ILRI Vacancy – Business Development Officer

Vacancy Number: A/073/2013
Department: Animal Science and Sustainable Productivity Program (ASSP)
Duration: 2 years

General: The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works at the crossroads of livestock and poverty, bringing high-quality livestock science, communications and capacity building to bear on poverty reduction and sustainable development. ILRI has campuses in Kenya (headquarters) and Ethiopia, with other offices located in Africa (Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda) as well as Asia (China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka).

The position:   ILRI would like to recruit Business Development Officer position who will be a member of the Animal Science and Sustainable Productivity Program (ASSP).

Main Duties:

• Assesses the current state of agricultural input production and supply, and the marketing and consumption in Ethiopia for legumes.
• Establishes a strategic framework for sustainable agricultural input business development in consultation with the project BDO.
• Identifies existing actors, partnerships and initiatives in the agricultural input business sector.
• Identifies business opportunities and prospective and potential successful business alliances.
• Participates in platforms (or establish these if needed) on legume crop value chains and establishes business incubation partnerships; set up meetings with prospective partners and stakeholders.
• Identifies opportunities for fund raising and assist in applying for grants for business development and establishment; liaise with donor community on possible grant making for business incubation and development.
• Conducts and oversees advocacy for business development and promotional campaigns.
• Reports to project management on developments and achievement in promoting business development.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Education:
•    MSc. in Business, Commerce, Economics or a related field from a highly recognized university.

Experience:
•    5 (Five) years and above hands-on expertise in above areas

Core Competencies:

• Strong knowledge and experience with African farming systems and input and output value chains in Africa.
• Experience with facilitating private-public partnerships in the realm of input and output markets.
• Demonstrated ability to lead the publication of technical documents in relation to above areas.
• Experience with facilitating national and/or partnership platforms related to agricultural intensification; proven success in work relations with a wide range of partners, including research institutes, governments, private sector, and other development actors.
• Experience with project activity implementation and monitoring.
• Commitment to ILRI’s mission and core values.

Skills:
•    Excellent communication skills including in spoken and written English
•    Ability to work independently in a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, and multi-cultural environment.

Duty Station:  Addis Ababa with considerable time spent at project field/sites

Grade:  3A.

Minimum
Base Salary:   Birr 22,045 per month (Negotiable, depending on experience, skill and salary history of the candidate)

Terms of appointment:  This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, initial appointment is fixed term for two years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. The ILRI remuneration package for nationally recruited staff in Ethiopia includes very competitive salary and benefits such as life and medical insurance, offshore pension plan, etc.

The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus on the outskirts of Addis Ababa.  Dining and sports facilities are located on site.

Applications

Applicants should send a cover letter and CV (3 pages maximum) explaining their interest in the position, relevant documents and testimonials and the names and addresses (telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Human Resources Office, ILRI, P.O.Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Telephone: (251-11)-617-20-00; Fax (251-11) 646 46-45 or 617 20-01 name and reference number of the position for which the application is made should be clearly marked on the envelopes if mailed or fax applications.  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Closing date:    January 15, 2013.