Position Announcement ICT Project Team Leader ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY
The Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is seeking a qualified candidate to serve as a Project Team Leader, ICT Team.
BACKGROUND: The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (the Agency or ATA) is an initiative of the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) which was established by federal regulation in January 2011. The primary aim of the Agency is to promote agricultural sector transformation by enhancing and supporting existing structures of government, private-sector and other non-governmental partners to address systemic bottlenecks in the system and deliver on a priority national agenda to achieve growth and food security.
The ATA focuses on a set of high priority program areas. These program areas are sub-divided into Systems, Value Chains, and Initiatives. Across these, the ATA engages public, private and non-governmental stakeholders to support strategic planning, manage and strengthen implementation capacity, and test innovative models. Its structure and function is focused on nimble, innovative and results-oriented support to a range of partners in the agricultural sector. It is financed by GOE and a range of development partners.
POSITION SUMMARY: The ATA recently established the ICT project team to develop and support initiatives that are related to the use of information communication technologies. The ICT team plays a major role in supporting ATA’s system/program teams to determine if and how technology could help to address systemic problems. In cases where both programs agree technology would be useful, the ICT Program will remain engaged, working on system design, developer selection, and project implementation. The ICT team will focus the majority of its resources supporting other teams at the ATA, and manage ICT proposed projects.
The ICT Project Team Lead position within the ICT team will report directly to the Chief of Staff and Senior Director of Special Projects. The position will be based in Addis Ababa. The ideal Team Lead should possess a passion for improving the lives of smallholder farmers and a strong interest in developing innovative information communication technologies to transform existing practices in Ethiopia. S/he would likewise possess the entrepreneurial ability to visualize transformation, and the ability to support the ATA to mobilize partners, stakeholders and funding, in order to drive practical change on the ground.
The ICT Project Team Lead is expected to lead on all current /future ICT developed projects (IVR/SMS System and Input Tracking System) and assist ATA program/system teams implement their respective ICT related deliverables. The ICT Team Lead will also be responsible with coordinating and supervising the day-to-day activities related to the current ICT projects.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES:
Provide overall leadership for the ICT Project Team and act as the principal liaison with other stakeholders on ICT related matters
Lead problem solving sessions to effectively design ICT solutions for agriculture’s systemic challenges
Conceptualize and/or oversee the development of software solutions to specific agriculture related problems
Develop criteria for selecting and evaluating COTS and GOTS tools and applications
Identify and deploy front-end programming and event driven paradigms
Design intuitive user interfaces
Develop work plans and budgets for ICT related projects and activities
Lead and manage several work streams under the purview of the ICT Team
Develop and design project plans, and/or update program teams on project status
Consolidate individual input from team members and lead meetings
Assign, supervise and ensure that project objectives are properly implemented
Build and maintain strong working relationships with the Ministry of Agriculture, INSA, the Regional Bureaus of Agriculture, EthioTelecom, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, and private IT vendors
Engage with other programs within the ATA to ensure that efforts by the ICT Program are aligned and supportive of other activities undertaken in the agricultural sector, especially in Ethiopia’s agricultural cluster corridors
Meet with stakeholders to assess challenges and map out challenges, so that the ICT team can develop recommendations
Lead system design in collaboration with relevant partners, who will be influencing the design
Job Requirement
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
A minimum of a Master's Degree in ICT for Development, International Relations, Agriculture, Rural Development, Development, or other relevant areas.
8-12 years of work experience within the ICT or agriculture sector, the government, academia, an international agency or the private sector, working with multiple partners
At least five years of professional experience implementing, leading and/or monitoring ICT projects
Proven record of excellence in managing teams consisting of diverse individuals and ICT-related projects
Proven record of excellence in facilitating, developing and building relationships between a variety of public, private and other organizations
Ability to communicate complex ICT-related topics to individuals with no ICT background
Strong team player with outstanding management skills
Ability to work under pressure and in a constantly evolving and challenging environment
Self-starter and self-motivated person
Fluency in English required
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
Strong relationships with EthioTelecom, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Communication and Information Technology is highly preferred.
Experience in Ethiopia and/or internationally is highly preferred
Previous international work experience or international exposure a plus
Previous experience as project manager or Team Lead is highly preferred
Previous experience implementing large scale ICT in the agricultural sector is highly preferred
Experience mapping process flows within the agricultural sector
Knowledge about application of ICTs in rural areas, otherwise known as “ICT4D”
Experience implementing nationwide IVR solutions
Knowledge of agricultural value chains
Knowledge of e-vouchers for input credits and/or mobile financial services
Fluency in Amharic or other Ethiopian languages helpful
Basic exposure to coding (Java, html, python, etc.)
Basic exposure to GIS
Knowledge and/or experience with any of the following:, Ushahidi/CrowdMap, Drupal, ArcGIS, QGIS, OpenDataKit, Frontline SMS, FreedomFone, Formhub, Google Docs, or SPSS