Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

Project Background

Palladium International, LLC is implementing the $250 Million, 5-year USAID CATALYZE contract which offers a facilitated partnership model that will craft solutions to crowd in $2 Billion in blended finance (i.e., blended concessional and commercial finance) to USAID partner countries; it can work in any development sector or region. Launched in October 2019, CATALYZE is a buy-in mechanism that allows USAID Bureaus and Missions to efficiently deploy investment facilitation solutions that respond to the needs of specific sectors, issues, and geographies.

USAID CATALYZE Market Systems for Growth (MS4G) focuses on creating transformative outcomes in the food security and WASH sectors to benefit all Ethiopian people. To achieve these goals, the activity engages youth, mobilizes capital, increases access to finance, connects enterprises to markets, and supports stakeholders to self-advocate towards policy change which will promote opportunities for the private sector community. The project supports activities in Addis Ababa and secondary cities.

To strengthen the private sector in the food security and WASH sectors, MS4G uses a market-based approach to enhance enterprises’ performance, product/service delivery, and inclusion. The activities are designed to build institutional capacity, enhance knowledge and skill transfers through workforce development initiatives, advance the business enabling environment, accelerate digital transformations and scale best practices to increase productivity and quality.

Location: The position is based in Palladium’s Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Office

Estimated Start Date and Period of Performance: This assignment is expected to commence on April 15, 2024, and continue for and up to 6 months.

You and Your Career:

If you are a problem-solver, collaborator, and doer, and you have expertise in providing grant support activities, we are interested in hearing from you.

We are a learning organization and provide growth opportunities from the start. We pride ourselves on giving you the freedom, resources, and guidance to chart a fulfilling career.

Reporting and Supervision:

The, Fertilizer and Soil Health specialist STTA will report to the CATALYZE: MS4G Fertilizer Program Lead and responsible in implementing and coordinate market system related activities of the project. The specialist will also use CATALYZE market systems development approach and tools to the MS4G intervention of food security and fertilizer. S/he will contribute to the success of the project and required to apply the approved MS4G approaches to catalyze the services and facilitate linkages between market actors in the region.

Specific responsibilities of the consultant include, but are not limited to:

• Coordinate marketing and value chain related functions in Agriculture/food security and providing continuous technical guidance and capacity building to private sectors (SME) engaged in fertilizer production, distribution and marketing through BASP and TASPs support.
• Provide oversight to the implementation of fertilizer activities in Ethiopia in line with the project’s approved Performance Work Statement (PWS). This includes providing technical support, supporting monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities .
• Monitor fertilizer-related subcontractors/grantees for timely delivery and impact and ensure fertilizer project activities conform to project requirements, including cost, schedule, and quality.
• Coordinate the implementation of impactful activities to support labor markets actors to enable them to create job opportunities for youth, women and job seekers.
• Ensures the program to captures and responds to up-to-date information about fertilizer market developments within respective market systems, global best practices and Markets Systems Development.
• Link farmers and commercial farms with financial institution, agro-dealers and selected private sector to access different agricultural inputs including fertilizer, improved seed, and agro chemicals
• Identify, select, and assess potential fertilizer companies to enhance the resilience of regional fertilizer market and supply chain.
• Facilitate farmers capacity building platform through adapting BASP and TASP approaches for the use and adoption of agricultural inputs and technologies towards ensuring climate smart agriculture.
• Advise Fertilizer Programming Lead and technical staff on MS4G’s technical approaches of the fertilizer and food security components of the programme.

Job Requirements

Key Competencies Required:

• Relevant experience in private sector engagement in relation to agricultural marketing and value chain development (supply chain).
• Strong communication skills, both interpersonal and written with professional fluency in English and local language is required
• Solid experience on agriculture input supply and working with formal and informal financial sectors.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of a bachelor’s degree, in plant science, horticulture, economics and agribusiness.
• Previous experience/knowledge of USAID projects and private sector engagement, approaches, and policy,
• Extensive experience in private sector engagement in relation to Fertilizer and food security sanitation in Ethiopia,
• Understanding of the financial and regulatory constraints facing private sector companies in Ethiopia, particularly in the provision of fertilizer and food security services,
• Ability to research and consult on technical and policy issues related to Fertilizer, agriculture and food secuirty services, and analyse the challenges to private sector engagement in Ethiopia,
• Proven knowledge of Ethiopian finance, private enterprise, investment, and fertilizer-related issues,
• Evidence of strong communication skills, both interpersonal and written with professional fluency in English required,
• Ability to develop fertilizer business and financial models for small/medium-sized
• Demonstrated organizational skills and a strong track record in meeting deliverable and donor deadlines.