For over 50 years
and in 146 countries, ACDI/VOCA has empowered people in developing and
transitional nations to succeed in the global economy. Based in Washington,
D.C., ACDI/VOCA is a nonprofit international development organization that
delivers technical and management assistance in agribusiness, financial
services, enterprise development, community development and food security in
order to promote broad-ba
sed economic growth and vibrant civil society.
ACDI/VOCA currently has approximately 34 projects in 26 countries and revenues
of approximately $174 million.
Director of
Agribusiness Management Systems, Tanzania
ACDI/VOCA is
currently seeking a long-term Director of Agribusiness Management Systems for a
multi-year USAID-funded market development program in Tanzania. The project
will have a strong focus on sustainable, private-sector driven market
development in several agricultural value chains, including rice and maize.
This position would
be responsible for spear-heading and implementing – in close collaboration with
agribusiness companies –improvements to the management of key business systems
that play a pivotal role in the success of the Project’s sustainable and
inclusive market development objectives. The scope for these improvements could
include: new or adapted business models for customer outreach, geographic
coverage, and product delivery; procurement planning; inventory management;
sales and promotions; financing; business planning; and personnel management.
Responsibilities:
- Lead
the Agribusiness Management Systems component and a small team of business
development specialist, providing technical and managerial oversight and
leadership, contributing to the design and implementation oversight of
annual work plans and strategies, and ensuring that interventions respond
to identified market opportunities and create sustainable development
outcomes. - Design–
in close collaboration with agribusiness companies –improvements to the
management of key business systems that play a pivotal role in the success
of the Project’s sustainable and inclusive market development objectives.
The scope for these improvements could include: new or adapted business
models for customer outreach, geographic coverage, and product delivery;
procurement planning; inventory management; sales and promotions;
financing; business planning; and personnel management. Companies could
include agro-input providers, equipment providers, and processors, amongst
others. - Provide
direct technical guidance and advisory services to companies (of varying
sizes and capacities) on improved business management practices, drawing
on modern-day business management practices and business models applicable
to the agricultural environment in Tanzania. This includes developing
simple business management tools, templates, trainings. In doing so, it is
expected that this position will work particularly closely with the ICT
Integration Manager to maximize the value of relevant technologies. - Develop
collaborative relationships with key commercial stakeholders – from small,
medium, and large enterprises to business associations or other
quasi-commercial entities in the agricultural value chains – to fully
understand their perspectives on constraints and opportunities as well as
the business enabling environment - Conduct
interventions and design strategies in a manner that builds direct
ownership by stakeholders in the business improvements, in order to ensure
changes are sustainable. - Identify
opportunities to share business successes with the broader business community,
in order to encourage replication and ‘copy-catting’ by other companies,
independent of project direct support, and therefore contribute to
broader, systems-level impacts. - Collaborate
with senior leadership and the Knowledge Management team to design
quantitative and qualitative tools and surveys that allow the Project to
analyze the success of failure of pilot activities in this area,
leveraging to the extent possible data embedded in the company partners
already. - Review
project monitoring and evaluation requirements for the agribusiness
management component, ensuring performance against required indicators; as
part of this effort, develop a culture of learning and adaptive
programming within your team that encourages flow of information and reflection
to maximize performance and continuous improvement. - Contribute
to research and analysis of market opportunities in input supply,
aggregation, bulking and processing for rice and maize, based on
engagements with agribusinesses.
Minimum
Qualification Requirements:
- Minimum
Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or Agricultural Economics;
Masters in Business Administration a bonus. - At
least 7 years of private sector experience in business with demonstrated
practical experience in business modeling, procurement planning/inventory
management, etc. At least 3 of these years must be with an agribusiness
company with linkages to the rice and maize value chains, preferable that
strove to reach rural clients/suppliers/customers. - Demonstrated
experience with business management tools – representing a range of
complexities (e.g. business management software for large companies;
simple paper-based tracking sheets for small rural shops, etc). Book
keeping and financial management experience a bonus. - Demonstrated
familiarity with modern-day business models, techniques, and innovations,
especially those that advance efforts to reach rural, poor populations; as
well as a willingness to proactively stay abreast of developments in the
business world (‘continuous learning’). - Strong
interpersonal/ people management skills and excellent written and oral
communication skills. - Able to
travel to rural areas (frequently) - Strong
financial analysis skills and excellent problem solving and analytical
skills - Full
computer literacy. - Fluency
in English and Kiswahili
Please apply
online at
http://acdivoca.bosmaxhire.net/cp/?E5556E361D43515B7E59192F77501E680D627B4D.
No phone calls please. Only finalists contacted. Women and minorities
encouraged to apply. EOE.
