Administration and Finance Assistant

Job title: Agribusiness Development Advisor

Reports to: Country Manager

Employment Type: Full-Time /Fixed-Term

Location: Dar es Salaam (with frequent in-country travel) 

The Royal Norwegian Society for Development (Norges Vel) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to support smallholder farmers to shift from subsistence to commercialized and profitable ways of production and marketing. This is done through collaborative solutions to professionalise value chains specifically within agriculture and aquaculture. Established in 1809, Norges Vel has a long history of successfully collaborating with governments, farmer organizations, national partners, and the private sector to provide quality and sustainable services.

In Tanzania, Norges Vel bring a strong programmatic history dating back to 2007 with focus on agriculture, aquaculture, climate change, enterprise development for cooperatives, women economic empowerment, and renewable energy by creating thriving local communities through rural wealth creation and transformation for smallholder farmers. 

Job Summary

Norges Vel Tanzania is looking for an experienced and qualified Agribusiness Development Advisor to be responsible for strengthening the capacity of farmer organization, cooperatives and youth and women entrepreneurs to improve their business performance and operations, expansion of local and international market of their products within agriculture, aquaculture, and renewable energy sector. The candidate will report to the Country Manager for Norges Vel.

Specific Roles

• Serve as the technical lead on enterprise development activities in Tanzania.
• Develop and implement agribusiness innovation to strengthening enterprise development for farmer-owned companies and youth and women entrepreneurs.
• Assist in conducting market research and value chain analysis to guide the development of country business strategies and identify opportunities for investments in targeted value chains and markets.
• Introduce and enhance capacity of farmer-owned companies to become successful enterprises and provide sustainable services to their members.
• Identifying and implementing digital solutions that benefit small-scale farmers and their businesses.
• Design, facilitate, coach and mentor farmer-owned companies, cooperatives, youth and women entrepreneurs on business development and ensure that they have the right business philosophy, develop a business plan targeting their desired market, and have adequate skills to meet the market needs.
• Assist farmer-owned companies, cooperatives, youth and women entrepreneurs to conduct market intelligence, negotiations and engagement with buyers
• Assist farmer-owned companies, cooperatives, youth and women entrepreneurs to set up their annual KPIs
• Evaluate and revise farmer-owned enterprise model
• Support the development of project work plans, ensuring targets are met, and project outcomes are achieved.
• Contribute detailed and accurate written inputs to fulfil project technical and financial reporting requirements to a donor.
• Develop strong partnerships with financial institutions, investors, and relevant service providers.
• Support companies and entrepreneurs to get ready for investment.
• Contribute to identifying and developing training manuals.
• Writing applications and report to the donors and partners
• Contribute to documenting our work.
• Assist in the work of quality assurance of budgets and accounts and contribute to sound financial management of the project.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree (or higher) in a relevant field in Agribusiness, Agricultural Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Economics, or related fields.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant experience working in the private sector, or in INGO with business mind-set.
• Demonstrated strong experience of successfully linking agribusinesses to markets.
• Deep knowledge of and experience with enterprise development and cooperative, agriculture sector and access to finance in Tanzania
• Experience with training farmers and their groups and businesses, including strong pedagogical skills.
• Experience with business model development, business plan writing and value chain analysis.
• Experience in agriculture, aquaculture, renewable energy or climate change is an added advantage.
• Experience with donor-funded projects is highly preferred.
• Understanding of investors standards when receiving support from development partners. Good knowledge of MS Excel and financial management
• Demonstrated ability to design and implement strategies that employ evidence-based approaches to meet project targets, especially under rigorous timelines.
• Excellent communicator across a range of audiences; strong presentation skills. Excellent English and Swahili both oral and written communication skills

Personal characteristics 

• Enjoying working in team, preferably across professional background and national boarders
• Self-motivated
• Good pedagogical skills and the ability to convey professional information in a clear way
• Solution-oriented
• Analytical, structured and an implementer

At Norges Vel Tanzania, we believe in fostering a rewarding and enriching work environment. As part of our team, you can expect:

1. Stimulating Work Environment: Engage in stimulating and challenging tasks that contribute to meaningful social impact. You'll work alongside dedicated colleagues in a supportive atmosphere that encourages innovation and collaboration.
2. Professional Development: Take advantage of opportunities for professional growth and advancement. We support your continuous learning journey, empowering you to expand your skills and expertise business development
3. Independence: Enjoy a high degree of autonomy and independence in your role. We value initiative and creativity, providing you with the freedom to take ownership the work
4. Travel Opportunities: Embark on exciting travel opportunities to field locations for content creation. Immerse yourself in diverse communities and cultures, capturing compelling stories first-hand
5. Comprehensive Benefits: Benefit from health insurance coverage and daily office lunch, ensuring your well-being and comfort in the workplace.
6. Competitive Compensation: Receive a competitive salary package commensurate with your experience and expertise. Your contributions to our organization will be recognized and rewarded accordingly.

How to Apply

Interested applicant should submit the CV and a one pager that highlights relevant experience and motivation to sesilia.jeremia@norgesvel.no cc: Sophia.weinand.stephen@norgesvel.no 

The subject line should read: Application for Agribusiness Development Advisor 

Deadline for the submission of application is on 10^th March 2024 by 5pm Tanzania time.

Applicants who do not follow application instructions will be rejected. ONLY short-listed candidates will be contacted.

We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply, irrespective of age, gender, functional ability, or national/ethnic origin.