Business Advisor 2

Title: Business Advisor 2
Reporting Unit/Supervisor: Program Manager
Program: Regrow Yirga Program

1. About TechnoServe:

TechnoServe is a leader in harnessing the power of the private sector to help people lift themselves out of poverty. A nonprofit organization operating in 29 countries, we work with enterprising men and women in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. By linking people to information, capital and markets, we have helped millions to create lasting prosperity for their families and communities. Founded over 50 years ago, TechnoServe has been named the #1 nonprofit for fighting poverty by the Impact Matters charity ratings agency.

2 . About the project:

TechnoServe seeks an outstanding result-oriented professional to advise coffee processing stations and exporters as part of the business unit of a large-scale program in Yirgacheffe (Gedeo zone), one of the world’s most celebrated coffee origins. Regrow Yirga is a Five-year, $15M+ project funded by the U.S Department of Agriculture, SME and Peet’s Coffee. The program will help farmers boost productivity and expand trade and has a focus on improving farmers’ capacity to renew their trees.

Specifically, the Regrow Yirga program seeks to: train 42,000 farmers in good agricultural practices, provide quality advisory support to 45 coffee processing stations, and improve the enabling environment through strengthening private and public coffee service providers in Ethiopia. Lastly, the project will launch an innovative Farmer Stumping Fund which will facilitate direct incentive (tools or cash) transfers to farmers to encourage tree renewal by compensating them for their short-term loss which has the potential to be scaled up to over 1 million coffee farmers nationwide.

3. About the role:

Reporting to the Business Program Manager, the Business Advisor 2 (BA2)’s principal objective is to increase the performance of the processing station (wet mill) clients in terms of quality, processing efficiency, cost effectiveness, traceability, and adoption of sustainability standards. You will support wet mill owners/exporters to improve their internal management systems, increase coffee quality and profitability.

Responsibilities under this role include:

• Provide training and business coaching to wet mill owners and wet mill staff
• Deliver a standard set of quality processing techniques, sustainability, and bookkeeping training to wet mill staff and owners
• Support clients to implement actions and measures to achieve compliance with sustainability standards and good processing practices
• Conduct on-site performance audits for sharing with owners
• Provide feedback on operational costs and provide cost performance benchmarking
• Provide advice on the setup of strategically locating purchasing points and encourage direct-to-site deliveries
• Encourage good management and good governance practices
• Support the implementation of a digital bookkeeping and/or traceability system
• Support the development, adaptation, and review of various technical materials such as lesson plans, audit questionnaires, data collection tools, fact sheets, and business profiles.
• Support monitoring and evaluation activities such as collecting various data streams such as cherry harvest progression, wet mill revenues and expenses; market and price information Stakeholder Management and Program Representation.

Stakeholder Management and program representation

• Create a good working relationship with stakeholders and hold meetings with the Coffee and Tea Authority, the Agricultural Office, and the Trade Office at the woreda level
• Support the expansion of the wet mill program into different woredas
• Support efforts in making the wet mill program more gender inclusive and conflict-sensitive using local customs
• Be a program ambassador in the operational area
• Provide support to project operations as required

4. Required Skills and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Supply Chain Management, Agricultural Economics, Finance, or a related field; another degree combined with 5 years or more of relevant working experience can be considered in lieu of a Bachelor’s degree
• At least three to five years’ professional work experience, with a strong preference for working in the private sector. No prior coffee-specific experience is required (we provide training)
• Strong planning and organizational skills and experience working to deliver quality work outputs within strict timelines
• Well-developed computer skills and technology-friendly
• Strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills
• Entrepreneurial with strong problem-solving skills
• High integrity and motivation