Head, Hub for Agricultural Policy Action, Nairobi, Kenya at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Job Reference: HAPA/PSC/09/2020

To support this objective, AGRA is seeking to recruit the role of Head, Hub for Agricultural Policy Action (HAPA).

This role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, with frequent travel (local and international) to engage with AGRA teams and government units.

Role Summary

The Head of HAPA will be responsible for the overall leadership of the Hub, reporting directly to the Vice-President, Policy and State Capability. They will be considered a leading expert resource on the management of agriculture policy in Africa and will be expected to lead innovation on provision of evidence-based policy to African governments.

The Head of HAPA will be able to authoritatively and accurately articulate economic and social analysis, providing conceptual and operational clarity. They will have the ability to translate and communicate complex analysis simply and with political relevance. The Head of HAPA must possess an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset. Alongside this they should have a good grasp of technical and economic aspects, exceptional managerial skills, and experience engaging with senior public officials, collaborating and strengthening partnerships with other stakeholders in the policy space.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Leading the recruitment to build the HAPA team, including policy project managers and analysts, as well as operational staff.
• Setting organizational strategy, building impact driven relationships across select priority countries.
• Leading the development, structuring and occasional implementation of strategic partnerships in collaboration with the resource mobilization team, technical teams and in-country teams.
• Guiding the identification, mapping and collaboration with the highest quality institutional sources of data and evidence in Africa.
• Sourcing, validating and prioritising incoming government demands through a collaborative, consultative process.
• Driving the building of the pipeline of work for HAPA.
• Conducting research as needed to inform and shape the effort(s) within policy consolidation and translation, and best practices.
• Designing and iterating a policy engagement plan with the range of leading actors in data and evidence generation, selection, analysis.
• Innovating and synergising new models for engagement.
• Working closely with the respective AGRA Country Manager and the Policy and State Capability Team to add value from a consolidation and translation perspective to existing policy implementation efforts and ensure the delivery of an integrated policy support package to governments.
• Shaping the delivery of the best set of policy options in line with the government request for support.

Academic, Professional Qualifications and Relevant Experience:

• Over 10 years’ work experience in agricultural economic policy design, implementation and management working with government, development partners or other such institutions.
• A PhD or Masters degree in economics, economic studies or related fields.
• Strong quantitative/financial knowledge, including experience working with complex economic models.
• Established relationships with key national, regional and international partners working on state capability and policy development.
• Experience in developing and managing strong partnerships and relationships inside and outside the organization, managing conflicts, and building consensus.
• Strong analytical skills and demonstrable ability to engage government, development partners and private sector.
• Superior delivery and leadership capacity, with the ability to synthesize strategic intent into tangible deliverables that drive institutional progress.
• Strong understanding of Africa’s policy and political landscape as it relates to governance, policy and trade.
• Experience in policy research and analysis, project management, and Monitoring & Evaluation.
• Good command of English, fluency in French will be an advantage.

An attractive remuneration package commensurate with this position’s responsibility will be negotiated with the successful candidate.