Project Manager – Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa (Ofab) at African Agricultural Technology Foundation

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Leadership and Policy Advocacy

• Provides visionary leadership to position OFAB as a continental player in agricultural biotechnology, biosafety, and science-led agricultural transformation.
• Designs and delivers advocacy strategies and policy dialogues aimed at shaping, informing, and accelerating evidence-based policy change and implementation across partner countries
• As a member of AATF Management Team, serves as a key advisor to AATF leadership on emerging policy and advocacy trends, across Africa and globally, to anticipate opportunities and risks for advocacy intervention, ensuring proactive institutional positioning and response strategies.
• Supports and guides Country Chapters and partners to tailor advocacy initiatives including campaigns, country work plans, research and policy analysis to national and continental contexts while maintaining consistency in brand and message.
• Represents OFAB in regional and global platforms, including engagements with governments, RECs, AU organs, and international development partners.
• Drives strategic partnerships with governments, regional bodies, and research institutions to advance evidence-based policymaking.
• Leads and manages the OFAB Project Secretariat, including teams in ten countries and a multi-million budget
• Assesses the overall effectiveness of advocacy and campaigns and makes changes in approach and technique needed.

Advocacy Campaigns, and Public Awareness

• Leads the design, execution and monitoring of integrated advocacy and communication campaigns (grassroots and high-level) that enhance understanding of agricultural biotechnology and support decision making, ensuring alignment with the project’s primary outcomes and AATF’s overall strategy.
• Provides support to the AATF leadership to maximise the impact of high-level external engagements on advocacy with international public officials, politicians, organisations and the private sector.
• Leads the translation of complex scientific information into accessible, high-impact communication materials (policy briefs, media content, opinion pieces) that inform decision-making, ensuring advocacy messages are grounded in credible data and contextual realities.
• Champions narrative cohesion sustaining relationships with media, academia, and civil society to position OFAB and enhance the credibility and visibility of its work.
• Promotes science-based narratives to counter misinformation and strengthen public trust in biotechnology innovation.

Stakeholder Engagement, Partnerships, and Resource Mobilization

• Builds and sustains strategic multi-stakeholder coalitions engaging government institutions, regional bodies, farmer organisations, private sector actors, civil society, and academia to strengthen coordinated advocacy efforts and deepen policy engagement at national and regional levels.
• Champions cross-country learning, collaboration, and joint action, facilitating knowledge exchange and coordinated regional initiatives that reinforce Africa’s collective voice and leadership in agricultural innovation and biotechnology.
• Works in close partnership with AATF’s Programmes Directorates to drive institutional coherence, enhance operational synergies, and deliver integrated advocacy initiatives aligned to organisational strategy and donor priorities.
• Leads and supports resource mobilisation through hands-on development of high-quality concepts, proposals, and budgets, drawing on practical experience in securing donor funding; engages funding partners through targeted donor outreach, co-creation of proposals, and delivery of visibility and reporting outputs that strengthen donor confidence and long-term partnerships.

Capacity Development and Institutional Strengthening

• Designs and implements structured capacity-strengthening initiatives for OFAB Chapters, policymakers, communicators, and journalists to enhance science–policy literacy, evidence-based advocacy, and strategic communication.
• Strengthens institutional systems for performance monitoring, learning, and results measurement to support effective policy engagement and advocacy across multiple countries.
• Ensures sound financial and human resource management of OFAB’s multi-country operations, with full alignment to AATF’s institutional policies, donor compliance requirements, and governance standards.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Designs and implements a robust learning and results framework to track advocacy outcomes and lessons learned, to continuously refine strategies.
• Leads strategic documentation and storytelling of OFAB’s policy achievements to build institutional credibility and donor confidence.
• Oversees documentation, information management and sharing that include effective management of OFAB’s digital presence, websites, and social media
• Develops and manages issues-monitoring systems to anticipate emerging debates, risks, and opportunities in biotechnology policy.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

• Master’s degree in public policy, Communications, International Relations, Political Science, International Development, Sciences or related field.
• At least 10 years of successful and progressive experience in advocacy, campaigning and communications, with at least 5 years’ active advocacy experience.
• Proven leadership in policy advocacy and strategic communication across diverse political and cultural contexts.
• Experience in fundraising for advocacy or communication initiatives.
• Strong ability to translate scientific and policy research into persuasive messages and public engagement outputs.
• Excellent policy research and analysis.
• Demonstrated expertise in policy development and implementation processes within Sub-Saharan Africa.