Working closely with the Director, the Deputy Director (DD), Crops Research & Development will be responsible for leading a key strategic pillar of the AgDev program; including defining the strategy and objectives in the areas of crops research and development. The objective of this strategic area is to advance the development of crop technologies that deliver improvements in smallholder farmer productivity, income and nutrition. The products include new traits, varieties, inputs, and data that either drive greater intrinsic yield and/or address major biotic and abiotic constraints threatening major crops in our target countries.
You will lead a team of Program Officers and collectively they will execute the agreed strategy through investments, relationship building, and advocacy.
Strategy Development and Objectives Definition
- Work with Director and program staff to define and clearly articulate program strategy and near term objectives in crop research and development.
- Synthesize findings from previous investments to adjust the future approach to improve impact.
Investment and Partner Prioritization
- Ability to challenge the quality of science and strategic value of results to improve return on investment and achieve of goals.
- Identify the key partners and interventions that will best achieve the agreed strategic objectives, and prioritize investments and team effort priorities for maximum impact.
Investment Execution & Management
- Work with program and support staff (e.g. legal, contracts management) to identify and structure specific investments (e.g. grants, contracts) to maximize impact against strategic priorities. This will include negotiating and agreeing terms with investment recipients; reviewing and advising on proposals by team members; and approving investments within your delegated authority.
- Monitor the performance of all investments within your area, and make course corrections as needed (adjusting terms and objectives where needed). This may include a formal governance role with some of our partners.
- Risk management is a critical responsibility to actively shape and guide changes to projects in light of results, problems and new opportunities.
Portfolio Management
- Manage the portfolio of existing and prospective investments under your control to ensure that budget and financial management objectives are met while prioritizing stewardship of foundation funds, people and voice.
Team Management
- Provide coaching and management of the Program Officers that report to you.
- Set clear objectives for each team member in line with the overall initiative objectives.
- Monitor performance and give regular and constructive feedback and coaching on progress against these objectives.
- Identify development needs of your team members and work with HR to devise approaches to address these needs.
- Support team members in their career objectives.
- Provide two-way communications between your team and the AgDev Leadership Team.
- Recruit new team members as needed to best achieve initiative objectives.
Overall AgDev Leadership & Foundation Engagement
- As a member of the AgDev Leadership Team, contribute to the overall strategy and operation of the Agricultural Development program.
- Help make trade-offs across initiatives in order to best achieve overall program goals.
- Contribute to team-wide processes and initiatives.
- Cross-foundation engagement and foundation-wide integration with other divisions and programs such as Global Health and Global Policy & Advocacy.
- Provide broader foundation leadership support and education through special projects, responsiveness to questions, justification of program priorities, budgets and advocacy needs.
External Engagement
- Ability to raise awareness and bring attention to key needs and relevant science and technology breakthroughs.
- Advocacy of mission to ensure service of science and technology for improving the lives of the poor and enrollment of other funders in a shared vision of success and co-funding; either directly and/or in parallel.
We are looking for people who enjoy the opportunity of working on complex problems and collectively creating solutions that have the potential for transformative change in the lives of people around the world. You are a creative and curious leader who has an excellent track record of achievement and leadership in roles of increasing responsibility. You should be prepared to work across a diverse set of disciplines, bridging a wide range of expertise all the while being a teammate, with a demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency and diplomacy in an exciting, challenging environment. Additionally, we seek:
- Demonstrated ability to operate at very senior levels with an understanding of crop science field, institutions and systems.
- Experience developing and leading R&D projects in a variety of organizations, with experience in an emerging market and/or developing country strongly preferred. This includes an ability to prioritize issues that are likely to have the biggest possible impact.
- Extensive experience interacting with authorities in both academia and the private sector involved in crop R&D.
- Proven strength in systems thinking, structured problem solving and strategic business planning, with the ability to synthesize disparate information and critically analyze any situation.
- Excellent people manager and coach with proven ability to lead teams to effectively achieve clear, yet complex goals and objectives.
- Interest in international development issues and willingness to master the issues and priorities in the agriculture sector; particularly those of the smallholder farmer in Sub-Saharan Africa and/or South Asia.
- Skilled in group problem solving and collaboration to resolve problems with complex concepts in a dynamic setting.
- A ‘can do’ attitude with a mindset that guides and motivates the team to explore new approaches and partners, taking risks that can potentially accelerate our pathway to improve the lives of smallholder livestock keepers.
- Excellent communicator, always seeking information pertinent to the issues being dealt with in the strategy, on the team or across the Foundation
- Ability to work well with a diverse set of internal and external stakeholders to incorporate new information and work towards appropriate decisions with and for the team.
- Comfort with public speaking and ability to convey complex situations in a clear and concise manner with a broad and diverse audience; representing AgDev and the foundation in a variety of settings.
- Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations; demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people.
- Intellectual quickness, curiosity, discipline, resourcefulness, and resilience.
- Ability to travel up to 30% domestically and internationally.
- Demonstrated passion for the Foundation’s values with a commitment to deliver results against the Foundation’s mission.
Qualifications
- 20+ years of experience, including a minimum of 10+ years leading a R&D team within the agricultural sector.