Who we need

A deep understanding of the reality on the ground for agriculture and processing market actors paired with knowledge of the financial sector’s offer to this sector will be critical for this position. The target market for this project is women farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises engaged in the agriculture sector. A background in the development field would be advantageous but more important is the ability to work across a wide variety of public and private sector players to develop value-adding financial solutions for the agriculture sector. To succeed you will need to be agile in thought and action, highly motivated by FSD Kenya’s mission, eager to take responsibility and deliver on a demanding set of outputs.

At a minimum you will have:

• Experience managing agriculture finance projects in Kenya (at least 7 years’ experience)
• Relevant professional qualification (minimum of bachelor’s degree; desirable master’s degree, and training in market systems development)
• Experience in the financial sector, preferably working in agriculture, credit and/or insurance
• Experience in the agriculture sector
• understanding of women’s economic empowerment and gender
• Excellent communication (written and oral) ability

Who we need

Who we need Expertise in operational and financial management is vital for this position. A background in the development field would be advantageous but more important will be your track record in managing resources, creating and driving business systems and processes to deliver against strategic goals. The COO will have lead responsibility for the application of technology and capacity in managing system developments. This is a key leadership position and will involve working effectively about a range of cross-functional teams. To succeed you will need to be agile in thought and action, highly motivated, eager to take responsibility and deliver on a demanding set of outputs.

At a minimum you will have:

• Management experience in an operational role (at least 10 years’ experience)
• Relevant professional qualification (minimum of master’s degree or professional equivalent) – preferable in finance and/or legal
• Strong knowledge of managing and reporting donor resources
• Strong finance and risk management skills
• Experience in HR management
• Excellent communication (written and oral) ability

Key Responsibilities

Provide cross-cutting programme support for programme evidence and analytics.

• Support the design and implementation of key analysis across the programme, and lead targeted pieces of analysis. For example, market surveys to deepen the programme’s understanding of market dynamics and business opportunities / challenges.
• Work with intervention teams to identify and respond to evidence needs, both in terms of i) assessing progress of implementation, ii) analysis of impacts achieved by the programme, iii) creation of novel sector analysis to inform work with partners, particularly considering viability of different types of business models.
• Design data collection – both quantitative and qualitative, aggregate and analyse data to develop compelling outputs, including graphical and written summaries.
• Support intervention teams, and programme leadership, to distil evidence gathered and work with them to identify implications for intervention design, partnership priorities, and broader programme strategy.

Work with the Senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager to provide technical support to intervention teams and programme leadership.

• Support workshops to co-create with intervention teams their ‘results chains’ and measurement plans. Helping the team to identify assumptions in their proposed strategies which need to be tested as part of the interventions strategic learning agenda.
• Support programme teams to design technical solutions for measurement challenges, with targeted analysis to respond to the learning agenda (as per 1), and work with the teams to track progress against it.
• As the programme learns about the most promising opportunities, identifying what works and what does not, work with the Programme Management Team and intervention teams to consider changes in strategy.
• Support the Senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager to track overall programme progress and aggregate data for reporting to GA and other stakeholders.

Work with the Deputy Director – Learning and Partnerships to use evidence to support development of new programme partnerships.

• Conduct research and package evidence, combining data from multiple sources, to develop compelling written briefs and thought leadership to support engagement with partners.

Person Specification;

Competencies 

• Adept quantitative analytical skills including advanced excel, and PowerPoint.
• Strong critical thinking to be able to distil detailed analysis into big picture strategic insights.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English essential. Fluency in Kiswahili is a significant advantage.
• Stakeholder engagement capabilities. Ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and develop relationships, gaining the trust and confidence of the relevant external and internal stakeholders
• Strong understanding of principals of economics, awareness of the driving factors behind business decision-making.

Personal Attributes

• Strong commitment to East African development. 
• Empathises with GA’s mission and values.
• Commitment to work within the principles and practices of the Gatsby Approach  - Gatsby’s market systems development framework for sector transformation
• A self-starter with a proactive approach.
• Able to work flexibly across the programme and willingness to learn new approaches and methodologies.
• Ability to work collaboratively within a culturally diverse team. 
• Integrity and professionalism, setting and demonstrating the highest ethical and moral standards and a strong sense of personal accountability.

