The Ugandan Jobline

Job Title:   Value Chain and Business Development Specialist

Organisation: Food for the Hungry (FH/U)

Duty Station:  Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Program Director

About US:

Food for the Hungry (FH/U) is a Christian international relief and development organization that has been working in Uganda since 1989. FH is currently operating programs in Asia, Latin America and Africa with support offices in the UK, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, United States of America and Japan. FH’s primary goal is to end all forms of poverty World-wide. In Uganda, FH is operational in the Districts of Adjumani, Kitgum, Lamwo, Kole, Kween, Mbale, Namutumba and Amudat Districts implementing programs in four main sectors of Education; Food Security and Livelihoods; Health/Nutrition and Disaster Risk Reduction; with the Head office located in Kampala.

Job Summary: Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Program Director (PD), the Value chain and Business Development Specialist will be part of the program delivery team responsible for Contextualizing and aligning the Livelihoods and Resilience technical program to the required FH new program model and Uganda line ministries standards. He/She will also undertake resource development, program design. representation, project/program management, monitoring, and training the staff for the appropriate implementation of the sectoral strategies and modules. H/She will conduct an analysis to identify priority sub-sector value chains for targeted interventions and will be responsible for planning and coordinating the implementation of the systemic interventions in the selected sector/sub-sectors of value chains and business development in the framework of promoting economic, environmental, and social inclusion for vulnerable groups.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Technical support and leadership  (25%)

• Provide leadership in the design, development and implementation of activities related to agribusiness and value chains development within FH.
• Provide technical guidance in the design and facilitation of market and micro-finance linkages for farmer groups under various projects, in collaboration with various stakeholders, including Government and private sector actors
• Analyse technical and policy issues, strategies and programmes to support the development, competitiveness, inclusiveness and improved impacts of agribusiness, food systems and value chain development. This will include standards development based on the above.
• Contribute to the design of programmes and projects related to agribusiness, value chain development, agricultural economics, and agricultural and rural development; and also provide technical support and/or backstopping to field projects
• Support capacity building activities regarding business development skills, including identification of capacity development needs of farmer groups, agriculture cooperatives and private sector.
• Provide guidance to FH project teams to support farmer groups who are oriented towards farming as a business; providing practical tools to ensure the recognition of and support for women and youth farmers as a key and underserved target group in agribusiness
• Integrate behavior change and adult learning methodologies into Livelihoods and Resilience programming and model them in interactions with other staff.
• Work collaboratively with other Thematic specialist/ Coordinators to integrate Livelihoods and Resilience into the activities across departments and functions
• Setting and maintaining quality standards for new business development-related activities Review sectoral technical approaches and implementation strategies and develop customized recommendations to integrate Livelihoods and Resilience, adapting approaches for fragile and insecure contexts.
• Develop and review work plans, budgets and procurement plans, working hand in hand with project staff and CO programs team.
• Develop and manage major the country research and learning initiatives in line with the Livelihood and Resilience program.

Strategic partnerships development for business acquisition and growth (20%)

• Attract significant resources toward annual team fundraising targets, including by working with fundraising staff to identify new opportunities for value chain and business development , DRR, and resilience-building programming and by recovering costs for technical assistance to donor-funded projects.
• Contribute to organizational efforts to raise awareness about FH work on Livelihood and resilience building, risk and vulnerability reduction.
• Prepares Livelihoods and Resilience proposals and pipelines concepts in coordination with relevant staff at the AP, national, regional, and Global support Centre and contribute to the development of any other project proposals as may be assigned by the supervisor
• Conduct prospecting visits to identify partners and prepare for upcoming funding opportunities under value chain and business development.
• Support the ongoing monitoring and analysis of new grant opportunities by researching donor websites, newspaper postings and engaging with FH affiliate’s offices.
• Work closely with finance and AP staff to develop program activity budgets
• Mapping out of key institutional actors, donors, and partners relevant to Livelihoods and Resilience or related sector.
• Ensure regular communication with the supervisor and headquarters-based Technical Advisors for value chain and business development to integrate appropriate technical unit priorities in program design.

