Position: Junior Analyst, Regional ACC Secretariat and ACC Support Team Term of Employment: Project-based - 1 Year Term with Possible Extension Duty Station(s)*: Amhara (Bahir Dar and additional location to be determined (TBD)) Oromia (Addis Ababa and additional location TBD) Tigray (Mekelle and additional location TBD) SNNP (Hawassa and additional location TBD) Somali (Jijiga and additional location TBD)
*Initially will be based in ATA Headquarters in Addis Ababa for 6 -9 months of training and project work with Analytics Team before joining regional team
Required Number: 2 per Region – 1 in regional city specified above and 1 in another area TBD
Salary & Benefits: Competitive, including cost of travel to/from and accommodation in Addis Ababa
Application Deadline: December 15, 2014
BACKGROUND:
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has been established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify and address systemic bottlenecks to Ethiopia’s agricultural development and transformation. ATA does this through problem-solving, project implementation and support, and coordination and capacity building of stakeholders involved in implementation.
The National Framework for Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACCs) is being introduced in Ethiopia by ATA, the Synergos Institute, and partners at the Federal and Regional levels, and from the development and private sectors. ACCs apply a geographically-focused approach to enhancing and supporting existing structures to address systemic as well as commodity- and geography-specific bottlenecks across priority commodities value chains. This Framework builds on previous federal and regional efforts for value chain development and advocates for a more focused and market-driven solution with significant coordination between diverse public, private and development sector actors.
To support implementation of ACCs, Regional teams (including the Regional ACC Secretariat and the cluster-level ACC Support Team) are being established by Regional Governments. These bodies have the following main responsibilities:
Provide effective upward reporting to the Regional President and the Regional ACC Board, chaired by the Regional President and the Head of the Bureau of Agriculture, as well as to the National ACC Coordination and Capacity-building Unit
Support effective stakeholder coordination and problem-solving of issues at the Regional level, including alignment with other national and regional policies, strategies and programs
Oversee stakeholder coordination, planning, reporting, problem solving and implementation support activities by ACC Support Teams in clusters across the Region
Coordinate planning and program management including strategic and operational planning at the cluster level, through supporting establishment of public-private Value Chain Alliances, day-to-day coordination of value chain actors, and other activities
Facilitate private sector investments by ensuring timely and efficient investment support (e.g. registration, certification) and ongoing problem-solving support
Prepare performance and financial reporting utilizing standard tools and templates
POSITION SUMMARY:
Junior Analysts will be key members of the Regional ACC Secretariat as well as the ACC Support Team in each Region, reporting to the Team Leader and working closely with the Program Manager and other team members. Junior Analysts are expected to provide effective support in areas such as strategy development, strategic and operational planning, program management, problem solving around implementation issues, stakeholder coordination and reporting. While these positions are based in the Regions listed earlier, the Junior Analyst will be posted to ATA Headquarters in Addis Ababa for the first 6-9 months to participate in intensive training and preparation with ATA’s Analytics Team. This will include working with other members of the Analytics Team in 2-4 person project teams similar to top-tier management consulting firms, contributing to a range of high-priority deliverables in areas such as strategy development, analytical studies to support policy and decision making, stakeholder engagement, and project design and budgeting.
The Junior Analyst position is therefore very fast-paced and varied, and often quite challenging but also very rewarding. This is a fantastic opportunity for a very motivated individual with strong analytical skills, and ideally also some experience with strategy development, program planning and management, to step up into a career focused on delivering agricultural sector transformation. ATA provides best-in-class training to our staff, as well as regular actionable feedback taking into account each staff member's specific development objectives and career goals. Through these and other professional development activities, analysts develop their skills at a highly accelerated pace.
Job Requirement
ESSENTIAL DUTIES: Support strategy development, strategic and operational planning, including:
Identify and structure problems, develop and apply appropriate analytical frameworks and approaches, collect data and complete high-impact analysis for robust recommendations
Prioritize assigned tasks and manage workstreams from start to finish, including timelines, content, and stakeholder input and validation
Identify key required resources, including budgetary, human resources, etc. to ensure execution
Proactively identify risks and issues affecting work stream delivery, support problem solving on overcoming implementation obstacles, promptly communicate upward with solution options
Organize and conduct interviews with junior-to-mid level stakeholders
Deliver high-quality analyses, documents and presentations with communicating key insights
Support program management, stakeholder management and coordination, implementation problem-solving, and reporting, including:
Present ideas and respond to queries clearly and concisely in team meetings and externally
Prepare and engage in regular briefings and update with stakeholders
Prepare performance and financial reporting utilizing standard tools and templates
Synthetize implementation lessons learned for future refinement / best practice sharing
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:
Bachelor’s or Master's degree with minimum GPA of 3.0and above and focus on Business, Economics, Agriculture, Public Policy, International Development and other relevant subject areas
0-3 years relevant work experience in management consulting or other strategically and analytically focused roles in public, private or development sector organizations
Interest in and familiarity with Ethiopia’s agricultural sector, agricultural and rural development
Genuine intellectual curiosity and desire to innovate and bring large-scale change
Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and data gathering skills
Excellent oral and written communication skills, with highly collaborative working style
Experience with project and stakeholder management preferred
Experience in working within multi-cultural teams preferred
Strong willingness to learn, and ability to be a real team player
Ability to thrive in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment, with an emphasis on high-performance, results and accountability
Strong personal values including integrity, honesty and desire to be of service
Fluency in English, Amharic and duty station language (Amharic, Tigrigna or Oromifa) required.