Head of Programmes 71 views0 applications

Farm Africa, founded in 1985, is an international non-governmental organization working in Ethiopia since 1988. We drive agricultural and environmental change to improve lives. Our strategy has three pillars: agricultural expertise, management and preservation of ecosystems, and the power of business to drive prosperity. We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make this happen by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry techniques so that poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their families and to sell. We help smallholders manage their natural resources sustainably so that they can withstand climate change challenges and shocks and ensure their families have enough food in the future as well as now. Farm Africa works in partnership with communities, government, local and international organizations, and the private sector to innovate, learn and share best practices for maximum impact of our projects.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

Farm Africa has the ambition to be the leading European NGO specialising in Agriculture,
Natural Resource Management and Market Engagement. The Head of Programmes, Ethiopia will be responsible for supporting the development of the Ethiopia country programme, in line with our strategic goals – ensuring that we are the go-to NGO for donors and businesses looking to fund or partner projects within the scope of our approach.

The Head of Programmes, Ethiopia is a key role within the Ethiopia programme team – and a full part of the Ethiopia SMT. The role provides leadership and management to the programme teams. The aims of the role are to set and deliver project goals, to maintain strong relationships with counterparts in government departments and other key stakeholders within the agriculture sector, to oversee the programme portfolio and budget, to represent Farm Africa within the local donor community and to drive excellence in programme design and delivery.

The Head of Programmes will manage a growing programmes team and will be instrumental in developing learning and expertise in agriculture, natural resource management and market engagement.

KEY TASKS AND RESPONISBILITES

Leadership and strategy

• Strategic Direction.Directly support the Country Director in developing the strategic direction for Farm Africa’s Ethiopian programmes, ensuring alignment with the vision, mission and approach;
• SMT Membership.Membership of the Farm Africa Ethiopia Senior Management Team; The Head of Programmes may be required to deputise for the CD in their absence;
• Donor relationship. Build and maintain strong and effective relationships with donors and build on Farm Africa’s excellent reputation. Ensure that donors are kept up to date on project progress and maximising opportunities for growing the funding portfolio;
• Government of Ethiopia relationship. Maintain excellent working relationship with Government of Ethiopia, ensuring that Farm Africa adheres to government rules and regulations and is familiar with key policies, procedures and development plans which should help inform our work;
• Represent Farm Ethiopiaat key events in country and internationally with the aim of building our international reputation particularly in natural resource management.

 Lead the Ethiopia programmes team to achieve excellent delivery and maximum impact

• Excellent planning.Ensure the central programmes team works with  project managers and coordinators to develop accurate activity and expenditure plans, budgets, reports and associated project milestones to ensure timely delivery in line with contractual requirements – particularly ensuring the use of the PMT (Project Management Tool);
• Excellent financial management. Ensure that central programmes team works with the finance team to ensure the timely, realistic and accurate preparation and monitoring of project budgets in line with internal and donor requirements and guidelines;
• Excellent implementation.Monitor project progress, ensuring timely delivery and maximum project impact;
• Timely project start-up.Work with the Regional Programme Support Manager and the Senior Programme Manager to ensure rapid project start-up through strong project planning and execution. This includes recruitment, logistics, partner support, inception and planning workshops, project documentation completion, agreements etc;
• Timely project completion.Ensure that the country office programmes team works with Programme Coordinators to supervise project exit/closure to ensure the highest standards of professionalism and administrative efficiency in line with donor and government requirements.
• Problem solving.Work with project leads to resolve programmatic issues and challenges in discussion with the Senior Management Team (SMT);
• Partner management.Work with Farm Africa’s consortium partners to ensure a close working relationship and effective joint project implementation.

Contribute to growth and building project pipeline

• Win new projects. Support Farm Africa Head Quarters and Farm Africa Ethiopia’s Country Director in developing a healthy project pipeline;
• High quality programme design.Lead high quality programming in Ethiopia through the development  of concept notes, proposals and associated budgets that are in line with Farm Africa’s Approach, programme design tools and Farm Africa’s policies and procedures;
• Scale up effective programmes.Support the programme team explore opportunities to replicate and scale up strategically aligned and successful projects that contribute to Ethiopia’s GTP and SDG goals;
• Build the pipeline and network of partnerships.Identify and actively pursue opportunities for partnership and consortia working, through building relationships and developing programmes with strategic networks/alliances;
• Collaborate with Business Development team,working closely to produce high quality project proposals.

