Deputy Chief of Party at Technoserve

Technoserve

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Position: Deputy Chief of Party

Job Time: Full-Time

Job Type: Permanent

Place of Work: Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Posted date: 4 years ago

Deadline: Submition date is over

Job Description I. About TechnoServe: TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. We are a nonprofit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hardworking men and women in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs and wealth for their families and communities. With five decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives. II. Program Description: TechnoServe seeks a Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) to assist the Chief of Party in leading the implementation of a five-year Enhancing Market Efficiency and Resilience for Growing Ethiopia’s New Coffee Economy (EMERGENCE) funded by the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), JDE and Peet’s Coffee which will benefit tens of thousands of smallholder coffee farmers in Yirgacheffe, one of the world’s most celebrated coffee origins. The program will help farmers boost productivity and expand trade, and has a strong focus on improving farmers´ capacity to rehabilitate their trees. The DCOP will oversee coffee market system development efforts including activities designed to 1) facilitate external stakeholder relationships, 2) augment coffee and agronomic research and develop suppliers of genetic material for planting 3) facilitate agricultural lending 4) build the capacity of business service providers and strengthen regional and international platforms to better support rehabilitation and renovation efforts. The program will collaborate closely with local and international private, public, and civil sector partners to achieve results. During the COP’s absence, the DCOP serves as acting COP. III. Position Description: Working under the supervision of the Chief of Party, the DCOP will be in charge of: Stakeholder management ● Develop and manage partnerships with coffee companies, the commodity exchange, trade associations, host government programs, international development project implementers and other stakeholders aimed at expanding benefits to coffee sector project beneficiaries ● Keep government informed about project progress by attending update meetings ● Ensure corporate and donor compliance by monitoring program compliance with all its policies, rules and regulations ● Manage project media communication in close coordination with HQ, USDA and international buyers including the organizing of field visits, buyer follow up and origin promotional efforts. ● Support the launch of a National Coffee Platform (NCP) for all coffee stakeholders, including women and youth, to ensure coordination and accountability ● Assist ECTA to operationalize the recently drafted CECSIR to enable ECTA to be in a position to foster a more supportive business environment – characterized by ease of doing business, accountability of regulators and policymakers, and transparent rules of engagement – that is critical to boosting the competitiveness of the Ethiopian coffee sector ● Coordinate project activities with the EU funded coffee project implemented by BOFed and ECTA Coffee sector development ● DCOP is responsible for leading the enabling environment activity ● Work with exporters and private service provider to develop a Coffee Service Provider model tailored to the Ethiopian context ● Work with a tech company to develop a traceability solution meeting exporter and international buyers’ needs ● Asses gaps and opportunities in the current certification market and develop a certification strategy for Yirgacheffe wet mills ● Develop and support the implementation of a new Ethiopian coffee marketing strategy, including branding, segmentation, and promotion ● Work with ECX to develop an independent arbitrator system to address buyer complaints and improve the sector’s international reputation and contract compliance. Operational Support ● The DCOP supports the COP in the day-to-day operations of technical implementation teams and ● Manage, motivate and develop country field teams to guarantee the successful execution of program activities as well as team members’ professional development. Promote positive team dynamics. ● Develop bi-annual reports to the government, summarizing progress made to achieving coffee value chain targets ● Collaborate with other project team members including those tasked with facilitating access to finance, implementing MEL, and communicating project successes, to effectively integrate their activities in support of coffee value chain development efforts ● Use monitoring and evaluation data and insights to propose strategic adjustments to coffee program activities Research and Development ● DCOP manages the partnership with Kew Gardens and manages their climate change resilience expert on the ground ● The DCOP collaborates and coordinates with JARC to conduct climate resilience varietal and adaptation research, and develop strategies to assist farmers to better manage shocks in the short- and medium-term, with a view to enhance the competitiveness and safeguard the long-term sustainability of the sector. ● Oversee the establishment of agrometeorological experiments for trials sites and oversees the dissemination of results and integration into the project’s training curricula ● Develop and oversee the learning agenda of the project and manage wet mill processing protocol pilots ● Support the Climate Change Resilience expert to support JARC to identify and preserve climate resilient germplasm ● Review and develop a sustainability strategy that meets buyer requirements and presents an attractive return on investment for wet mills ● Work with Ethiopian academia to document project lessons learned and document impact to promote adoption and advocate for gradual improvements in the Ethiopian coffee market ecosystem IV. Required Skills and Experience: ● Bachelor’s degree in agronomy, agroforestry, economics, agricultural economics, business administration, supply chain management or a related field with at least 10 years of progressively wider responsibility of which at least 3 years of which to be a management experience managing staff, managing external relations such as government and donors, planning and staff development. ● At least 5 years’ experience in Ethiopian coffee or other similar industry including interactions with international buyers and exporters. ● Strong experience in managing people, leadership skill, teamwork, facilitation, and collaboration capacity ● A detail-oriented person with the ability to effectively manage operations, ensure high-quality program execution consistently, as well as timely reporting and diplomatic communications. ● Excellent written and verbal communications including the ability to communicate clearly and effectively to diverse audiences in English ● Demonstrate experience of strategic planning, management, supervision, and budgeting of projects ● Experience of interacting effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of public and private sector counterparts and other key stakeholders, in building consensus, and in developing and managing mutually beneficial partnerships that leverage resources to create greater impact ● Strong organizational skills and a capacity to handle multiple tasks under tight deadlines with a high level of attention to detail ● Independent judgment and strong problem-solving and decision-making skills required, with limited supervision ● Experience working with USDA, USAID, or other bilateral-funded projects desirable