SENIOR MARKET APPROACHES ADVISOR At Feed the Children

JOB PURPOSE

Business-minded and entrepreneurial focused, the Market Approaches Advisor will lead, advice, and contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of Market Systems and Financial Inclusion Initiatives within Tiwalere-III Program and provide technical support in integrating the local private sector, including local traders, local artisans, food producers, micro-and small-entrepreneurs, etc. The position will be tasked with initiating a shift from free distribution of Vitameal into a market-based approach, introducing Value Chains and Common Interest Groups, developing, and introducing a PPP model to rural water management, rolling out a Marketing Sanitation program, and developing alternatives to income-generating for Cluster Leaders volunteers. Overall, the role will aim at scaling up a local culture of entrepreneurship for increased sustainability.

In parallel to the technical advisory role, the Advisor, as a Senior Advisor, the role will also play a leadership, technical oversight, and team-leading role regarding the other Technical Advisors.

SPECIFIC ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Technical Advisors leadership

• Provide leadership, oversight, and coherence between the group of Technical Advisors,

Technical guidance and technical support

• Provide technical leadership and program support for all market-based interventions including Value Chains micro-entrepreneurship and other Market Systems and Economic Development activities.
• Supports the implementing team in market analysis to generate programmatic understanding about the market opportunities, constraints related to access to inputs, knowledge/skills, limited value addition – will support the team to identify any market shifts caused by shocks and stresses.
• Identify groups of farmers to facilitate systemic change in the value chains.
• Lead the teams in mapping relevant market functions and key market players.
• Identify capacities and update any changes in capacities, constraints, or incentives toward adopting new market behaviors.
• Provide technical guidance within Tiwalere III program, with a particular focus on sustainable livelihood-based value chains (VCs), Common interest groups (CIGs), collective marketing/aggregation, and financial inclusion including access to credit, and risk transfer approaches and input/output markets.
• Establish dialogue and partnerships among local business services providers, lead firms, and trade associations and other relevant market actors to facilitate access to support services and to strengthen market linkages among them.
• Provide technical inputs, training, mentoring and direct support when required to Tiwalere III Program staff working in sustainable livelihoods-based VCs, market systems development, and Financial Inclusion through both Savings for Transformation and other savings and loans approaches.
• Provide guidance in the programming of new market-focused approaches suitable for sustainable livelihoods-based VCs and markets development within the Tiwalere III program.

Coordination

• Work closely with Cluster Coordinators for the implementation of the activities.
• Flag up any issues that may be observed during implementation and provide technical guidance and solutions.
• Work closely with all other Technical Advisors to ensure that all components are contributing toward a substantial impact on nutrition.
• Build linkages, engage, network and lead advocacy on entrepreneurial/ innovations/ capacity building or training, as well as other market-based opportunities as required.
• Foster credible and trusted relationships with other Program Partners and other stakeholders.
• Actively participate in FTC Tiwalere III program meetings, technical working groups and program team meetings as required.
• Maintain technical dialogue with USAID technical Advisor.

Reporting and evidence-based

• Develop key monitoring and measuring indicators, milestones and plans in close collaboration with M&E team, and solely responsible for monitoring and reporting all output, outcome, and impact indicators for respective market system(s).
• Ensures the program captures and responds to up-to-date information about market developments within respective market systems and global best practices for Economic & Markets Development.
• Support with project reporting, ensuring that updates and progress on related indicators and successes are included in project reports and annual work plans.
• Work with and support Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) teams to: develop context-specific indicators for market-related activities; measure outcomes; and collect and analyze data.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & ABILITIES

• A Master’s degree in any of the following subjects: Business development micro and small -entrepreneurship, Economics, Crop Science, Animal Science, Rural Development and agricultural extension, Agricultural Economics.
• At least seven (7) years of experience in a similar position.
• Deep understanding and proficiency in Markets4Poor approach and Economic & Markets Development facilitation including coaching, relationship building, communicating, entrepreneurialism/business understanding and innovating.
• Experience in working with food production and livestock with public and private actors and institutional stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience in successfully managing diverse technical advisors’ teams.
• Demonstrated program implementation and training capabilities.
• Knowledge of participatory analyses, action, and results processes.
• Experience in the region is desirable.
• Fluent in English. Knowledge of one of the local languages is an advantage
• Business-minded, entrepreneurial, adaptive, curious, great problem-solving skills, unafraid to ask questions, and results motivated.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and networking skills with a wide range of private, partner and NGO-sector actors.