking for a creative and curious leader who enjoys working on complex problems and collectively create solutions that have the potential for transformative change in the lives of low-income people. You have an excellent track record of achievement and leadership in roles of increasing responsibility. You should be prepared to work across a diverse set of disciplines, bridging a wide range of expertise, all the while being a teammate, with a demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency, and diplomacy in an exciting, challenging environment. Additionally, we are seeking the following:

• An advanced degree or equivalent work experience relevant to agriculture (e.g. agribusiness, economics, rural development, or a closely related field). MBA is preferred.

• 10+ years of experience, including a minimum of 5+ years working in SSA Africa with partners within agricultural sectors across the continent, ideally with experience with private sector organizations in commercial roles.

• Broad agricultural systems knowledge (e.g. NARES, input/output markets and private sector).

• An entrepreneurial drive, e.g. suggesting new value chains, partnerships, based on country realities, with vision that aligns to core IAT goals in the country.

• Proven ability to engage in policy dialogue and discussions involving high-level government officials, donors, and other in-country partners.

• Demonstrated understanding of the global landscape of agricultural development, and in particular an in-depth understanding of the agricultural sector and policy environment in Ethiopia.

• A track record of learning, sharing knowledge and innovating, e.g. organizing country workshops to share findings from the policy analytical work, evidence from other countries in Africa or South Asia on how agricultural transformation is progressing under the different contexts.

• Proven track record of managing complex projects and partners’ relationships in a multicultural setting.

• Extensive experience of working with African-based partner organizations.

• Robust understanding of IAT strategy and approach and a track record of building and sustaining strategic partnerships aligned with IAT.

• A track record of participating in key country agricultural sector fora (e.g. at platforms such as the Rural Economic Development and Food Security (REDFS) Sector Working Group).

• Experience collaborating with BOW teams and leading the implementation of IAT roadmaps.

• Previous experience supporting and advising senior leadership on AgDev matters.

• Solid communication skills; commanding presence and excellent reputation within the agricultural sector.

• Comfortable with the Ethiopia political environment and can interpret the cultural nuances in language and action (is preferred).

• Experience interpreting different models used in agricultural policy prioritization (e.g. Rural Investment and Policy Appraisal model (RIAPA) and policy prioritization models that use value chain analysis).

• Experience of conducting gap analysis of country capacity to formulate and implement policy.

• Strong collaboration skills and proven ability to influence others, and to effectively drive change at system level.

• Ability to critically evaluate and co-design innovative business models by private sector to ensure they contribute to transformative, sustainable, and inclusive socioeconomic change.

• Outstanding analytical capabilities and problem-solving.

• Handles complexity and ambiguity effectively: proven ability to be flexible, efficient, and tactful in a fast-paced environment.

• Ability to operate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing, including clearly conveying technical ideas and information, as well as analysis and recommendations to support strategic decision-making. Verbal and reading Amharic skills are desirable.

Other Attributes

• Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.

• Ability to travel domestically and internationally.

Application deadline: 25 July 2024

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Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Candidate Accommodations

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Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.