Jan 15, 2019
Vacancy Announcement
ETHIOPIAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENCY
Position : Case Team Leader I – Special Projects, CEO Office
Term of Employment: 2 years
Duty Station: Addis Ababa
Required Number: 1
Salary & Benefit: Competitive
Application Deadline : January 25, 2019
BACKGROUND
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) is a strategy and delivery oriented government agency created to help accelerate the growth and transformation of the country’s agriculture sector. The ATA envisions that, by 2025, smallholder farmers are commercialized with greater incomes, inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability, contributing to Ethiopia’s achievement of middle-income country status.
The agency focuses on two primary national approaches to catalyze agricultural transformation. First, we support the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Resources (MoALR), its affiliate institutions, and other partners to identify and address systemic bottlenecks within an Agricultural Transformation Agenda. Second, we support Regional Governments to accelerate development of high-priority commodity value chains in clearly defined geographic clusters, through the Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) Initiative.
Our major activities include conducting strategic and analytical studies, providing technical implementation support, coordinating platforms to better integrate partners and projects, and designing and directly leading a number of implementation projects. Our headquarters are in Addis Ababa, and we have regional offices in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray regional offices, allowing us to work closely with a wide range of public, private and development sector partners across the country.
Our Culture
We have an exceptional team of highly competent employees with a proven track record of success in managing complex activities and achieving transformational results. Our culture is one where talented, dedicated and adaptable individuals are committed to doing their best and exhibit great team work to achieve excellent results.
At ATA, we provide an exceptional 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 employees with the tools, training and mentorships necessary to achieve their career goals.
POSITION SUMMARY:
As the advisory and analytics function of the CEO’s Office within ATA, the Special Projects team works with Managers, Directors and Senior Directors within the organization, as well as senior leadership at partners in government, multilateral and bilateral donors, NGOs and private sector companies, to execute high-impact, analytically challenging projects. The team applies an approach similar to top strategy consulting firms and government strategy units to support partners to more effectively bring together strategic, analytical, technical and operational capabilities required for transformation.
Case Team Leader plays a critical role in the Special Projects team, leading and managing client engagements, with support from senior management. This includes everything from understanding issues which are important for the CEO Office to address and determining what kind of support the Special Project team is best placed to offer, and structuring the project and individual work streams, to delivering the final output and following up with the client to support implementation of recommendations. Case Team Leader is responsible for identifying the level and type of resourcing required for each project, day-to-day management of the stakeholder relationship and the project team’s activities, leading meetings with stakeholders, coaching and providing feedback to team members to ensure high-quality output as well as rapid staff development, and ensuring any major issues are effectively escalated to senior management.
Case Team Leader is also heavily involved in developing and lead trainings for junior staff and take on strategic initiatives within the team such as building talent pipeline within the team, or managing development of a knowledge management system. The position therefore provides a unique opportunity for high-performing individuals with five or more years of work experience in strategy consulting and project management to step up into a project and people management role. Experience in agribusiness or industrial development initiatives in particular is desirable, as is a passion for transforming agriculture and improving the lives of smallholder farmers.
The role is a fantastic opportunity for individuals who are highly motivated and passionate about their own development and about making a difference to drive change at a national scale and impact the lives of millions of Ethiopians!
ESSENTIAL DUTIES:
Oversee planning and execution of diverse, high-impact projects while ensuring effective partnership with internal and external stakeholders
Provide guidance and steering to junior staff on both project work and professional development through weekly project team meetings and 1-on-1 coaching and mentoring
Ensure the analytical rigor, practicality and quality of output across all projects, oversee and Identify stakeholder sensitivities and guide the project team in managing these effectively
Support project teams in internal and external steering committees and workshops, and lead engagement with more senior stakeholders
As and when required, support the Program Manager of the team on program management activities in the CEO’s office including but not limited to tracking actions of the senior management team, development of performance indicators, milestones and targets, tracking the progress of high priority projects in the organization and provide feedback to the Program Manager
Play the role of Program Manager and lead the Special Projects team, in his absence
Job Requirements
Bachelors or Masters in any field
At least 5 years (Master’s Degree) or 7 years (Bachelor’s Degree) of professional experience in a strategy consulting or equivalent role
Proven record of structuring and delivering challenging cases or work streams in a range of client engagements
Experience managing and coaching others
Excellent critical thinking and analytical skills
Genuine intellectual curiosity and desire to innovate and bring large-scale change
Collaborative mind-set and a team player
Strong desire to learn, highly coachable and values frequent, constructive feedback
Knowledge of agriculture is not required, but applicants should have strong interest in agricultural and economic development in Ethiopia
Committed to stay at ATA for at least 2 years
Fluent in English and Amharic, with strong written and oral communication skills
How to Apply
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to send (i) a cover letter, (ii) CV ( maximum 2 pages), and (iii) a completed ATA Application Form at http://apply.ata.gov.et
Also, please DO NOT submit scans of certificates with your application form.
Women are highly encouraged to apply.
NB. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.
Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Full time
