Head – YEFFA Programs Delivery at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the overall project management, leadership and strategic guidance, and oversight to the Mastercard Foundation YEFFA Program, ensuring that it aligns with the AGRA’s goals and objectives.
• Serve as YEFFA Program focal point for continental and country level teams to ensure effective program management and delivery of results.
• Ensure technical rigor and efficient delivery of the program objectives, and timely implementation of the annual year plans.
• Support timely and impactful implementation of the YEFFA programmes at country and at continental level.
• Serve as the team lead for the program and ensure strong communication and coordination with and between divisions to effectively achieve program objectives.
• Ensure quality program delivery, and adherence to gender, safeguarding and environmental compliance in line with donor contractual obligations.
• Provide regular updates within AGRA on budget utilization, variation, achievement against targets, consolidation of lessons and insights.
• Galvanizes the program team to understand their perspectives on the YEFFA needs for advancing the uptake and impacts of their interventions in the countries.
• Support Country Directors and other key internal stakeholders in building and maintaining strong relationships with external key stakeholders, including government officials, and partners to successfully deliver the YEFFA program at country and continental level.
• Support the Monitoring Evaluation & Learning Team in the development of robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to assess the impact and effectiveness of youth programs and initiatives and ensure timely reporting of results.
• Utilize data and feedback to continuously improve program outcomes and inform decision-making. Adapting the workplan to embrace the new evidence, learnings and insights from the ecosystem, evidence, and platforms function of the program.
• Liaise with the Director, Gender, Youth & Inclusiveness as well and Centre of Technical Expertise teams to ensure alignment with, and integration toward the execution of the YEFFA country and continental work plans.
• Support the Master Card Foundation and AGRA in their learning journey as they co-learn what works better and how to scale it up within the parameters of the program.
• Represent AGRA at Mastercard Foundation meetings and events (as and when required).
• Support the Development Cooperation team in their role as lead of the relationship with Mastercard Foundation to ensure coordinated and coherent communication on program delivery, impact, and success.
• Supports AGRA’s Communications and External Engagement team with programmatic successes, lessons learned and impact case studies through presentations, written and verbal communication.
• Direct transparent communications with partners, including negotiating scopes of work, addressing requisite revisions in programmatic work, and troubleshooting issues that may arise.
• Establish and monitor compliance with Mastercard Foundation regulations, procedures and AGRA’s institutional policies and guidelines.
• Coordinate the timely submission of donor deliverables (including coordination of biannual technical and financial reports, impact stories).
• Lead the operationalisation of the YEFFA governance structures and provide secretariat support towards the Program Steering Group and the YEFFA Strategic Advisory Group.
• Support the review of YEFFA related grant and consultancy proposals prior to their submission to the Grants Committee to ensure alignment with YEFFA goals and objectives.
• Have an oversight of expenditure to ensure value-for-money within budget limits.
• Ensure compliance with internal and external expectations for fiscal management including and financial reporting requirements.

Key Qualifications and Experience required:

• Bachelors degree in international development, public policy, or a related field.
• Masters or Doctorate Degree and/or Certification in Project Management is an added advantage.
• Experience working with and managing cross-functional and cross-cultural teams with domestic and regional activities.
• Experience in managing complex initiatives with proven ability to develop high impact partnerships.
• Proven leadership ability to influence, develop and empower employees to achieve their best with a team approach.
• Experience and proven 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 areas of agricultural markets, and food trade.
• Experience in managing Mastercard Foundation and/or other Donor funded programs.
• A working knowledge of French will be an advantage.

Technical Competencies

• Exceptional program management skills of complex initiatives (country, regional and continental levels).
• Strong analytical skills in market and trade analysis, as well as deal-making to leverage financing from private and public sector.
• Deep understanding of market systems development approach and the policy and regulatory enabling environment for functional markets and trade.
• An understanding of various African gender and youth laws and devolution related legislations; Understanding of international conventions on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
• Deep understanding of both the government and private sector policies and governance structures.
• Excellent organizational, and problem solving/decision making skills.
• Ability to incorporate data-driven approaches and new technologies into program design and implementation.
• Understanding of monitoring and evaluation frameworks to measure program impact, track progress, and identify areas for improvement.

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.