Business Development Officer

JOB TITLE:  Business Development Officer

REPORTS TO: Project Coordinator

REPORTING TO POSTHOLDER: None

LOCATION: Metti, Majang zone of Gambella region

DURATION & HOURS: up to 31 December 2022 with 60 working days of probation period

The Business/market Development Officer (BDO) will be responsible for building the business and commercial capacity of a wide range of stakeholders engaged in the Majang forest biosphere reserve landscape management project. These stakeholders will include, Participatory forest management cooperatives (PFMCs), Multi-purpose primary cooperatives, Union, Saving and credit cooperatives, Income generating groups and VSLAs.

The BDO will also be responsible for capacity building of the government and project partners on market-based approaches to development and business development, as well as ensuring best practices in these areas are integrated into all field activities.

In addition, the BDO will contribute to Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) activities, particularly with regards to developing and disseminating record keeping tools for the different stakeholders engaged in business-focused activities.

Key roles and responsibilities are;

• Assess the potential business development opportunities in the project area
• Take part in the annual planning of the project together with project team and partners
• Facilitate the establishment of marketing cooperatives and development of systems
• Business development training to Participatory forest management cooperatives (PFMCs),
• Business development training to Multi-purpose primary cooperatives and Union,
• Business development training to Saving and credit cooperatives,
• Business development training to Income generating groups and VSLAs
• Training capacity building of the government and project partners on market-based approaches to development and business development
• Provide continuous BDS to Participatory forest management cooperatives (PFMCs), Multi-purpose primary cooperatives, Union, Saving and credit cooperatives, Income generating groups and VSLAs
• Ensure that Farm Africa Approaches to business development, access to finance and trade facilitation are used to guide high-quality delivery
• Ensure that business development and markets focused activities are aligned with, and mutually supportive of other interventions in the same areas
• Work with the Project Coordinator (PC) to ensure all activities are planned and conducted according to the organization and the donor financial and procurement requirements and procedures.
• Support the PC, team and partner with activity planning and budgeting as requested
• Keep abreast of business development activities being implemented by other partners operating in a similar intervention area and sharing this information with the PC and wider team as appropriate
• Proactively identify and monitor any risks to non-delivery and, where required, develop and implement action plans to address issues identified.
• Support the PC to identify and analyze the causes of spend variances to the budget and make recommendations on actions to be taken as required
• Contribute to internal and external reporting, with a particular focus on collecting and collating information from enterprises and VSLAs supported by the project
• Regularly report on implementation learnings, and make recommendations on areas for improvement or changes in delivery strategy to the PC
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Plan (MLP) – and in particular support with developing data collection tools that will gather relevant data from the different enterprises engaged in the project.
• Contribute to quarterly internal progress reviews and annual project performance reviews and workshops
• Collect information for stories, case studies and lessons learnt on market linkages and business development
• Perform other tasks as required by the supervisor

These essential functions are not to be interpreted as a complete statement of all duties performed. Employees will be required to perform other job-related duties as required. All work responsibilities are subject to having performance goals and/or targets established.

Our Values

Investing in smallholder farming is the number one way to combat poverty in rural Africa. Farm Africa is a leading NGO specialising in growing agriculture, protecting the environment and developing businesses in rural Africa.

EXPERT: Expertise and insightful evidence-based solutions are at the heart of everything Farm Africa does.

GROUNDED: Our teams and partners work closely with local communities, engaging them in every level of decision-making.

IMPACTFUL: We deliver long lasting change for farmers, their families, and the environments they live in.

BOLD: We model innovative approaches and are not afraid to challenge strategies that are failing.