Business Advisor at TechnoServe East Africa – Tanzania

Program Overview:
In partnership with Aceli
Africa, TechnoServe is implementing the Growth and Investment Program
designed to deliver a partially virtual training programme tailored to
the needs of small and medium scale agribusinesses (Agri-SMEs) in Kenya,
Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. Program aims to enhance the ability of
participating Agi-SMEs to improve their internal and external structures
and capability to attract commercial funding.
The project targets Agri-SMEs with $150,000 – $500,000 in annual
turnover, SMEs with an existing growth strategy, and/or those with 7 –
25 employees. The program’s sub-objectives include: developing
customised training content specific to the needs of Agri-SMEs,
monitoring, evaluation, and learning for decision support and learning.
The project has been in operation since 2021 and is currently providing
technical assistance to a fourth cohort with prospects of additional
trainee cohorts in future.

Position Description:
Technoserve
is seeking to recruit a Business Advisor for the Growth and Investment
Program. Reporting to the Senior Business Advisor, the Business Advisor
(BA) will work closely with the project team in Kenya, as well as team
members from the Global Entrepreneurship team. The role will directly
coordinate project operations in Tanzania. Over an initial six-month
period, the primary role of the BA is to implement our Technical
Assistance (TA) approach for Agri-SME which aims to revolutionize the
way TA is delivered to Agri- SMEs in Africa. Our aim is two-fold. First,
to revolutionize the way technical assistance is delivered to Agri-SMEs
in Africa and secondly, build the capacity of SMEs to enhance their
ability to attract commercial capital. The role holder will be
responsible for activity implementation and in-country reporting.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:
Program Implementation:

• Support the identification, profiling and recruitment of Agri-SMEs in Tanzania
• Support the on boarding process of the Agri-SMEs into the Growth and Investment program,
• Create and manage synergies across TechnoServe’s portfolio to create holistic TA support for the SMEs
• Provide
  personalized support/advisory to the Agri-SMEs during the program
  implementation and ensure they complete program based activities on
  time.
• Support planning and organizing the Growth and Investment
  Pitching sessions which includes identification and recruitment of
  investors and supporting the Agri-SMEs to develop their pitching decks.
• Continuously monitor and engage strategic partners for TA, business development, and collaborations
• Capacity Development:
• During
  Cohort four, the BA will provide technical assistance through training,
  group and individual coaching and mentorship of the recruited Agri-SMEs
  on areas relevant to a growing business. Focus will be on typical
  business challenges and company priorities around generating top-line
  growth, addressing operations/management inefficiencies, accessing
  finance, market development/ customer acquisition & retention.
• Support
  management of the project WhatsApp group to provide support, answer
  questions and share information of interest and promote networking
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL):
• Track
  and monitor the real-time analytics of Agri-SMEs progress on the
  various program based activities in order to ensure timely
  implementation of the program as per the work plan.
• The BA will
  work on integrating follow-up surveys after delivery of content to
  assess adoption and uptake and collect information from Agri-SMEs
  related to training outcomes.
• The BA will support the program
  quality surveys by contacting the registration (baseline), module
  satisfaction and end line surveys.
• The BA will periodically
  develop updates and reports to the supervisor and the donor. The
  collected data will be used as input for a joint workshop that will look
  at how to incorporate our lessons learned to further optimize our
  approach for scale-up. The BA/ABA, in collaboration with Aceli and other
  stakeholders, will co-author a report for publication.

Basic Qualifications:

• These
  are the requirements that any qualified candidate must meet. Typically
  includes A Bachelor’s Degree in economics, business or a related field
  is an advantage and,
• At least 4 years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong background advising and coaching agri- SME’s in Tanzania is highly desirable
• Proven analytical and modelling skills
• Demonstrated
  ability to gather data (through desk research and interviews) and
  synthesize large amounts of information to provide a cohesive assessment
  of opportunities and constraints within a market
• Demonstrated leadership skills, teamwork and relationship building
• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Strong computer skills, including advanced skills in MS Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Able to work independently, flexibly and responsively to deliver high-quality deliverables
• Able to adapt to changing working conditions
• Able to prioritize and meet deadlines
• Strong background in agriculture, economics, business and strategy development.
• Ability to communicate in English. Swahili an added advantage.

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:

• Innovative Mindset: Curious inquiries, asks questions and seeks out
  information from multiple sources, learns from mistakes, sees change as
  an opportunity.
• Computer Literacy: Demonstrates knowledge and
  ability to use specific computer programs or applications for own
  functional area. Has the ability to improve performance by integrating
  new and existing technology into the workplace.
• Compliance &
  Governance: Compliance with and knowledge of company policies,
  applicable legislation, grant requirements, donor contracts, the local
  labor code and tax laws.
• Internal Client Focus: Client Focus is
  based on the ability to understand the client’s needs and concerns in
  the short to long-term and to provide sound recommendations and/or
  solutions.

We encourage all qualified individuals who
share TechnoServe’s vision of improving the lives of others through
proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to
diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and
affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of
gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender
identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and
all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment
to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and
exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous
background and reference checks.

If you have a disability that
affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at
TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources at recruitment@tns.org
or call +1 202 785 4515.