I. TechnoServe Background: 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 more than four decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.
II. Program Description:
TechnoServe has assisted over 300,000 smallholder coffee households in East Africa to improve their incomes by increasing the quality of the coffee they produce, boosting their coffee production and linking them to premium markets. Over 280,000 smallholder farmers; 190,000 of these being in Ethiopia have attended TechnoServe’s Coffee Farm College, a 2-year hands-on training approach that has enabled participants to increase their coffee yields by up to 70%. TechnoServe is currently implementing a Coffee Farm College in the Sidama area and aims to impact and bring change to 50,000 coffee farming households through the adoption of Best Practices that will eventually lead to coffee yields increase on their farms.
III. Position Description:
Provide management of the HERZ Agronomy project currently being implemented in the Sidama area. The Project Manager will work closely with the respective Coffee Management team in Ethiopia and will be responsible for timely and effective implementation of HERZ project activities and achievement of the overall project goals which is primarily focused on training coffee farmers on sustainable farming practices. S/he will thus be responsible for project planning and oversight, quality implementation, and delivery of results and milestones as agreed with the donor and country management team
IV. DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:
o Ensure the program team manage all demonstration plots to a high standard and Agronomy Advisors complete the required number of Demonstration Plot observations on PIMA
o Timely collection and sharing of project performance information through impact and progress stories and photos
o Proactively identify successful strategies and tactics, or bottlenecks to effective execution of project objectives
V. Required Skills & Experience:
· Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant field – business, agriculture, the sciences, engineering, economics, etc.
· At least seven years’ professional experience – ideally private sector – in one or more of the following areas: coffee processing or agronomy, SME development, project or business management.
· Strong Project management skills and prior experience of managing direct reports: Personnel management experience is critical
· Ability to generate innovative solutions in work situations
· Excellent interpersonal and cross-cultural skills with proven ability and experience working with teams
· Track record of building strong client and stakeholder relationships
· Ability to identify and understand issues, opportunities and compare data from different sources to draw conclusions and to use effective approaches for developing appropriate solutions and take action that is consistent with available facts
· Strong planning skills and experience working to strict time-guidelines.
· Proven leadership ability combined with excellent communication skills, particularly the ability to lead and facilitate technical training.
· Willingness to be based in rural coffee-growing areas
· In addition to Amharic, excellent English oral & written presentation skills (knowledge of second local language, e.g., Afan Oromo or Sidamigna, is an advantage)
· Strong computer skills, particularly MS Office (Excel, MS Word, PowerPoint) and email
VI. Preferred Experience
· Master’s degree in business, economics, agriculture or another relevant subject area would be an added advantage
· Experience working in the coffee sector
· Business acumen and experience in developing and managing budgets
· Prior work with non-profit/international NGOs
· Field-based operations experience
VII. Success Factors:
Competency is a combination of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) directly related to successful performance on the job.
Core Competencies include:
Managerial Competencies
Technical Competencies