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Job Title:    Business Sustainability and
Upgrading Manager (BSUM)

Organisation: TechnoServe

Duty Station:  Kampala,
Uganda

Reports to:
VINES Chief of Party (additional: TechnoServe Country Director)

Travel:
Remote rural locations

 

About US:

TechnoServe is a
leader in harnessing the power of the private sector to help people lift
themselves out of poverty. A nonprofit organization operating in 29 countries,
we work with enterprising men and women in the developing world to build
competitive farms, businesses, and industries. By linking people to
information, capital, and markets, we have helped millions to create lasting
prosperity for their families and communities. Founded over 50 years ago,
TechnoServe has been named the #1 nonprofit for fighting poverty by the
ImpactMatters charity ratings agency.

 

About VINES Program:

TechnoServe, CRS and
Frontier Co-op are implementing VINES, a five year, $13 million, USDA Food for
Progress program that will make Uganda the world’s next leading supplier of
high-quality vanilla. Led by CRS, VINES will leverage the expertise of CRS and
its world class consortium of partners (including TechnoServe), associated
experts and leading international buyers to provide technical assistance to
enhance the production of safe, clean, pure vanilla, develop market links with
US trade networks, and strengthen an enabling public policy network to reduce
vanilla theft to transform the lives of 16,200 farmers, 356 self-employed
service and input providers, 480 processors’ employees; and generating 15,820
new on-farm seasonal and permanent processing jobs to reach 32,856 vanilla
stakeholders. In turn, this will provide international buyers with a new origin
that will stabilize the extreme price volatility for this unique spice.

 

Within the
consortium, TechnoServe will lead in market analysis, business planning, farmer
business capacity building, agripreneur and youth training, input supply and
business relationship management.

 

Job Summary:  As the manager and lead of TechnoServe’s
contribution to the VINES consortium, the Business Sustainability and Upgrading
Manager (BSUM) will oversee a team of 7 and be responsible for achieving
activities and results under TechnoServe’s scope of work.

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:  

Principal
Responsibilities:

·       
Develop
strategy for and oversee team focused on business viability, providing
strategic advisory support as needed

·       
Provide
business advisory and professionalization support to VANEX

·       
Ensure
an inclusive approach following TechnoServe principles, including equitable
benefits for women and men from the program

·       
Oversee
training and support of fee for service agents providing farmer training

·       
Recruitment
and support to Microenterprise Specialist, ME Counsellors delivering
micro-entrepreneurship training to 720 micro-entrepreneurs

·       
Recruitment
and support to Business Sustainability and Upgrading Specialists delivering
sector-wide trainings and custom advisory to processors and capacity building
of Producer Organizations (POs)

·       
Conduct
local, regional and international market analysis for potential agroforestry
system crops to support the strategies for POs

·       
Support
a TechnoServe Fellow to complete an Industry Strategic Plan for the Vanilla
sector

Capacity Building
of Agricultural Extension Services

·       
Adapt
existing curriculum to targeted groups

·       
Develop
and execute Training of Trainers for processor-supervised extension agents and
support the establishment of a viable fee-for-service business model

·       
Coach
and support extension agents to train commercial farmers

·       
Develop
Agro dealers and input suppliers

·       
Lead
team to deliver training to including input suppliers, soil testing services,
nurseries, and other youth employment opportunity activities

·       
Capacity
building of post-harvest handling and processing

·       
In
coordination with Business Sustainability and Upgrading Specialists, lead:

·       
managerial
capacity building of producer organizations, including five-year business plans

·       
Improved
member relations and services of producer organizations

·       
managerial
capacity building of processors

·       
improve
processor capacity in curing and storing

Facilitate Market
linkages and Agricultural Finance

·       
provide
sector wide trainings in market analysis, profitability analysis, value
proposition design and testing, business planning, financial record
preparation, and general support in how to prepare a supply chain upgrading
plan

·       
Provide
pre-investment support and advisory to processors and other supply chain
businesses

·       
Identify
and deliver technical and financial training and BDS support that required to
complement any commercial finance for the partners’ co-investment

·       
Lead
relationship development with commercial finance providers to leverage
additional finance

·       
provide
business advisory and professionalization support to VANEX

Program
Coordination and Implementation:

·       
Prepare
narrative reports to prime and contribute to CRS and TechnoServe M&E
reporting

·       
Coordinate
with members of the VINES consortium and maintain good working relationships

·       
Maintain
strong working relationships with partners and relevant stakeholders in the
agribusiness investment space

·       
Actively
participate in regular team meetings to track implementation progress and share
relevant program and administrative data

·       
Ensure
the delivery of technical training packages is of high quality, is appropriate
to the local context and is effectively reaching participants

·       
Share
best practices and lessons learned with team members

 

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

Required Skills,
Knowledge, Experience and Abilities:

·       
Degree
qualifications in business-related studies required

·       
Track
record of building strong client and stakeholder relationships

·       
Strong
project management and some financial analysis skills

·       
Minimum
of five years’ field and technical experience with agribusiness development,
agribusiness experience in Uganda is required

·       
Experience
working with food aggregation and processing, supply chain development,
out-grower networks, and knowledge of Market Systems Development approach
preferred

·       
Excellent
interpersonal and oral and written communication skills a must

·       
Ability
to develop well-written, cohesive analyses and reports

·       
Ability
to generate innovative solutions in work situations

·       
Proven
ability and experience working with teams will be an added advantage

·       
Fluency
in English required

 

Competency is a combination of knowledge, skills and
abilities (KSAs) directly related to successful performance on the job.

