Jobs at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Job Reference: HTP/POD/05/2024 

The Head of Talent & Projects plays a critical role in driving AGRA’s organizational success through strategic talent management, encompassing recruitment, development, and retention of top-tier employees. Reporting directly to the Director – People & Organizational Development, they will be responsible for defining our talent management strategy and ensuring its alignment with our overall corporate goals.

S/he will be pivotal in shaping a high-performance culture and will also play a crucial role in overseeing projects within the POD Team, ensuring they align with the organization’s goals and objectives, and to position AGRA as a strong employer brand. 

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement a comprehensive talent management strategy that encompasses recruitment, retention, succession planning, and employee development.
• Identify and implement retention strategies that encourage employee engagement, satisfaction, and long-term commitment to the organization.
• Ensure the effectiveness of the performance management framework that aligns with our mission and corporate goals, promotes high performance, and addresses underperformance effectively.
• Lead succession planning efforts to ensure critical roles are identified and that there are clear plans for filling these roles.
• Analyzes and determines the future talent needs, develops a talent pool and repository for current and future AGRA needs.
• Designs and develops innovative and highly effective talent management programs and processes to improve the depth and diverseness of AGRA’s global leadership talent, assuring the appropriate connection of proposal and delivery methods, education, and development programs.
• Maintain a process of creating new and revising existing job profiles and competencies.
• Manage and administer employee benefits programs, including health insurance, retirement plans, wellness initiatives, and other perks or incentives.
• Lead and manage HR projects from inception to completion, ensuring that projects are delivered on time, within budget, and to a high quality.
• Manage and monitor project risks, and develop mitigation plans to minimize project impacts and provide regular project status reports to the Director _ POD and other stakeholders.
• Perform business analysis services by working collaboratively with POD and cross functional teams to identify project requirements, scope, objectives, and outcomes; and conduct process analysis to identify process improvements and efficiencies to optimize project delivery.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders across the organization to understand their talent needs and challenges.
• Leads the line managers on the implementation of the performance management system that includes individual development plans (DPs) and employee development programs.
• Supports line managers on all phases of talent management such as succession planning programs to identify and develop high potential employees for key and leadership positions, assessment, talent pipelines, and selection processes.
• Partner with Employee Development to create and maintain high-potential career development programs, including building procedures, tools, and guidelines/framework.
• Support Business Partners by identifying and addressing organizational and people issues, think through how the teams remove barriers, increase engagement and effectiveness across teams.
• Partner with Business Partners on strategic and operational execution activities including employee relations issues, team effectiveness, change management, organizational design, performance management, retention, engagement, talent planning, professional growth and more.
• Provide guidance and support to HR business partners, managers, and executives on compensation decisions, salary offers, promotions, and retention strategies.
• Enables talent management and development of existing staff, acquiring new staff as necessary and manages team dynamics to ensure high-performance and positive employee experience.
• Communicates results through presentations, written and verbal communication.
• Contribute to the creation of skills-based organization by regularly conducting skills and competency mapping activities to ensure there is a robust skills library and that development initiatives address skill gaps, and the organization is future-ready.
• Utilize data and analytics to inform talent decisions and demonstrate the impact of talent initiatives on organization outcomes.
• Prepare and present reports to leadership on talent metrics, challenges, and opportunities.
• Ensure the development and implementation of core competencies and key performance measures into the performance appraisal system. Analyze and report on measurement results.
• Administer measurement tools to determine success of organizational development programs.
• Develop and execute a plan that enables our key stakeholders to utilize data outcomes from performance management for their operational and strategic decision-making.
• Champion the use of innovative People practices and project management techniques. Promote a culture of continuous improvement within the POD Team.
• Develop and implement effective communication plans to ensure that project stakeholders are informed and engaged throughout the project lifecycle.
• Conduct regular benchmarking and market analysis to stay informed about industry trends, best practices, and emerging benefits offerings.

Key Qualifications and Experience required:

Essential

• Bachelor’s Degree in HR Management, PA, BA, Psychology, Law, or equivalent degree.

Desirable

• MBA
• Project Management
• Experience in Human Resource Management, HR regulations and reporting requirements.
• Demonstrated experience leading large scale organizational wide change programs including reorganizations and workplace restructures.
• Experience in project management and broad generalist HR experience and a proven track record at a senior level in delivering quality, business-focused HR solutions in large and complex organizations.
• Experience with working on HRIS Technologies for purposes of data capture, process integrity, analytical functionality, and management reporting.
• Has held leadership positions where there was demonstrable ability to inspire trust and passion in the mission of the organisation and be able to coach, develop and lead high performing teams.

Technical Competencies

• Job Analysis and Evaluation
• Compensation & benefits administration methods
• Performance Management methodologies
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills, and ability to provide credible strategic advice at a senior level.

