The Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) has been established by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) to identify and address systemic bottlenecks to Ethiopia’s agricultural development. The Institute does this through problem-solving, implementation support, and capacity building of stakeholders involved in implementation of interventions that address the systemic bottlenecks.

ATI provides a unique platform for people who want to achieve their highest potential and make a meaningful contribution in changing the country’s agricultural sector. We offer rewarding work in a young, fast-paced growing organization with passionate, committed, motivated colleagues and excellent career development and training. We recognize our most valuable assets are our staff and are committed to providing our teams with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Senior Partnerships Officer (SPO) has the overall responsibility of building and maintaining partnerships between ATI and its key stakeholders, namely development partners, Government organizations, non-governmental organizations and private sector. The SPO will also be responsible for making sure that annual planning and programmatic reporting are executed on time and with expected quality. As part of this responsibility the SPO should closely follow up with respective program teams to monitor the planned activities are executed based on the agreement with development partners and government counterparts. The SPO will coordinate with all ATI program teams to consolidate and provide comments on both the technical and cost components of project proposals and provide all required inputs for project appraisals to secure funding from development partners. Moreover, the SPO will liaise with program teams, procurement, and finance to track relevant information, such as progress of planned activities, new institutional partnerships and undertake proper follow up.

The performance of the SPO will be evaluated primarily on the input provided in concept note/proposal development; make sure that the degree of adherence of projects/programs to the procedures of Development Partners related to the specific grant; quality and timely delivery of various assigned tasks and ensure that quality regular report is submitted to Development partners within the agreed timeline.

The position holder will report to the Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Director.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

The specific duties of the Senior Partnerships Officer will include the following:

• Manage the overall ATI’s internal and external engagement and create a strong working partnership with government, non-government and Development Partners.
• Develop concept note and proposals in collaboration with program teams to ensure that the developed document has coordinated and consistent with the idea of initial donor’s priority and the transformation agenda.
• Coordinate with ATI Program teams to develop annual work plans and budgets in line with Development Partner prioritized financing allocations.
• Prepare and present quarterly, bi-annual, and annual reports and updates, summarize the results of program implementation and identify potential areas of improvement.
• Support the partnership officer to gather information required for narrative reports to be submitted to Development Partners as per the agreed time frame.
• Review and provide valuable input to the draft narrative report prepared by partnership officer.
• Coordinate with finance team to keep consistency between narrative and financial reports.
• Maintain up to date database of all engagements with government, non-government and Development Partners.
• Prepare both written clarification and verbal correspondences for any quires raised to Development Partners and government organizations.
• Work with program teams and legal advisor to review and provide input on institutional partnership agreements and amendment
• Execute any other duties as assigned by the Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Director.
• Work closely with the Director with establishing strategic ways and managing processes for working with development partners and relevant stakeholders including harmonizing process and procedures related to planning and reporting.
• Organize updating meetings and field visits for relevant stakeholders and Development Partners.
• Attend various internal and external meetings and prepare precise and clear summary report/discussions points.

Job Requirements

• Master’s degree in Economics, Business Administration, Development, or other relevant fields of study, obtained from a recognized University.
• Minimum of eight years of combined experience in Finance and Grant management in NGO and in Development Partner platform. From which at least two years of experience should be in managing partnerships and donor relationships.
• Strong organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• Provide problem solving and coordination support for activities undertakes on a day-to-day basis to ensure internal programs run smoothly.
• Develop, as needed, processes, guidelines, templates, etc. that enable the smooth functioning and integration of different operational activities program teams
• Ability to establish priorities in a time sensitive environment and meet deadlines.
• Ability to cooperate effectively and harmoniously with all internal and external stakeholders including government organizations, development and implementing partners and other organizations.
• Fluency in English and Amharic, both verbal and written.
• Excellent skills in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, power point etc.).
• Experience with the agriculture sector a plus.