JOB TITLE: Head of Programmes (re-advertised)

REPORTS TO: Country Director

REPORTING TO POSTHOLDER: Senior Programme Manager (x1), Programme Managers (x3), Programme Officer (x1), Communications Manager, GIS Specialist, FAE MEL Coordinator

LOCATION: Addis Ababa, with frequent field travel

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

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 RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Leadership and strategy – 20%

• 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;
• High quality line management. Line manage the Senior Programme Manager, Programme Managers (currently x 3), 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;
• 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 Ethiopia at key events in country and internationally with the aim of building our international reputation particularly in natural resource management;
• Advocacy and influencing. Build on lessons and best practices gained from Farm Africa projects for effective advocacy and influencing on policies, regulations and guidance governing sectors Farm Africa operates in.

2. Contribute to growth and building project pipeline – 50%

• Win new projects. Developing a healthy project pipeline with support from Farm Africa Head Quarters and Farm Africa Ethiopia’s Country Director;
• High quality programme design. Develop high quality concept notes, leading on project design, and working with the Business Development team and the programme team to develop high quality proposals and associated budgets building on high quality programming in Ethiopia 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 to explore opportunities to adapt, replicate and scale-up successful projects that contribute to Ethiopia’s
• GTP and SDG goals and align with Farm Africa strategy;
• 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.

3. Lead the Ethiopia programmes team to achieve excellent delivery and maximum impact – 20%

• Lead the programmes team, ensuring an ongoing high level of commitment to FA’s vision, mission and values.
• Excellent planning. Ensure the the country programmes team works with project coordinators to develop accurate activity and expenditure plans, budgets, reports and associated project milestones, aligned with Farm Africa processes, tools and standards, to ensure timely delivery in line with contractual requirements;
• Excellent financial management. Ensure that the country 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; the Head of Programme is overall responsible for the management of all projects and programmes budgets;
• Excellent implementation. Monitor project progress, ensuring timely delivery and maximum project impact, including working with the Senior Programme Manager and the Farm Africa Programme Support team to maintain and ensure adherence to reporting and monitoring tools and processes;
• Timely project start-up. Work with the Senior Programme Manager and the Programme Support team 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, and the Programme Support team, 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;
• Compliance. Working closely with the Country Director, the Head of Finance and the Head of Corporate Services, ensure compliance to government, donor and organisation requirements by all project teams.
• 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; and
• Budget holder responsibility. Manage the country programmes team operational budget.

4. Driver learning across the project portfolio, with a focus on innovation, lesson learned and impact – 10%

• Technical quality. Work with Farm Africa’s Technical Managers to capture 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. working with the country programmes team, generate learning across projects and programmes (including through processes such as the project performance reviews or facilitation of thematic groups), and work with head office support teams (MEL, tech and PS) to contribute to FA-wide learning generation; and
• 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.

Job Requirements

Education, Qualifications & other knowledge

• Postgraduate qualification in a relevant subject, such as Natural Resource Management, Agriculture/ Agricultural Economics, Forestry
• Project management and experience in business administration focusing on agricultural, forestry, natural resource management, value chain development, and sustainable livelihoods.
• Knowledge on agriculture, natural resource management, and/or market engagement

Experience

• At least 10 years senior management experience
• Ideally with a developmental NGO
• Experience of relationship building and management with major institutional, commercial and private individual donors.
• Strong knowledge on donor requirement in proposal design and reporting.
• Including with EU, DfID, other bi-lateral donors
• Experience in working with the private sector to achieve development outcomes
• Experience in designing projects, leading all stages of proposal development, including designing project approach, adhering to donor/call requirements, and developing results framework, activity plans and budgets
• Including multi-million $ and cross-sector projects
• Experience in all aspects of project management, including for large multi-sector programmes
• 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
• 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: Expertise and insightful evidence-based solutions are at the heart of everything Farm Africa does.

GROUNDED: Our teams and partners work closely with local communities, engaging them in every level of decision-making.

IMPACTFUL: We deliver long lasting change for farmers, their families, and the environments they live in.

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