Vacancy Announcement
ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY
Position: Managing Director – Ethiopian Agribusiness Accelerator Platform Project
Term of Employment: Project based
Duty Station(s): Addis Ababa
Required Number: One
Salary & Benefits: Competitive
Application Deadline: February 28, 2017
BACKGROUND:
The Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has been established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify and address systemic bottlenecks to Ethiopia’s agricultural development. The Agency does this through problem-solving, implementation support, and capacity building of stakeholders involved in implementation of interventions that address the systemic bottlenecks. The Agency reports to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources Development and is Secretary to the Transformation Council chaired by the Prime Minister.
The programmatic focus of the Agency responds to a core set of needs identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources Development and the Transformation Council. Within the Agency, issues are divided into four different pillars: Production and Productivity which includes Inputs and Crop Protection, Livestock, Research and Extension, Mechanization and Rural Finance; Environmentally Sustainable and Inclusive Agricultural Growth including Sustainable Irrigation and Watershed Management, Sustainable Land Management, Gender and Nutrition, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, Targeted Livelihood Support, Biodiversity and (temporarily) Planning and MLE; Agribusiness and Markets including Market Support Services, Commercial Farming, Agro-processing & Market Development, and Cooperatives Development; and Enhanced Implementation Capacity which includes ICT, Private Sector, and Organizational and Human Capacity. In addition, the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters Initiative is another critical focus area for the Agency. Across the programs, the ATA engages public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity and test innovative models.
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 team work to achieve excellent results.
At ATA, 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.
PROJECT BACKGROUND:
The Ethiopian Agribusiness Accelerator Platform Project (the EAAP) is a demand-driven, value-chain focused business accelerator that will help high-potential agribusinesses to scale. It is launching with an initial focus on the honey and wax value chain and will operate from Addis Ababa, with plans to establish a regional presence in strategically important honey and wax markets. The apiculture (honey and wax) value chain is the starting point because of its favorable value chain economics and comparative advantage, strong potential for multiplied economic and social impact, and the relatively stable policy environment. At its founding, the EAAP will be housed within ATA
POSITION SUMMARY:
The GoE has made the transformation and commercialization of the agriculture sector a key tenet of its second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II). At the very core of the strategy to achieve this transformation is the transition of smallholder farmers from subsistence orientation to market focused production systems and activities that better integrate them into domestic and global supply chains. The full development and competitiveness of the entire agricultural value chain is thus critical to ensure that smallholder farmers can make the necessary market linkages that allow such supply chain integrations to happen.
Commercial enterprises that are so essential to make value chains competitive are however largely missing, in particular across the downstream end of the value chain. A number of challenges have contributed to the absence of sufficient number of agriculture enterprises in Ethiopia, chief among them under-developed business ecosystem “building blocks” (such as access to appropriate financial products and services, access to talent, access to expertise and access to markets).
In many other countries, well-designed and well-financed agribusiness accelerators have been used to fill such gaps through provision of comprehensive business development services and facilitation of access to the key “building blocks.” The EAAP will test and validate the accelerator concept for Ethiopia.
The Managing Director of the EAAP will be responsible for the overall management of the EAAP and effective day-to-day management of team members, providing operational management and problem solving support on a range of areas that include, but not limited to, designing and executing the EAAP’s scaling strategy, driving platform membership and entrepreneur development, identifying new business opportunities, raising sufficient funding (grant, debt, equity), and ensuring the development of talent.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES:
EAAP management
Partner and stakeholder management
Entrepreneur support
The Managing Director of the EAAP will work closely with:
- ATA’s Agribusiness & Markets and Enhanced Implementation Capacity teams
- Other ATA Program Teams
- External stakeholders such as the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, Federal and Regional level government bodies,
- Relevant industry associations,
- Private sector market actors
This position will officially report to the Senior Director of the Agribusiness & Markets and Enhanced Implementation Capacity Verticals.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS