Vacancy Announcement
ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY
Position: Senior Transformation Agenda Specialist- Soil Health and Fertility, MoANR
Term of Employment: Through July 2020
Duty Station(s): Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Required Number: One (1)
Salary & Benefits: Competitive
Application Deadline: August 5, 2018
BACKGROUND:
The Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) was established by the Government of Ethiopia with assistance from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to identify and address systemic bottlenecks in Ethiopia’s agricultural development. The ATA does this through planning, analysis, implementation support, and reporting on the interventions outlined in the Agricultural Transformation Agenda. The Transformation Agenda is a set of prioritized interventions to accelerate the transformation envisioned as part of Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan II. The ATA is accountable to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Secretary to the Agricultural Transformation Council chaired by the Prime Minister.
ATA has launched a Delivery Unit in the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) to directly support MoANR’s work on the Transformation Agenda. Specifically, the Delivery Unit supports owners of Transformation Agenda Deliverables (TADs) within MoANR, with planning, reporting, project management and technical and strategic analysis. Delivery Units have played a critical role in accelerating execution of development initiatives in many countries, particularly in East and Southeast Asia, and today are also present in Ethiopia’s Prime Minister’s office and the Revenue and Customs Authority. The Delivery Unit will be jointly overseen by the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources and ATA senior management. The Delivery Unit team plays a highly visible and pivotal role in accelerating agricultural transformation and development in Ethiopia.
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Senior Transformation Agenda (TA) Specialist for Soil Health and Fertility will report directly to (MoANR/Soil Fertility Improvement Directorate (SFID) Director who is the Implementing Coordinator for the Soil Health and Fertility Program of the Transformation Agenda. The Transformation Agenda Deliverables and Sub-deliverables for this program area are as follows:
1. Improve fertilizer use efficiency to inter alia enhance crop productivity, reduce GHG emissions, and improve nutrient value
2. Develop, validate and scale up ISFM technology packages for major cropping systems
The Senior TA specialist will agree with the Director, SFID in consultation with Regional Agricultural Research Institutions on a prioritized set of sub-deliverables from the above list to focus on and each year develop an annual work plan accordingly.
He will also have a second, functional reporting line to the MoANR Delivery Unit Head, and will work closely with other staff engaged in the implementation of the TA Sub-Deliverables listed above as well as other staff in the Delivery Unit to support effective implementation of Deliverables and Sub-Deliverables of the Soil Health and Fertility Program.
The Senior TA Specialist will therefore bring the requisite interpersonal and stakeholder management skills, technical expertise and problem-solving experience, as well as initiative design, planning, implementation management and reporting experience, to effectively support in relevant focus areas of the Delivery Unit described above. The ideal individual will also demonstrate an entrepreneurial, can-do attitude strong attention to detail, excellent written and verbal communication, and enjoy working in a fast paced organization that is mission and results driven. Strong candidates will also have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, multitask and work under pressure and competing priorities.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES:
Planning, execution effectiveness, tracking, reporting and escalation
Problem solving and technical support