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Job Title:  Senior Partnership Advisor (Re-advertised)

Organisation: TechnoServe (TNS)

Duty Station:  Kabale, Uganda

 

About US:

TechnoServe (TNS) is an international non-profit international development organization founded in 1968. Its mission is to help entrepreneurial men and women break the cycle of poverty by building businesses that create jobs, income, and economic opportunities for their families, their communities, and their countries.

 

Program Description: 

Through the four-year Hortimap program funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Technoserve and partners BID Capital, Wageningen University and Research, and Pum Experts jointly implement to transform the horticulture industry in Uganda. The program combines catalytic funding through a Market Development Facility and Technical Assistance fund to leverage private sector and local resources and expertise to strengthen SMEs and local supply chains while delivering world-class entrepreneurship training to farmers and retailers to realize their potential. These interventions are expected to increase incomes for more than 31,000 horticulture farmers, create 11,000 jobs, improve access to healthy, safe food for 250,000 Ugandan consumers, and contribute to sector modernization.

 

Job Summary:  The Senior Partnership Advisor looks to provide infrastructure funding to several horticulture producer organizations and 42 vendor associations, and entrepreneurial farmers. The incumbent will support the Grants and compliance team to disburse and manage the micro-grants appropriately and later provide technical assistance/training to recipients to ensure they utilize the grants adequately.

 

The incumbent will provide relationship management to all Kigezi/Southwest region stakeholders, including local governments, small and medium enterprises, farmers organizations, smallholder and entrepreneurial farmers, and other Horticulture sector actors as necessary.

 

Technically, the incumbent will lead the linkages between the producer organizations and MDF business partners, under the MDF lead, Value chains Manager, and in coordination with the Partnership Manager to ensure those farmer organizations, farmers, and small tap opportunities are provided by these businesses.

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Producer organizations development

• Develop and maintain a pipeline of viable and interested producer organizations through synergy with various projects, agribusinesses, etc., in project areas.
• Conduct capacity assessment of producer organizations using agreed tools to identify their growth needs and develop clear growth action plans.
• Lead the growth plans to ensure the POs start and maintain their unique growth trajectories.
• Link POs with credit needs and their members to Horticulture Credit Line implementing institutions to ensure their growth needs are financed.
• Support farmer facing MDF SMEs to integrate producers and vendors into their business models (supply chain or distribution network) to enable the POs and farmers to take advantage of opportunities created by the SMEs

Small Grants Management

• Facilitate POs, vendor associations, and entrepreneurial farmers in the pipeline to apply for the micro-grants.
• Coordinate due diligence process on POs, vendor associations, and entrepreneurial farmers by grants officers to ensure accurate information is attained for decision making.
• Support selected POs and vendor associations to ensure they receive market systems grants funds promptly
• Monitor the implementation of agreements signed between Technoserve and the producer organizations, vendor associations, and entrepreneurial farmers to ensure compliance to Technoserve small grants policy and manage risks associated with small grants.
• Support the POs and vendor associations to close the grants as required and ensure they submit all accountability to the TNS grants and compliance team. In addition, they will be supported by Associate agronomists to collect accountability documents from producer organizations.
• Recommend necessary procedures/processes to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of utilizing small grants as a tool for producer organization development.

Learning and impact

• Monitor and report on the implementation progress of producer organizations and vendor associations
• Work with Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team, MDF Lead, and Value chain manager to ensure that monitoring and evaluation of producer organization activities are practical and reflects best practices of market systems/private sector development
• Work with the MEL team to produce case studies, assessments, and other learning documentation and enhance program quality.
• Generate information to inform the Fund manager on the utilization of credit by POs to ensure they improve on finance products and services offered to the producer organizations and vendor associations.

Representation and coordination

• Represents Technoserve/HortiMAP at academic events, conferences, media forums, and other events in regions of operation as authorized by their supervisor
• Identify and nurture strategic partnerships with other organizations and institutions, and local governments to advance the growth of producer organizations and vendor associations.
• Manage HortiMAP relationship with local governments within the project area to ensure the relationship is cordial and functional.

Ethics and Integrity

• All Technoserve staff are expected to behave ethically and demonstrate the highest integrity in their professional and personal lives. Technoserve has zero tolerance for any form of fraud, corruption, abuse, harassment, or exploitation. Any breach of our policies or misconduct will lead to disciplinary action or may lead to termination

Accountability to Clients

• Ensure that producer organizations and market vendors associations are actively engaged as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of their business plans and encourage them to share feedback through the promoted channels

Accountability

• Reports Directly to Market Development Facility Lead.
• Works Directly with Value Chains Manager, Grants and compliance team, Partnership Managers, Business Advisors, and Associate Agronomy Advisors.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The ideal applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, horticulture, or Economics with a major in agribusiness.
• A minimum of five years’ experience in agribusiness, horticulture production or marketing, or agri-enterprise development, especially in rural communities. OR Master’s Degree and 3 years’ experience
• Experience in managing micro-grants or cash disbursement interventions is an added advantage.
• Direct experience working in the private sector involved in providing business development services or financing to producer organizations is added advantage
• Demonstrable experience in supporting the growth and development of producer organizations into business entities is desired.
• Knowledge of tools and processes for measuring and monitoring farmer organizations’ growth.
• Knowledge of the government of Uganda policy on farmer organizations development is desirable.
• Working knowledge of Uganda’s rural agribusiness landscape and business environment, particularly in horticulture.
• You have demonstrated the ability to interact effectively with a wide range of partners; private sector, banks, government, and civil society and influence producer organization development.
• Demonstrable quantitative skills, including familiarity with mobile data collection and data analysis
• Proven skills in teamwork, holding community consultations, and organizational development
• Excellent English language skills (written and verbal) for reporting, communication, and representation

 

Success Factors:

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 analyze 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:

• Partnership/Donor Management: program staff should understand and apply techniques to develop, maintain and manage business relationships with clients, donors and internal or external partners in order to implement and manage projects and/or identify new business.
• Financial & Resource Management: an important competency program staff must possess to enable them budget properly based on facts and change course when necessary, knowledge of finance to develop and manage budgets.
• Innovative Mindset: program staff should know how to ask questions and seeks out information from multiple sources, learn from mistakes, and see change as an opportunity.
• 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.

Managerial Competencies include:

• Emotional Intelligence: Empathetic, understands attitudes, interests, needs of others; predict others behavior. Self-aware and keeps own emotions from interfering with work. Understanding both the strengths and limitations of others.
• Trust to Delegate: Appropriately allocates decision‐making authority and/or task responsibility to others; maximizes the organization’s and individual’s effectiveness.
• Strategic Thinking: Formulates objectives and priorities, and implements plans consistent with the long-term interests of the organization in a global environment. Capitalizes on opportunities and manages risks.
• Staff Development: Planning and supporting the development of individuals’ skills and abilities so that they can fulfill current or future job responsibilities more effectively.
• Coaching/Feedback: Recognizes and acknowledges strengths in others. Provides timely guidance and feedback to help others develop knowledge and skill areas to accomplish tasks or solve problems.

 

Career Pathways:

The position that might be next in career opportunities for employees in this job title include Market Development Facility Lead

 

How to Apply:

All applicants who wish to join Technoserve in this capacity should apply online at the link below.

 

Click Here

 

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