Shape the future of smallholder farming in Ethiopia by leading innovation and growth for a high-impact program serving over 440,000 farmers. This role sits at the critical intersection of strategic vision and on-the-ground execution, ensuring that new ideas are rigorously tested, proven effective, and scaled to maximize long-term impact.
Key Responsibilities
- Design and manage multi-year field trials to evaluate agricultural practices, products, and services, translating data into actionable recommendations for national expansion.
- Lead the development of a Learning Agenda that defines annual priorities and guides investment in high-potential innovations such as carbon credits, market access, and high-value tree crops.
- Support a network of over 1,000 nursery managers by improving production efficiency and identifying income-generating opportunities, with a focus on empowering women and youth.
- Drive the transition from donor-dependent programming to self-sustaining revenue models by assessing regulatory frameworks, operational feasibility, and market opportunities.
- Collaborate with research partners like the Jimma Research Centre to strengthen seed systems and promote adoption of high-performing crop varieties.
- Conduct field visits to remote pilot sites to diagnose challenges, refine training approaches, and ensure technical success—such as improving avocado grafting rates in trial nurseries.
- Translate long-term organizational goals into measurable, field-ready interventions, setting SMART objectives and monitoring progress across the innovation pipeline.
- Coach and develop a team of impact and monitoring specialists, fostering a culture of rigorous inquiry, adaptability, and evidence-based decision making.
- Present strategic recommendations to senior leadership, advising on which initiatives are ready for scale and which require further testing.
Qualifications
Candidates must be deeply embedded in the country leadership structure, reporting directly to the Country Director, and capable of bridging strategy with last-mile delivery. You should have a proven ability to design and interpret field trials, lead cross-functional teams, and turn five-year visions into actionable, data-informed plans. A relentless focus on learning, scalability, and sustainable impact is essential.
Work Environment
This is an onsite role based in Ethiopia, with frequent travel to rural nurseries and pilot locations. The work demands comfort with ambiguity, strong problem-solving skills, and a commitment to understanding challenges firsthand through regular field engagement.