Reporting and Donor Accountability (25%)

• Adapt and develop context and program-specific guidance, tools, and pieces of training, and connect teams to critical information that will improve resilience knowledge and advance the integration of resilience-thinking and action to improve program performance and achieve results.
• Keep abreast of new thinking, research, and innovations in resilience and synthesize and regularly communicate findings for country teams
• Develop and manage major the country research and learning initiatives in line with the Livelihood and Resilience program.
• Responsible for defining the project strategy, milestones, and terms and conditions of Donor agreements for all Livelihoods and Resilience intervention to achieve the greatest coverage and impact possible. This includes providing technical guidance on contextually appropriate methodologies for delivering Livelihoods and Resilience activities.
• Ensure the integration of cross-cutting themes such as protection, beneficiary participation, accountability, and feedback in the program is planned for.
• Contribute to the review of the annual operation plan and Budget for Head Office and APs.
• Review and updates Livelihoods and Resilience reports and report systems in coordination with the M&E Coordinator and ensures timely submission.
• Prepare donor/partners meeting and communication technical briefs relevant to Livelihoods and Resilience.
• Participate in design and implementation of baseline, needs assessments, and impact evaluations as well as monitoring program progress to ensure donor compliance and program quality.
• Responsible for reviewing project reports, FH annual report especially the thematic areas of Livelihoods and Resilience.

Networking and External Engagement with technical working groups, donors, potential partners (15%)

• Assist the Program Director with representation to the government at the national level, helping to ensure constructive working relationships are maintained to allow expansion and growth of FH Uganda transformation development in the province.
• In conjunction with the Programs and Business development and other staff, represent FH Uganda at the national level to Donors, Technical working groups, other NGOs, and visitors ensuring coordination and attendance at relevant interagency technical, and security coordination networks as necessary to promote the excellent relationship.
• Establishes, coordinates, and maintains relationships with different Livelihoods and Resilience stakeholders at the international and national level.
• Support drafting content for internal Livelihoods and Resilience program announcements, articles newsletter, social media, and website.
• Review content and materials for fundraising, programs, and communications, including campaign messaging; support cases; fundraising appeals and acknowledgments; press releases; social media, and video content under Livelihoods and Resilience thematic areas.
• Support Livelihoods and Resilience grant-related contracts and reporting in collaboration with program staff; ensure all deadlines are anticipated and met.

Capacity Building and staff development (15%)

• Work closely with country leaders and Program Area Managers to identify and set team and partner capacity-building priorities, and coordinate and deliver tailored capacity building support visits and training workshops.
• Assist with development and review of the Job description and recruitments of Livelihoods and Resilience staff, in coordination with FH Uganda human resources and senior management, and headquarters’ technical units.
• Provides technical training and support to all Multi-Sector Transformation Promoters to promote Livelihoods and Resilience activities in the community for their adoption and practice.
• Conduct TOTs on Livelihoods and Resilience Module to FH Staff at the AP level and provide Backstopping to ensure standards and best practices are adhered to.
• Conduct Orientation of new staff on FH Livelihoods and Resilience program,
• Mentor and build capacity of Livelihoods and Resilience staff in sector-related skills

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience in agricultural sciences, agri-business development, animal and livestock development, environment, natural resource management and energy, rural development, business administration and economics
• Master’s degree in agri-business development, Agricultural Economics, agricultural sciences, project management, environment, energy and resilience is preferred.
• At least 5 years working experience working on programmes supporting agriculture and agribusiness among smallholder farmers and farmer groups

Technical/Functional Skills

• Experience in project development and capacity development within the Agriculture Sector. Experience working in both public and private sector would be an asset.
• Demonstrable experience in value chain/market system analysis and design, for normative and field-support work.
• Demonstrable experience in engaging with a variety of stakeholders in a value chain/market system.
• Demonstrable capacity to work under stringent time pressure and to prioritise tasks.
• Demonstrable skills in writing well-structured technical, training and reporting documents (English).
• Language Skills: Proficiency in spoken and written English is essential.

NB: FHU is an equal opportunity employer.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified candidates are encouraged to apply by Clearly stating the position applied for in the Subject line and submitting only electronic copies in one pdf file not more than 25MB of an application letter, a detailed CV, contact telephone numbers, copies of relevant testimonials/certificates, names/contact details of three referees, addressed to:

The Human Resources Manager, Food for the Hungry Uganda Email: recruitment-fhuganda@fh.org

Deadline: 11th June, 2024.

Consider your application unsuccessful if you don’t hear from us by 30th June 2024.

For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline

Related Jobs