Senior Livestock Market Systems Manager

Ethiopia Transforming Agriculture (TA)

Background:

Land O'Lakes Venture37 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening local agriculture, helping agribusinesses create jobs and linking farmers to markets. Since 1981, it has implemented over 315 integrated dairy, livestock, and crops development programs in nearly 80 countries - creating lasting impact by linking farmers, businesses, and the public and private sector in local and global contexts. Land O’Lakes Venture37’s long-standing affiliation with Land O’Lakes, Inc. sets it apart. Land O’Lakes, Inc. is one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives. It supports Land O’Lakes Venture37 project implementation with nearly 100 years of expertise in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs and agricultural insights and technologies. This gives Land O’Lakes Venture37 development projects a unique global view of agriculture, food, and the power of well-functioning market systems. Land O’Lakes, Inc. supports these efforts as part of its enterprise purpose of Feeding Human Progress at home and around the world.

Project Summary:

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is a subcontractor on the RTI-led consortium implementing the USAID-funded Transforming Agriculture (TA) project. The purpose of TA is to increase access to healthy diets, particularly for women and children, by improving the competitiveness, inclusiveness, and resilience of the food and agriculture systems. TA will build on previous USG-funded FTF activities to sustainably improve access to healthy diets for all in the FTF Zone of Influence (ZOI), using a food systems lens. By a healthy diet, we mean sufficient food to meet dietary needs for a productive and healthy life. Physical and economic access to a healthy diet is important for all people throughout the year. It is particularly important for women and young children, given the critical effects healthy diets have on early childhood development and lifelong productivity. Acknowledging that economic transformation tends to bring new malnutrition challenges, TA will support transformation of the food systems so that a healthy diet is increasingly easy to access. TA will also support the food and agriculture systems to become more sustainable, resilient, and responsive, increasing its long-term capacity to adapt to demographic trends, socio-cultural patterns and preferences, and shocks and stresses. Finally, TA will facilitate increased public-private partnership and collaboration to spur a more favorable policy environment for private sector investment and innovation that serves the population’s economic and dietary needs. TA will seek to make strategic investments that produce durable outcomes with potential to catalyze change across the food and agriculture systems as well as the broader economy.

Position Summary:

The Senior Livestock Market Systems Manager will provide strategy development and project implementation guidance for the inclusive livestock value chain development activities as they relate to food supply and food utilization under TA. The Senior Livestock Market Systems Manager will lead the development and oversight of livestock value chain activities that align with the overall TA project work plan. Specifically, he/she will utilize facilitative approaches with key market actors to improve the productivity of animal-based foods in alignment with the interests and capacity of smallholder livestock keepers and other actors in key livestock-related value chains (dairy, sheep, goat, meat, poultry, eggs, and fish) to adopt sound practices that result in financial, social, and environmental benefits. The Senior Livestock Market Systems Manager will oversee activities that increase household and livestock market resilience including the promotion of appropriate livestock breeds, climate smart management practices, and approaches that encourage sustainable landscape management, and help livestock keepers to better manage risk. The Senior Livestock Market Systems Manager will coordinate closely with private enterprises, industry associations, farmer-based organizations, Government of Ethiopia representatives, and other implementers to ensure coordinated and impactful activities.

Reporting & Supervision:

The Senior Livestock Market Systems Manager will report technically to the project Deputy Chief of Party / Technical and administratively to Venture37’s Technical Director. This position will directly supervise the Livestock Specialist and the Livestock Forage Specialist and will represent the Land O’Lakes Venture37 team in any project consortium-level matters.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead technical implementation of livestock market systems and livestock animal-based food value chain activities in close collaboration with the COP, DCOP / Technical, and other Objective Leads on the project.
• Work closely with COP, DCOP / Technical and Objective Leads to develop and execute project work plans and maintain technical oversight of all livestock production and livestock animal-based food value chain (e.g., dairy, meat, poultry, eggs, and fish) activities.
• Provide leadership, management, and direction to field-level activities, including engagement with local partners, as needed.
• Develop and oversee the implementation of activities that transform livestock market systems and increase livestock productivity and production through the promotion of locally appropriate livestock breeds, community breeding, animal feed and forage, animal health products and veterinary services, appropriate genetic improvements, and animal care and herd management – with attention to the different approaches required for across Lowland Pastoralist and Highland areas.
• Identify and facilitate innovative livestock productivity activities that strengthen and enhance collaboration between smallholders, the private sector, and local authorities, and increase access to appropriate financial management products and ICT innovations that help farmers and pastoralist communities to better manage risk and protect their livestock assets.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of a catalytic project grants under contract mechanism designed to spur private sector investment, act as an engagement manager, incentivize the broad participation of livestock market systems actors, and facilitate entry of new actors and new investment into the livestock sector.
• Contribute to the oversight of project and activity level budgets to support cost control for the project.
• Lead relationship management between the Ethiopia-based TA RTI consortium team and the TA Land O’Lakes Venture37 team addressing program opportunities and challenges as needed, across all sectors.
• Work closely with the Land O’Lakes Venture37 Headquarters program management team to harmonize policies, processes, and procedures with the prime awardee (RTI) to ensure consistent and equitable implementation across the program.
• Provide technical support and input into project reporting deliverables including annual and quarterly reports, project-level analyses, and other deliverables as needed on the project.
• Supervise and mentor livestock and forage officers and specialists in livestock market systems thinking and implementation.
• Contribute to market system and food system project learnings.
• Lead, supervise, coach, and develop the team in a manner that is open and respectful, encourages, professional development, and solicits constructive staff input.
• Any duties and responsibilities assigned by his/her immediate supervisor.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree in agribusiness, animal science, international development, economics, business management, agricultural or rural development, or another relevant field.
• Ten (10) years of demonstrated relevant technical and professional experience.
• Proven senior leadership ability, staff management, and technical capacity to build and facilitate high-level relationship, including in livestock productivity and commercialization of livestock technologies through public and private partnerships.
• Experience and/or technical knowledge in designing and managing development projects and activities, particularly related to livestock and agricultural productivity.
• Experience in livestock production and management including experience in locally appropriate livestock feeds, inputs, veterinary supplies, and networks.
• Experience in locally appropriate and climate smart livestock approaches including sustainable landscape management practices.
• Proven capacity to collaborate across projects, be flexible, and creative and successfully lead an intercultural team in development and post-conflict contexts.
• Ability to communicate effectively, instilling trust and confidence.
• Strong interpersonal and written and oral presentation skills.
• Strong oral and written English skills.
• Oral and written fluency in Amharic.

Land O'Lakes Venture37 will never ask you for personable identifiable information, and we will never request money or payment during the recruitment or employment process.

Land O’Lakes Venture37 is an equal opportunity employer and an organization striving to help global communities thrive through agriculture. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status, among other factors. Our culture values a diversity of voices. So, bring us your unique experiences, your workstyle, and your dreams — they’ll only make us stronger.

How To Apply

Interested and Qualified applicants can apply on Careers (avature.net).