Core Competencies
include:

·       
Integrity
and honesty: Is widely trusted; seen as a direct, truthful individual; presents
truthful information in an appropriate and helpful manner; keeps confidences;
admits mistakes; does not misrepresent himself or herself for personal gain.

·       
Team
Work/ Relationships: Works co-operatively and flexibly with other members of
the team with a full understanding of the role to be played as a team member
and/or leader, to achieve a common goal. Ability to build and maintain
effective relationships and networks.

·       
Learning
attitude: Proactively takes advantage of opportunities to learn. Actively
identifies new areas for learning; applies and shares new knowledge and skill
appropriately.

·       
Diversity/Inclusiveness:
Demonstrates an understanding and appreciation for diversity and supports
diversity efforts. Interacts effectively with and inclusively with people of
all races, cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, ages, and genders.

·       
Communication:
Expresses ideas effectively in individual and group situations. Listens
effectively; shares information, ideas and arguments; adjusts terminology,
language and communication modes to the needs of the audience; ensures accurate
understanding; acts in a way that facilitates open exchange of ideas and
information; uses appropriate non-verbal communication.

·       
Decision
making/Problem Solving: Is able to analyse situations, diagnose problems,
identify the key issues, establish and evaluate alternative courses of action
and produce a logical, practical and acceptable solution. Is able to make
effective decisions on a day-to-day basis, taking ownership of decisions,
demonstrating sound judgement in escalating issues where necessary.

·       
Results
Oriented/ High Quality Deliverables: Stays focused on the efforts necessary to
achieve quality results consistent with programmatic or departmental goals.
Demonstrates the ability to achieve effective results; works persistently to
overcome obstacles to goal achievement. Accomplishes tasks by considering all
areas involved, no matter how small; showing concern for all aspects of the
job; accurately checking processes and tasks.

·       
Planning
& Time Management: Establishes a course of action for self and/or others to
accomplish a specific goal. Effectively plans, schedules, prioritizes and
controls activities; identifies, integrates and orchestrates resources (people,
material, information, budget, and/or time) to accomplish goals. Prioritizes
work according to the program or department’s goals, not just own job
responsibilities; manages own time effectively.

·       
Business
Acumen: The ability to use information, ask the right questions and take
decisions that make an impact on the overall business performance.

 

Job Specific/Technical Competencies include:

·       
Financial
& Resource Management: The ability to estimate, justify, and manage
appropriate funding levels to support goal accomplishment. Managing Resources
is about understanding human, financial, and operational resource issues to
make decisions aimed at building and planning efficient project workflows, and
at improving overall organizational performance.

·       
Donor/Partnership
Management: Identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic
relationships between one’s area and other areas, teams, departments, or
organizations to help achieve business goals.

·       
Analysis,
Research, Report Writing: Experience in business planning and analysis,
modeling for feasibility and execution. Able to analyze and express oneself
clearly in business writing.

·       
Innovative
Mindset: Curious inquiries, asks questions and seeks out information from
multiple sources, learns from mistakes, sees change as an opportunity.

·       
Managerial
Competencies:

·       
Emotional
Intelligence: The act of knowing, understanding, and responding to emotions,
overcoming stress in the moment, and being aware of how your words and actions
affect others. Emotional intelligence consists of 4 attributes: self-awareness,
self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

·       
Strategic
Thinking: Managers should recognize key actions, underlying problems, make
connection and patterns, see consequences and implications. Anticipates
obstacles realistically and plans ways to deal with them.

·       
Staff
Development: managers are required to work with employees to plan on the
development of skills and abilities so that they can fulfil current or future
job/role responsibilities more effectively.

·       
Trust to
Delegate: managers should have trust and willingness to assign responsibilities
to direct reports and give them discretion and authority to carry them out.

·       
Feedback/Coaching
(mentoring): managers should give instructions, suggestions, explanations, and
feedback to subordinates. (SPI+R)

 

Career Pathways: The position that may be a next career opportunity for employees in this
job title include Program Manager

 

How to Apply:

If you are
interested and you meet the requirements, apply through the link below;

 

Click
Here

 

NB: Please submit a
resume, cover letter and three professional references. Please note that only
shortlisted candidates shall be contacted.

 

Deadline: 14^th March 2021

 

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