Business Development Manager at TechnoServe Kenya

Program Description: TechnoServe is implementing the USAID-funded Alliance for Inclusive and Nutritious Food Processing (AINFP) regional program in collaboration with Partners in Food Solutions (PFS). The program leverages the power of the private sector to create better nutritional outcomes for base-of-the-pyramid consumers and more profitable market opportunities for local farmers.

This is achieved by supporting local food processing companies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia through remote technical assistance and training from world leading food processing companies under PFS to increase the availability of safe, affordable and nutritious food.

Position Description: The Business Development Manager is responsible for overall country program strategy, quality and impact. In charge of ensuring that the program optimizes impact in line with donor priorities, s/he seeks alliances and seeks to maximize opportunity to build upon relationships with other stakeholders in the food and nutrition system, to multiply impact and deliver value for money.

S/he will be the main representative of the program in Kenya to external stakeholders, particularly the USAID Mission, government and industry stakeholders, to increase visibility and organizational reputation, as well as having responsibility for internal stakeholder management including the Country Director, HR, Finance, and Purchasing functions.

S/he will lead on ensuring that the program generates learning on how the program model can most effectively transform food systems in Kenya and build resiliency across the food value chain.

Key Roles & Responsibilities:

Stakeholder Management and Representation

• Cultivates and maintains relationships with key stakeholders including donor, government, industry bodies and other development actors
• Builds trust and confidence in TechnoServe as a key player in food and nutrition system

Program Strategy, Quality and Impact

• Develops, presents, and implements the strategic vision, annual goals, and objectives for the program in line with the overall strategy and objectives
• Strategically selects areas of work, partnerships, and methodologies that most effectively contribute to growth of the AINFP Kenya portfolio
• Takes ownership and accountability for improved quality, impact and effectiveness

External and Internal Communication

• Ensures clear and effective communication of the program to all relevant parties
• Builds reputation of the program through sharing of evidence-based impact and participation in key stakeholder events
• Maintains good working relationship with all relevant TechnoServe departments and other programs

Program Management and Coordination

• Overall responsible for high quality delivery of the program in Kenya
• Coordinates with Capacity Building Team, M&E Manager, Budget & Finance Analyst, A2F Manager and other country leads to ensure learning across the team
• Ensures compliance with TechnoServe and USAID regulations

Supervisory Responsibilities

• It is envisaged that this position will be managing at least one staff and consultants

Required Skills and Experience

• A Master’s degree in business, economics, agriculture or other relevant discipline with a minimum of 7 years of professional experience in a relevant field, including the development of agricultural value chains, private sector and/or entrepreneurship
• Good knowledge and understanding of the business and/or technical challenges of agro-processing in Africa
• Management consultancy, business advisory services or experience managing local consultants/BDS providers
• Managing multiple and complex stakeholder relationships
• Strategic planning and innovation
• Either private sector experience in agribusiness or management of a donor-funded private sector development program
• Familiarity with USAID private sector engagement or Feed the Future
• Fluency to speak, read and write in English and Kiswahili is essential
• Willingness and ability to travel within Kenya and occasionally in the region

Success Factors:

Competency is a combination of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) directly related to successful performance on the job.

Core Competencies include:

• Integrity and honesty: Is widely trusted; seen as a direct, truthful individual; presents truthful information in an appropriate and helpful manner; keeps confidences; admits mistakes; does not misrepresent himself or herself for personal gain.
• Team Work/ Relationships: Works co-operatively and flexibly with other members of the team with a full understanding of the role to be played as a team member and/or leader, to achieve a common goal. Ability to build and maintain effective relationships and networks.
• Learning attitude: Proactively takes advantage of opportunities to learn. Actively identifies new areas for learning; applies and shares new knowledge and skill appropriately.
• Diversity/Inclusiveness: Demonstrates an understanding and appreciation for diversity and supports diversity efforts. Interacts effectively with and inclusively with people of all races, cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, ages, and genders.
• Communication: Expresses ideas effectively in individual and group situations. Listens effectively; shares information, ideas and arguments; adjusts terminology, language and communication modes to the needs of the audience; ensures accurate understanding; acts in a way that facilitates open exchange of ideas and information; uses appropriate non-verbal communication.
• Decision making/Problem Solving: Is able to analyze situations, diagnose problems, identify the key issues, establish and evaluate alternative courses of action and produce a logical, practical and acceptable solution. Is able to make effective decisions on a day-to-day basis, taking ownership of decisions, demonstrating sound judgement in escalating issues where necessary.
• Results Oriented/ High Quality Deliverables: Stays focused on the efforts necessary to achieve quality results consistent with programmatic or departmental goals. Demonstrates the ability to achieve effective results; works persistently to overcome obstacles to goal achievement. Accomplishes tasks by considering all areas involved, no matter how small; showing concern for all aspects of the job; accurately checking processes and tasks.
• Planning & Time Management: Establishes a course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a specific goal. Effectively plans, schedules, prioritizes and controls activities; identifies, integrates and orchestrates resources (people, material, information, budget, and/or time) to accomplish goals. Prioritizes work according to the program or department’s goals, not just own job responsibilities; manages own time effectively.
• Business Acumen: The ability to use information, ask the right questions and take decisions that make an impact on the overall business performance.

Job Specific / Technical Competencies include:

• Financial & Resource Management: The ability to estimate, justify, and manage appropriate funding levels to support goal accomplishment. Managing Resources is about understanding human, financial, and operational resource issues to make decisions aimed at building and planning efficient project workflows, and at improving overall organizational performance.
• Donor/Partnership Management: Identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas, teams, departments, or organizations to help achieve business goals.
• Compliance & Governance: Compliance with and knowledge of company policies, applicable legislation, grant requirements, donor contracts, the local labor code and tax laws.
• Analysis, Research, Report Writing: Experience in business planning and analysis, modeling for feasibility and execution. Able to analyze and express oneself clearly in business writing.
• Innovative Mindset: Curious inquiries, asks questions and seeks out information from multiple sources, learns from mistakes, sees change as an opportunity.
• Internal Client Focus: Client Focus is based on the ability to understand the organization’s needs and concerns in the short to long-term and to provide sound recommendations and/or solutions.

Managerial Competencies:

• Emotional Intelligence: The act of knowing, understanding, and responding to emotions, overcoming stress in the moment, and being aware of how your words and actions affect others. Emotional intelligence consists of 4 attributes: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
• Strategic Thinking: Managers should recognize key actions, underlying problems, make connection and patterns, see consequences and implications. Anticipates obstacles realistically and plans ways to deal with them.
• Staff Development: managers are required to work with employees to plan on the development of skills and abilities so that they can fulfil current or future job/role responsibilities more effectively.
• Trust to Delegate: managers should have trust and willingness to assign responsibilities to direct reports and give them discretion and authority to carry them out.
• Feedback/Coaching (mentoring): managers should give instructions, suggestions, explanations, and feedback to subordinates. (SPI+R).