The Global Growth & Opportunity (GGO) division works to catalyze sustainable transformative change in the face of inequities and market failures, to realize the potential of untapped markets, and to see the economic and social benefits of including everyone. We focus on the areas of Agricultural Development; Financial Services for the Poor; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; and Gender Equality. We seek solutions that are sustainable, transformative, and inclusive with an eye toward applying technology innovations as well as data evidence to drive change in the world’s developing countries.
The Agricultural Development (AgDev) program aims to catalyze country-led inclusive agricultural transformation by developing and scaling products, services, policies, and system-wide innovations that benefit smallholder farmers, empower women, and improve nutrition. We want farmers to be empowered with the knowledge, tools, and technologies to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves and their nations out of poverty.
The Africa regional team is at the forefront of this country-led approach by partnering with both the public and private sectors in our countries of focus. The success of this program depends on the deep knowledge of markets and how they develop at a national and continental level for the benefit of smallholder farmers, especially women. The Senior Program Officer (SPO) will be a thought leader in shaping inclusive markets for the Agricultural Development program and manage a portfolio of investments targeted and catalyzing inclusive agricultural growth.
Working with the Africa regional team, the SPO Markets will be responsible for championing the markets strategy with special attention to women’s market inclusion.
Core responsibilities:
- Support regional advisors in messaging to and engaging with across relevant ministries on topics of market development and national growth pathways.
- Both internally and externally, help facilitate dialogue on value chain development and root cause of system constraints.
- Facilitate engagement with public, private, and donor partners on market-related topics to ensure cross-pollination of ideas, identification of investment synergies, and alignment of approaches.
- Work in partnership with the policy team to understand the effects of global markets and market volatility on African agriculture and identify possible solution sets and translate general policy recommendations to specific country contexts.
- Understand and map a more viable pathway for private sector to commercialize non-seed products from the AgDev team’s research and development portfolio.
- Engage with external partners and analysts to monitor market intelligence with regards to country supply and demand constraints to inform a market-based strategy.
- Oversee a portfolio of grants requiring commercial experience in the delivery of goods and services to smallholder farmers. This will include reviewing letters of inquiry and grant proposals and providing clear, concise and insightful written analyses and recommendations for funding.
- Champion the implementation and integration women’s market inclusion work outlined in the gender strategy.
- Serve as the source of market intelligence on Sub-Saharan Africa-related matters to inform the broader AgDev team program and efforts; including leading the analysis and evaluation of economic growth of relevant agriculture sub-sectors.
- Consult with grantees and other partners to maximize the impact of projects and ensure grants are meeting program goals. This may include: site visits, providing operational guidance and convening meetings of key stakeholders.
- Contribute to writing background documents, analysis, briefs, and presentations, often on short timeline.
We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment in which they thrive, will do phenomenal things.
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 must be prepared to work across a diverse set of disciplines, bridging a wide range of expertise all the while being a team player, with a demonstrated ability to work with flexibility, efficiency and diplomacy in an exciting, challenging environment. We seek a senior professional with a background in agricultural markets; especially African market systems and the intersection between national, regional and global markets. Additionally, we seek:
- Deep knowledge of market constraints and challenges for African agriculture and the demonstrated ability to catalyze change in addressing market challenges for smallholder farmers.
- Possesses thorough understanding of agricultural market development efforts in public, private, and donor sectors in Africa.
- Experience in developing service delivery models, marketing of products, and/or aggregation and the unique challenges smallholder farming bring to the models.
- Communications skills to explain new opportunities and priorities for agriculture development to both internal and external audiences.
- Demonstrated curiosity and comfort in areas beyond current areas of expertise, with demonstrated ability to rapidly acquire knowledge and use good judgment in a variety of areas.
- Ability to organize and prioritize work and meet deadlines within a fast-paced environment with multiple and competing demands.
- Demonstrated ability to work with diverse teams including scientists, program implementers, and in-country staff and partners.
- A mindset that guides and motivates the team to explore new approaches and partners and take risks that can potentially accelerate our pathway to improve lives of smallholder farmers.
- Exceptional results orientation combined with excellent relationship management skills.
- Willing to travel internationally (50%).
- 10+ years of experience in roles of increasing responsibility in agricultural development in donor, public or private sector organizations coupled with deep experience in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Commitment to the foundation’s core values, mission and programs with an approach that is consistent with the foundation’s guiding principles while holding oneself to the highest ethical standards.