Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of business and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.
The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. Without resources to combat threats like volatile weather patterns, worsening natural disasters, and crop and livestock diseases, these small-scale producers face lower incomes and higher risks as they struggle to earn a good living.
TechnoServe is meeting this challenge with a bold commitment to help create a people-, nature-, and climate-positive world. Our Regenerate 30 initiative launched at COP27 aims to achieve the following impact by 2030: 30 million people with increased resilience, 30 million tons of CO2e mitigated or sequestered, 30 million acres of land under sustainable management or improved conservation and $300 million in private sector investment. The initiative will drive over $1 billion in financial benefits for smallholder farmers and businesses. Innovating with corporate partners to transform their global supply chains across their entire sourcing footprint while they work towards achieving net zero commitments is critical to achieving our Regenerate 30 vision.
Program Overview:
The donor has made a corporate commitment of protecting and regenerating 1.5 million hectares of land, forests and oceans by 2030 and has partnered with TechnoServe to deploy the Regenerative Agriculture Program, inspiring and supporting farmers and agribusinesses to engage in the journey towards regenerative production systems.
This global program, funded through 2027, is an opportunity to work with a leading company to demonstrate there is a future for a better, low carbon, biodiverse and profitable approach to farming. The program will work together with the donor’s suppliers across countries and a variety of food ingredients and will make meaningful contributions to TechnoServe’s Regenerate 30 impact goals. This will require us to work with the leading regenerative experts and practitioners in farming communities around the world supporting them to drive bottom-up change based on the local context. The program has a global scope which creates a unique opportunity to compare new regenerative farming practices and to share insights and lessons across contexts.
Job Summary:
TechnoServe seeks a Program Director to lead our partnership with the donor to drive the transition towards regenerative farming models across countries and commodities in their sourcing footprint. The Program Director will oversee program implementation, ensuring achievement of impact goals and alignment with donor global priorities, suppliers and with the business case.
Primary Functions & Responsibilities:
1. Leading overall implementation and management of the program, from inception to close-out
2. Providing strategic guidance, leadership, management, and general technical oversight of the program, with an unwavering commitment to delivering results through partnership
3. Managing implementation of the program including the design of the work plan and ensuring successful execution of program activities.
4. Recruiting, leading, managing, and supervising implementation teams across countries, including implementing partners, technical organizations, and service providers
5. Fostering collaboration, learning, and adaptive management to inform decision-making, communicate with stakeholders, and drive impact
6. Serving as a liaison and driving shared vision and strategy among the donor, farmers and agribusinesses, and other key partners
7. Maintaining strong relationships with the donor’s suppliers, providing strategic influencing to ensure collaboration and ownership
8. Ensuring that program outcomes and deliverables are completed on time, within budget, and in compliance with donor and TechnoServe requirements
9. Ensuring that all budgets and expenses are carried out according to both donor and TechnoServe’s policies and regulations
10. Managing contracts, sub-awards, procurement, and payment processes in compliance with organizational policies and donor requirements.
11. Identifying co-funding donor prospects and cultivating donor relationships
Basic Qualifications:
12. A Master's degree or equivalent in business, international development, economics, agricultural economics, or relevant field with seven year’s experience in a senior management role in commercial agriculture, agribusiness development, agribusiness advisory, or agriculture program implementation. Or 10 years of experience with a Bachelor’s degree.
13. Experience overseeing operational, financial and technical areas of complex or multi-country programs, including hiring, training and supervision of local personnel and partners, work plan and financial management including budgeting and procurement
14. Experience influencing senior management of corporate, finance or investment institutions to achieve results
Preferred Qualifications:
15. Understanding of regenerative agriculture, food industry and experience managing agricultural transformations
16. Management or strategy consulting experience (i.e. experience advising private companies)
17. Experience in contract management, procurement, and compliance with donor regulations and requirements.
18. Experience working in complex and challenging environments
19. Experience in establishing systems and overseeing program start-up under limited time and budget constraints as well as program close-out
Required Languages: Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills, including fluency in Spanish and English languages. Fluency in Portuguese is highly desirable.
Travel: International travel up to 30%.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
20. Strong communications and interpersonal skills with evidence of ability to lead diverse teams and achieve results
21. Demonstrated ability to coordinate and engage with a wide range of organizations (Private sector, government, NGOs)
22. Demonstrated experience collaborating with senior management teams of medium and large agribusinesses
23. Ability to clearly communicate a high level strategy to internal and external stakeholders, while driving execution of a work plan and achievement of short-term milestones.
24. Ability to effectively motivate and manage teams in a multi-cultural environment
25. Ability to work under tight deadlines while managing multiple tasks and activities
26. Ability to develop well written, cohesive analyses and reports
27. Ability to use adaptive management principles to make strategic, data-driven decisions in the face of uncertainty and complexity
Supervisory Responsibilities – A team of two medium level staff at the central management level, and all implementation teams across countries as the portfolio expands. Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams is desired.
This is a remote position based in the Latin America/Caribbean Region. Candidates must have work authorization in the country from which they are applying. Application materials should be submitted in English for further consideration.
We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.
With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.
We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.
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