Senior Project Officer I – Horticulture

POSITION SUMMARY:

The SPO I – Horticulture is specifically expected to have strong skills and experience in horticulture husbandry, horticulture value chain, project management, stakeholder management and coordination, a desire for improving the lives of smallholder farmers, and a deep familiarity with Ethiopia’s agricultural research system with particular emphasis to increase the production, productivity, post-harvest management and marketing of the prioritized ATI horticultural commodities.

The SPO I – Horticulture provides technical support that contributes to increasing the level of farmers' aggregation, adoption of improved production practices and improvement of institutional capacity through effective delivery of farmer clustering, assessment and transition through effective support/capacity building ultimately contributing to the evolution of the FPCs from (pre) basic to a production company. The SPO - I reports to Horticulture Value Chain Team Lead.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Support the value chain alliance and will work for hand in hand with the ATI federal and regional horticulture crop value chain, Techno serve H4G team and others.
• Provides technical support and capacity building for implementing key interventions.
• Actively engage in the development Strategy for Horticulture Farmers Production Cluster (HFPC) and Horticulture for growth (H4G) detailed implementation plan.
• Develop a detailed HFPC and H4G project work plans and budget, follow up of its implementation, develop monthly, quarterly, and annual report
• Provide high level technical/expertise support to the horticulture value chain activities through providing strategic and professional guidance to the regional HSPO/STE
• Ensure that horticulture value chain activities are implemented according to the schedule and according to the ACC result framework targets.
• Ensure the project budget and follow utilization are according to the plan.
• Compile and provide monthly update, quarterly and annual reports of all activities such as tissue culture centers or poly house, fruit nurseries, net shade installation, roadside market sheds and SGW boreholes installation and marketing.
• Assist the Federal HFPC team lead in managing stakeholders to get prioritized support from the government agricultural ecosystem, private sector, and other implementers for HFPCs to keep transitioning towards company-level entities.
• Conduct assessments, developing and leading the implementation of solutions to solve technical and operational challenges of the sector
• Conduct capacity-building activities and follow-up support to ensure the creation of human capital capable of executing the Horticulture value chain.
• Responsible for compiling and submitting data and reports to ensure alignment on project implementation and identify potential risks that could affect the overall performance of the project.

Job Requirements

• Master's Degree in horticulture Agronomy, horticulture breeding, horticulture management or other horticultural science fields.
• At least Eight (8) years of professional experience
• Experience in horticulture project management or leadership
• Good experience in planning and implementation of activities at an organization level
• Excellent stakeholder management skills including thorough knowledge and understanding of various regional level and federal level institutions; extensive experience in facilitating dialogue with relevant public and private stakeholders
• Fluency in English & Amharic required; fluency in regional language(s) is advantageous.
• Excellent oral & written communication skills with highly collaborative working style.
• Experience in working with multi-cultural teams preferred.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and reporting skills.
• Strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty, and desire to be of service.
• Ability and willingness to shoulder responsibilities under hectic conditions (in terms of overlapping assignments that may happen occasionally).
• Ability to thrive in a fast-moving environment, with an emphasis on high performance, teamwork, accountability, and results.

How to Apply

We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to submit

(i) a cover letter 

(ii) a CV (maximum 5 pages) to https://apply.ata.gov.et

It is mandatory to mention the position title under the subject line of your cover letter.

Please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application.

Women are highly encouraged to apply.

NB: Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.