Knowledge, Experience and Qualifications

• A minimum of a undergraduate degree in Economics, Agricultural Economics,  Business, or a similar undergraduate subject
• At least 3-5 years' professional experience in management consultancy, business advisory and/or market development, or similar.
• A proven track record in performing business or sector analysis.
• Experience delivering high-quality and complex quantitative analysis and development of high standard presentations.
• Some experience working with a wide range of stakeholders including Government and Private sector.
• Computer literacy: Microsoft Office – Word, Advanced Excel and PowerPoint.

Key Responsibilities

Support intervention design and implementation of the interventions 

• Support delivery of high quality commercial, financial and broader economic analysis to support the design of interventions.
• Contribute to the development of intervention concept notes, supporting analysis of constraints and opportunities for investment in the water value chain.  
• Support the Deputy Director in the preparation of business cases for viable investment opportunities in the sector. 
• Conduct research and package evidence, combining data from multiple sources, to develop compelling written briefs and thought leadership to support engagement with partners.
• Support the Deputy Director to identify and manage effective partnerships to profile the investment opportunities to potential investors.
• Manage assigned technical activities/assignments to support programme implementation in consultation with the Deputy Director.

Monitoring, Research, Evaluation and Learning

• Support the development of results chains and monitoring, evaluation and learning plans.
• Using available reporting and planning tools, monitor specific interventions as per the intervention measurement plan.
• Support the Deputy Director to develop TORs for consultants for specific interventions work and support the engagement process as needed. 
• Prepare accurate and timely reports and other sector documentation and communication that contribute to positioning and influencing strategies. 
• Support preparation for key programme processes including quarterly and annual reviews, as required.
• Support work and resource planning, budgeting and monitoring of the intervention
• Support development of detailed workplans, resource plans and budgets to input into the overall programme Annual Operating Plan. 
• Periodically update the intervention level design and implementation documents to reflect ongoing learning and developments in the intervention, and that these are underpinned with the necessary market, policy, stakeholder analysis. 
• Monitor the progress of the interventions to facilitate review and reflection on a regular basis and work with the MEL to evaluate progress towards the identified outputs and outcomes.
• In consultation with MEL, contribute to the programme level workplan tracking systems and quarterly/annual progress reports.

Person Specification;

Competencies

• Excellent technical understanding of financial and economic analysis and adept at developing detailed financial and economic models for new business opportunities.
• Excellent research and analytical abilities required to identify and appraise strategic business challenges and opportunities.
• Private sector experience and understanding of business fundamentals and commercial analysis. 
• Ability to work independently to troubleshoot, perform root cause analysis, identify and isolate technical issues
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills – able to communicate complex issues with clarity and structure and to deliver documents to the highest level of professionalism.
• Strong interpersonal skills – able to work as a team member to coordinate analytical inputs across the team and with external consultants, and able to gain the trust and confidence of external stakeholders at all levels.

Personal Attributes

• A clear and critical thinker, able to quickly identify the key issues to be addressed and to communicate this effectively orally and in written form
• Able to develop excellent team relationships with a wide range of people and organisations;
• Be able to work with minimal supervision, taking a high degree of personal responsibility for successful output with excellent attention to detail
• Able to work under pressure and manage time effectively.
• A change driver with inquisitiveness, imagination, anticipation, courage and client focus 
• Positive, energetic self-starter with a high level of personal integrity

Knowledge, Experience and Qualifications

• Business Administration / Economics /related bachelor’s degree
• At least five years’ relevant experience, ideally with a professional service and/or consultancy firm undertaking financial/economic analysis.
• Experience and understanding of working within the private sector are highly desirable. 
• Fluency in Kiswahili and English (written and spoken) is essential.
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Knowledge of the Water sector in Kenya and/or East Africa is desirable.