Program Director, BeninKarite Program

About TechnoServe:

At TechnoServe, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better life. For over 50 years, we have given smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs the skills, connections, and confidence to lift themselves out of poverty. We leverage the power of markets and the private sector to create sustainable economic growth to benefit people and the planet. Our unique mix of business solutions, deep knowledge of local contexts, and data-driven insights is helping to fight poverty across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

TechnoServe staff are local–95% are from the countries in which they work. We put a high premium on collaboration and entrepreneurship. We hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards of integrity and transparency. And we focus on delivering lasting impact for our mission.

Job Summary:

We are seeking to hire a dynamic and motivated Program Director to lead the anticipated five-year BeninKarite in Cotonou, Benin. 

Program Overview:

The five-year program will work to strengthen the competitiveness, inclusiveness, and sustainability of Benin's shea sector while advancing women's economic empowerment. Using a market systems approach, the program will work with businesses, industry associations, financial institutions, government, and other ecosystem actors to address systemic constraints, strengthen commercial relationships, and create the conditions for women to strengthen their businesses, access new market opportunities, and capture greater value within the shea sector.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

•  Lead overall implementation and management of the program, from inception to close-out, ensuring that the program achieves established goals, objectives and targets.
•  Provide strategic guidance, leadership, management and general technical oversight of the program.
•  Continuously develop operational efficiencies and drive innovations in delivery.
•  Oversee development and submission of project deliverables on time and within budget.
•  Recruit, lead, manage, and supervise delivery teams comprising long- and short-term team members and consortium partners.
•  Serve as the primary liaison with the donor, the Benin Government entities and all counterparts, implementing partners, and stakeholders involved with the program.
•  Act as a spokesperson for the program and present its work regionally/globally.

Basic Qualifications:

•  A master’s degree or equivalent in International Development or Business Administration with eight (8) years of experience, or other relevant field (or a bachelor’s degree with twelve (12) years of experience)
•  At least five (5) years of relevant professional experience in women’s economic empowerment and market systems development.
•  Experience leading and managing large teams with a high level of leadership, interpersonal, technical, and analytical experience, as Team Leader, Chief of Party, or other Program Director level role.

Required Languages: Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills, including fluency in French and English languages.

Travel: Travel up to 40%

Preferred Qualifications:

•  Experience in agricultural value chain development.
•  Experience leading bilateral-funded projects is highly desirable.
•  Prior work experience or collaboration with private sector companies and businesses.
•  Experience working in Benin or in the West Africa region is preferred.
•  Demonstrated ability to interact effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of public and private sector counterparts and other key stakeholders.
•  Experience successfully implementing gender-integrated programs is a plus.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

•  Strong communications and interpersonal skills with evidence of ability to lead diverse teams and achieve results
•  Demonstrated ability to coordinate and engage with a wide range of organizations (Private sector, government, NGOs)
•  Ability to effectively motivate and manage teams in a multi-cultural environment
•  Ability to work under tight deadlines while managing multiple tasks and activities
•  Ability to develop well written, cohesive analyses and reports
•  Ability to clearly communicate a high level strategy to internal and external stakeholders, while driving execution of a work plan and achievement of short-term milestones.
•  Ability to use adaptive management principles to make strategic, data-driven decisions in the face of uncertainty and complexity.

Supervisory Responsibilities: The Program Director will directly manage the Deputy Program Director and other project staff.

Position Term: The position will be a two-year appointment for expatriate applicants and a five-year contract for Benin Nationals.

This position is contingent upon the activity award and approval by the donor.

We welcome applications from both international and in-country candidates. If the successful candidate is a resident of the operating country, they will be offered a local contract.

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 [email protected] or call +1 202 785 4515.