People and team leadership

• Lead the programmes team, ensuring an ongoing high level of commitment to FA’s vision, mission and values.
• High quality line management.Line manage the Programme Managers (currently x 4), Programme Officer and Communications Manager, ensuring clear work plans and objectives are in place, holding regular contact meetings, mid-term reviews and annual appraisals
• High quality recruitment. Oversee the recruitment of high quality new project staff, with the right mix of technical, project management and community engagement expertise;
• Follow Farm & donor’s policies and processes.Ensure appropriate levels of awareness and adherence to Farm Africa’s organisational policies, procedures and regulations by all project staff

Drive learning across the project portfolio, with a focus on innovation, lessons learned and impact

• Technical quality. Work with Farm Africa’s Technical Managers to develop a quality knowledge hub, and that captures innovation and lessons learned;
• Drive impact.Work with the M&E team to ensure that Farm Africa’s M&E processes are followed (in particular the MLP – Monitoring and Learning Plan) and that projects and programmes deliver a high level of impact.
• Programme learning. Facilitate thematic working group meetings to ensure continual learning across programmes
• Programme communications.Work with the Communications Officer and UK Communications team to develop a communications strategy based upon key projects and programmatic work and by identifying strategic events/fora for Farm Africa to target.

 These essential functions are not to be interpreted as a complete statement of all duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job related duties as required. All work responsibilities are subject to having performance goals and/or targets established.

DURATION & HOURS: Permanent, full time with probation period of six months

Job Requirements

PERSON SPECIFICATION                               

Education, Qualifications & other knowledge

Essential

• Postgraduate qualification in a relevant subject, such as project management, development studies, business administration, etc
• Knowledge on agriculture, natural resource management, and/or market engagement

Desirable

• Programme knowledge and experience in the agricultural, forestry, natural resource management, value chain development, and sustainable livelihoods

Experience

Essential

• At least 5 years senior management experience
• Experience of relationship building and management with major institutional, commercial and private individual donors.
• Strong knowledge on donor requirement in proposal design and reporting. Experience in working with the private sector to achieve development outcomes
• Experience in project design, proposal development and project management, including budgets and budget monitoring and review
• Experience of staff management and commitment to staff development and team building – experience in situational management style
• Experience of working with participatory approaches to development and capacity building of staff and stakeholders

Desirable

• Ideally with a developmental NGO
• Including with EU, DfID, other bi-lateral donors
• Including multi-million $ and cross-sector projects
• Including at community level, and with local authorities and co-operatives

Skills & Abilities

• Fluent written and spoken English and Amharic
• Strategic thinker, and strong leadership qualities.  Gravitas, respected by donors and government.
• Excellent time management skills, with a proven ability to prioritise between tasks, deliver in a high-paced working environment, and self-manage
• High level of analytical and conceptual thinking with great emotional intelligence
• Good budgeting and budget management
• Computer literacy, including proven experience with word processing and spreadsheets
• Strong sense of integrity and personal commitment to the Goals and Values of Farm Africa
• Excellent communication and team building skills with the proven ability to coach and mentor staff successfully
• Ability to undertake unaccompanied travel and operate away from the work station

OUR VALUES

Investing in smallholder farming is the number one way to combat poverty in rural Africa. Farm Africa is a leading NGO specialising in growing agriculture, protecting the environment and developing businesses in rural Africa.

EXPERT. Deep expertise and insightful evidence-based solutions are at the heart of everything Farm Africa does.

GROUNDED. Positive change starts with Africa’s people, so our experts work closely with local communities, engaging them in every level of decision-making.

IMPACTFUL. We take a long-term view so we can deliver lasting changes for farmers and their families.

BOLD. We model innovative new approaches and are not afraid to challenge strategies that are failing.

How to Apply

Those who meet the above requirements should submit their short CV (maximum of 3 pages) and a cover letter (maximum 1 page) addressing [email protected] with the subject Head of Programmes by June 28, 2019.

Documents cannot be returned and due to large number of applications, only short listed candidates will be contacted. Applications are especially welcomed from female applicants.