Behavioral Competencies

• Ability to drive collaboration through inclusive and agile teaming, breaking siloes, sharing information celebrating joint successes.
• Ability to execute excellently by delivering high-quality work at speed, committing to decisions and plans, and increasing accountability to deliver impact at scale.
• Ability to be sincerely constructive in interactions with others by demonstrating trust, sincerity, and care, in recognition of our joint purpose.
• Ability be increasingly entrepreneurial by breaking hierarchies, embracing learning and innovation to unlock the potential of diversity and ideas.

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Job Reference: DPSC/CTE/05/2024

 The Director – Policy & State Capability is a senior member of the Center of Technical Expertise Division. The role holder will play an integral role in program development, strategic management of all policy, advocacy, delivery and institutional capacity strengthening activities and interventions, and monitoring of impact in these areas in all AGRA countries of operation and in its regional and continental work. The role is key in ensuring collaboration and synergy between the policy and state capability teams, and across other technical areas and program delivery areas.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Leads in the implementation and refining of AGRA’s policy and state capability strategy and approach.
• Significantly strengthens AGRA’s approach to supporting governments in Africa to implement and deliver their agriculture and food systems transformation strategies.
• Develops and rolls out AGRA’s playbook for policy and strategy formulation, delivery support to governments and continental/regional organizations, implementation of government flagship projects, institutional capacity strengthening and individual leadership development.
• Directs interdisciplinary work and initiatives with the donor community, government, public sector, AGRA countries, multilateral organizations, and NGOs to advance government’s and the Africa Union’s agriculture and food systems transformation agenda.
• Facilitates quality control of policy guidance products and reports on policy and state capability.
• Directs fund-raising activities for AGRA’s programming from funding sources that specifically address African government efforts to implement their agriculture and food system transformation strategies and ensures the agreed work program activities are supported by a sustainable funding base.
• Influences all policy, strategy development, delivery and state capability matters in AGRA in relation to policy priorities, program development and donor funding.
• Galvanizes for strong policy and state capacity governance and thinking to strengthen AGRA’s country plans.
• Advises, trains, mentors and guides AGRA staff and leadership on incorporating AGRA’s policy, delivery and state capability playbook within all programs and activities at AGRA, ensuring that outputs are delivered in a timely manner according to budget.
• Advises on the development and design of proposals to ensure incorporation of the policy and state capability strategy.
• Influences the advancement of knowledge management and thought leadership in policy and strategy, delivery and state capability activities.
• Builds relationships and develop strategic partnerships with partner organizations, countries, multilateral organizations and NGOs, working on policy and strategy, delivery and state capability.
• Influences grantees to develop new grant ideas around policy, strategy, delivery and state capability in achieving sustainable productivity growth according to AGRA’s strategy.
• Represents AGRA at designated international meetings and conferences, prepare briefing materials, speaking points and make presentations.
• Enables talent management and development of existing staff, acquiring new staff as necessary and manages team dynamics to ensure high-performance and positive employee experience.
• Defines and drafts a guidance on the process of policy and strategy formulation and updating (based on delivery feedback loops), including policy positions, issues papers and factsheets, for a range of audiences.
• Directs evidence-based analysis, and policy dialogue within AGRA and with relevant stakeholders on policy and state capability issues.
• Plans and conducts project visits and provides technical guidance on policy and state capability issues during monitoring and evaluation.
• Defines and implements effective communication strategies for policy products to maximize their value, visibility and impact within AGRA and the food security and sustainable development community.
• Plans for convening meetings and workshops on policy, delivery and state capability issues.

 Key Qualifications and Experience required:

• A master’s degree in political sciences, public policy, management, economics or other relevant discipline. Relevant work experience may be considered in lieu of this.
• Experience in policy implementation and delivery with governments in Africa.
• Track record in supporting governments in Africa to accelerate the implementation of their agenda.
• Excellent track record in intra-governmental coordination around a particular program or outcome.
• Experience and demonstratable leadership skills, including building own team and collaborating with other teams.
• A working knowledge of French will be an advantage.

Technical Competencies

• Understanding of delivery and public administration.
• Understanding of market economics and industrial economics in Africa.
• Deep understanding of both the government and private sector policies and governance structures.
• Experience and demonstrated capacity to communicate effectively with different counterparts (government authorities, heads of agencies, civil society, and the private sector) to align actors and build networks.
• Experience in managing complex initiatives with proven ability to develop high impact partnerships.

Behavioral Competencies

• Ability to drive collaboration through inclusive and agile teaming, breaking siloes, sharing information celebrating joint successes.
• Ability to execute excellently by delivering high-quality work at speed, committing to decisions and plans, and increasing accountability to deliver impact at scale.
• Ability to be sincerely constructive in interactions with others by demonstrating trust, sincerity, and care, in recognition of our joint purpose.
• Ability be increasingly entrepreneurial by breaking hierarchies, embracing learning and innovation to unlock the potential of diversity and ideas.