Market & Enterprise Development Specialist
4-year Fixed Term Contract. Full Time
Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Salary – Competitive
If we receive a high volume of applications, we reserve the right to close the advert before the scheduled closing date. Therefore, we encourage interested applicants to apply at their earliest convenience.
About us
Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We are a global movement of people, churches and local organisations who passionately champion dignity, equality and justice worldwide. We are the changemakers, the peacemakers, the mighty of heart.
We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and recognise the value this brings in forming strong, creative and high performing teams. We welcome applications from all sections of the community, and from those with experience from outside of the voluntary sector. And no, you don’t have to be Christian to work here – we encourage people of all faiths and none to apply. We just ask that everyone lives out our values of dignity, equality, justice and love. We value a good work-life balance, so we’re open to part-time and flexible working.
About the role
Reporting in to the National Programme Lead, the Market & Enterprise Development Specialist will be a member of the SEPTP implementation team, responsible for technical leadership and delivery integration across the programme’s enterprise development, financial inclusion and market systems pathway in the poultry sector.
The role involves facilitating access to affordable finance and insurance; supporting poultry enterprises to grow, become investment-ready and commercially viable; strengthening market access, aggregation and offtake; and monitoring financing and enterprise performance across bank loans, the SEPTP revolving fund and insurance mechanisms that underpin SEPTP’s financing model.
The postholder is the primary technical link between SEPTP’s implementation structure (clusters, partners, individuals, Cooperatives/VSLAs and Market-Actor Partners) and its financing and market partners (FCMB, other financial and insurance institutions, aggregators, processors, distributors and off takers), ensuring the financial inclusion and market development model operates as designed, remains commercially viable and continues to expand access to capital and sustainable market opportunities for participants over the life of the programme and beyond.
The role works across Livestock, Partnership and Policy Influencing, Finance, Procurement, MEAL, GESI and State Coordinators under the overall delivery accountability of the National Programme Lead.
Please see the role profile for some of the main areas of responsibilities of the Market & Enterprise Development Specialist.
About you
Who we are looking for
Essential:
- Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, Finance, Development Economics, Banking or a related field.
- Master’s degree in a relevant field, or a recognised professional finance/banking qualification such as ACCA, CFA or ICAN, is desirable.
- A minimum of 7 years’ progressive experience in market systems development, enterprise/business development, financial inclusion, investment facilitation or private-sector development, ideally within agribusiness, agricultural value chains or rural/MSME finance.
- Demonstrated experience designing or managing enterprise pathways, market linkages, offtake arrangements and commercial partnerships across multi-actor programmes.
- Strong commercial and financial analysis skills, including enterprise modelling, unit economics, working-capital analysis and portfolio-level projections.
- Demonstrated experience coordinating complex delivery across partners, technical teams and multiple interdependent workstreams.
- Strong understanding of youth employment, entrepreneurship and inclusive business approaches.
- Commitment to gender equity, disability inclusion and safeguarding, with the ability to design enterprise and financial inclusion approaches responsive to the needs of women, persons with disabilities and displaced persons.
- Ability to manage multiple partner relationships and competing priorities across a wide geography, with strong organisational and self-management skills.
Desirable:
- Demonstrated experience structuring or managing blended finance, leverage financing or revolving fund mechanisms.
- Experience working with commercial banks, microfinance institutions, cooperatives or VSLAs on financial product design and delivery.
- Practical experience applying market systems development approaches in agricultural or rural markets.
- Experience in commercial poultry, livestock or agricultural value chains.
- Experience engaging impact investors, development finance institutions or other providers of growth capital.
- Strong monitoring, projection and performance-reporting skills.
Further information
At Christian Aid we strive to be an inclusive and diverse employer and recognise the value that this brings in helping to build strong, creative and high performing teams.
We are actively encouraging racialised minorities, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, returning parents or carers who are re-entering work after a career break, people with caring responsibilities, people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, women, and older workers to apply. This is because these groups are under-represented within our teams, especially at senior level, and we recognise and value the contributions members of these groups make to strong, creative and high performing teams.
We have a strong Christian ethos and we encourage applications from all faiths. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of and sympathy with Christian Aid’s faith identity.
All successful candidates will require a DBS/police check appropriate to the role and location and a Counter Terrorism Sanction check as part of your clearance for commencing your role with us. We also participate in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information as part of the referencing process from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.
This role requires applicants to have the right to live and work in the country where this position is based and undertake the role that you have been offered. If you are successful and we make you an offer for the role, we will be required to conduct a right to work check on your immigration status in the UK. We will contact you regarding the documentation you will need to provide to evidence this.
How to apply
To apply for this role, please go to the Christian Aid careers page through this LINK.