Heifer International is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability. The Organization Heifer Project International is a global non-profit organization founded in 1944 that works towards ending hunger and poverty while caring for the earth. Heifer International Uganda (HIU) began operations in 1982 and has since grown into one of the country’s leading agricultural and Community Development Organizations with focus on building pro-poor value chains that integrate youth, women empowerment and environmental sustainability. Driven by our Mission, Heifer has reached an incremental number of 4 million families in Uganda through agriculture and environmentally sound economic development programs. By 2030, Heifer Uganda’s Program goal is to support 400,000 smallholder farmers towards attaining a Sustainable Living Income and build sustainable and resilient economies. Function The Signature Program Technical Lead – Uganda oversees the strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation of the country office Signature Programs. This role involves designing and developing signature programs, analyzing and interpreting impact data, and advancing market systems and value chain development. The incumbent will also advocate for improved access to innovative financing for smallholder farmers, engage in proposal writing, and collaborate with strategic partners in co-designing projects. The primary responsibility of this role is to lead and uphold high standards of quality for the signature program while directing Heifer’s response from strategy through to implementation. This includes overseeing performance and all aspects of the program’s execution, ensuring compliance with obligations and outcomes as outlined in signed agreements. Additionally, the role focuses on building capacity and enhancing capabilities for signature programming within the country office. This role encompasses development, management and implementation of the program’s work plans, resource mobilization, people management, donor reporting, and drive towards sustainability that achieves scale, and permanent impact through long-term partnership. The Signature Program Technical Lead – Uganda is part of the senior management team, reports to the Country Director and will work collaboratively with country teams, global Heifer, government agencies, international partners, private sector and local communities to ensure the success and sustainability of signature initiatives. Responsibilities & DeliverablesA. Signature Program Leadership (25 %)
Provide strategic leadership and guidance to the signature program team to effectively implement programs and projects across the country. Develop and maintain an efficient, cohesive team, whilst ensuring effective coordination and relationships within the country office, global Heifer, partner’s, government, private sector, donors and beneficiaries.
Take the lead in designing and co-designing, as well as implementing market systems and value chain development programs and projects. Facilitate access to innovative financing, relevant technology, and premium markets for smallholder farmers.
Lead the design of quality projects, proposals and reports that are responsive to donor requirements and speak to Heifer’s signature program priorities, experience and lessons learned.
Oversee the development and implementation of a partnership strategy to ensure that impactful and effective partnerships are identified, built and managed.
Identify various donor priorities and funding opportunities for Heifer’s interventions and play a lead role in development of high-quality proposals and concept notes in response to these opportunities. Work collaboratively with the Country Director to effectively manage relationships, negotiations and communication efforts with donors and partners in all phases of project design and implementation; promote appropriate involvement of partners at all stages of the project cycle.
Develop and adopt standardized approaches, practices, tools and measurements in co-design and capacity strengthening.
Provide technical support and capacity building to program staff and partners on best practices relating to market systems, value chain development, technology and innovative programs and projects.
B. Program Management, Quality Initiatives and Delivery (30%)
Formulate a comprehensive country-level strategy for the implementation of the signature program, ensuring alignment with various projects. The primary focus will be on advancing the Inclusive Markets for Agribusiness Agenda (IMAP) signature program , which aims to create value chains that leverage the social capital of communities to drive market development, while also supporting smallholder farmers, women, and youth in achieving a sustainable living income.
Accountable for ensuring all projects are integrated within the signature program delivery approaches and adhere to Heifer program quality standards. This includes best practices, donor guidelines, fostering needs-driven innovation to improve effectiveness and impact with the purpose of enhancing evidence-based standards and international best practices.
Design and implement capacity-strengthening initiatives in Program Quality for staff and partners. Create learning and training strategies for farmers and other value chain participants, while fostering organizational relationships with relevant stakeholders.
Promote a culture for learning and knowledge management across the organization. Encourage effective documentation and sharing of learning through workshops, seminars, exposure visits, sharing meetings etc.
Ensure compliance with established standards within Heifer and donor program and project guidelines, which encompass transparency, policy adherence, accountability, and effective communication with headquarters, donors, and external stakeholders. This will facilitate the timely management of program risks at each stage of implementation, ensuring that objectives are met.
Ensure timely and quality preparation of donor and project narrative reports, periodic Country Program reports and annual business plans, evaluation reports, and any other reports needed/required by the donors, Heifer Regional and Global offices.
Effectively maintain strong communication with all the relevant stakeholders throughout program implementation and successfully manage a matrix program management structure when necessary.
C. Sustainable Locally Led Development Initiative (15%)
Promote local ownership of project and project activities by local stakeholders and engage local stakeholders in participatory project design and development.
Ensure project stakeholders receive regular feedback from project team and provide feedback to the team.
Be an active member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) and contribute to strategic direction, organizational decision-making, and other management related issues.
Stay updated on the latest trends, research, and innovations in the Agri Business field to inform program and project strategies and interventions.
Establish and maintain strong partnerships with relevant government ministries, departments and agencies, local governments CSO/NGOs, and other stakeholders to ensure collaboration, coordination, and resource mobilization for small holder farmers, women and youth.
D. Budget Management and Monitoring (15%)
Develop operational plans and budgets for the implementation of the signature program and projects.
Manage and monitor expenditure against budgets for strategic and annual plans in adherence to financial guidelines, donor requirements, ensuring value for money, and acting as appropriate within delegated authorities.
Perform regular monitoring and evaluation of program and project activities to assess impact, identify areas for improvement, and ensure compliance that exceeds donor requirements. This process will include the preparation and timely submission of reports to management, donors, Heifer, and other stakeholders to showcase program and project achievements and their impact.
E. Strengthen Core Global Operating System (10%)
Support the development of an organizational culture that reflects Heifer’s values, promotes accountability, professional excellence, and inclusion, encourages a culture of learning, creativity and innovation, and frees up teams to deliver outstanding results.
Ensure compliance with Heifer International policies and procedures, as well as other accountability standards, through training, event participation, and field visits.
Liaise with the Regional Signature Program Technical team and departments at headquarters on behalf of the country program and ensure that Signature Program proposals and concept notes are entered into HQ tracking systems to prevent delays in activation.
Additionally, oversee the adequate development, implementation, evaluation, and systematization of signature programs by the country office while maintaining comprehensive files and documents related to the Signature Program.
F. Any Other Assigned Function (5%)
May perform other job-related duties as assigned.
Minimum Requirements
Master’s Degree preferably in Agribusiness or a discipline directly or closely related to the following fields of Agricultural Economics, Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine Gender, Youth, International Relations, International Development, Business Administration or NGO related studies.
A minimum of ten (10) years of Program Management experience at strategic level, of which 5 years shall be in a development related sector.
He/she will possess at least five years of experience designing and managing large and complex inclusive market systems, value chain development projects with large teams.
The person is required to have proven experience working with governments, the private sector, local and international institutions.
Most Critical Proficiencies
Knowledge of strategic planning, program and project development and implementation processes (including planning, monitoring, and evaluation).
Knowledge and work experience in agriculture and community development in a developing country context (market systems, value chains, access to market, access to finance, etc).
Excellent knowledge of monitoring and evaluation of programs and projects.
Excellent organizational and administrative skills including strong attention to detail.
Knowledge of grant acquisition and management.
Basic knowledge of finance controls and systems.
Proficiency in basic statistics sufficient to analyze data.
