Business Investment Enabling Environment Manager at Palladium International

This Opportunity:

• Palladium is seeking a County Investment Enabling Environment Advisor for an anticipated USAID-funded economic growth program which is anticipated to begin in 2023. The USAID/Kenya and East Africa Feed the Future (FtF) Private Sector Activity (PSA) will be a 5-year program focused on accelerating agriculture-led growth in Kenya through partnerships with large agricultural sector firms (such as processors and off-takers) and expansion of smallholder farmer out-grower schemes. The anticipated activity will focus on creating jobs and increasing incomes. The activity would combine tools used in USAID’s traditional private sector development activities with tools used to mobilize finance and investment into one mechanism – supporting a range of agricultural firms to expand investments and operations via a blended finance approach.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Working primarily with the Feed the Future Prosper Counties, identify and prioritize the financial and agriculture policies inhibiting large scale investments in agriculture.
• Work with central government investment promotion agencies and opportunities to improve the investment climate within Kenya
• Coordinate consultants’ assignments focussed on both new and ongoing financial sector and agriculture sector policy reforms at the different stages; analysed, consulted on, proposed drafted/revised, approved, or implementation.
• Facilitate activities that will identify potential investments and engage both the private sector and government officials to facilitate regulatory or policy reforms that will create an environment for sustainable investments and impact agriculture, including outgrower schemes, value addition, processing and aggregation, at scale.
• Using an ‘anchor firm’ approach, assist counties in implementing policy reforms attached to specific, significant investment opportunities
• Bring together government officials, private sector stakeholders, and implementing partners to network and engage in meaningful dialogue to identify and flesh out those areas where reforms are needed to create an open and transparent investment climate,
• Using partnership approach, facilitate the development, and implementation of pragmatic strategies to build investment promotion capability at the county-level,
• Facilitate partnerships that enable effective utilization of government and private sector resources that demonstrate both buy-in and commitment for policy reform,
• Plan and oversee the capacity building efforts for county official’s county, these may include trainings, workshops, stakeholders round table discussions and webinars for investment promotion,
• Monitor Implementation of Enabling Environment Reform Efforts.
• Host quarterly meetings with stakeholders to measure and track policy reform progress
• Publish regular briefs on investment mobilization and enabling environment reforms in Prosper Counties

Key Competencies Required: 

• Master’s Degree in MBA, MA in Business, Economics, International Development, Agriculture, Law or a B.A. and 10+ years of similar experience.
• Eight years or more of experience in the finance and investment services sector
• Five years or more of experience in private sector development, business enabling environment, and policy reform in Kenya.
• Three years working experience working with Kenya County governments
  Excellent contacts in the Kenyan public sector and County Governments
• Impeccable professional record and integrity
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Understanding of Balanced Scorecard preferred
• Experience with USAID program initiatives preferred
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English
• An excellent grasp of the Kenyan investment climate and the ability to identify viable investment opportunities
• Ability to manage and satisfy competing priorities from multiple stakeholders
• Ability to facilitate and build collaborative relationships
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and concisely both orally and in writing, and lead presentations and effective meetings
• Outstanding interpersonal communication skills and the ability to work with people at all levels internally and externally
• Demonstrated integrity, independent thinking, judgment, and respect for others
• Intellectual curiosity and a desire to solve complex problems and create innovative solutions
• Local Kenyan candidates are preferred
• Written and oral proficiency in English required