The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture seeks suitable Nigeria nationals for the position below at Abuja.
Position: State Coordinator - Abuja
Contract: 2-years renewable contract
Location: Abuja
Closing Date: 1 September 2026
DUTIES:
- Lead day-to-day implementation of I-Youth 2.0 activities within Abuja in line with approved workplans, budgets, and timelines.
- Supervise and manage the state project team, including technical officers and field/mobilization staff, ensuring performance and quality delivery.
- Coordinate state-level training, enterprise development, and incubation activities for youth agripreneurs in the state’s priority value chains, including recruitment, selection, and progress tracking of participants.
- Oversee the operations of the state-based Agribusiness Park or incubation hub, where applicable.
- Build and maintain relationships with State government ministries and agencies, traditional and community institutions, private sector actors, and financial institutions.
- Ensure accurate collection and reporting of monitoring and evaluation data and maintain the state-level network of I-Youth trained agripreneurs and alumni.
- Manage the state budget and procurement, ensuring compliance with IITA policies and donor financial requirements.
- Prepare timely state-level narrative and financial reports for submission to the Country Coordinator.
- Ensure compliance with safeguarding, ethics, and other IITA policies at the State level, escalating risks and implementation challenges to the Country Coordinator.
- Represent the project at relevant meetings, events, and stakeholder engagements within the specific States of employment.
- Perform any other duties assigned by the Supervisor.
Requirements
QUALIFICATION
Master's degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, Development Studies, Economics, Social Sciences, or a related discipline, with a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in programme or project implementation, including at least two (2) years in a supervisory or team-leadership role.
COMPETENCIES
The ideal candidate must have:
- Experience in youth employment, enterprise development, agribusiness, workforce development, or agricultural extension, ideally within one or more of the state’s priority value chains.
- Experience managing project budgets, work plans, and donor-funded activities.
- Demonstrated experience engaging state government institutions, community structures, and private sector partners.
- Familiarity with the socio-economic and agricultural context of the states is a strong advantage.
- Strong program coordination and team leadership skills.
- Good understanding of youth employment, entrepreneurship, and agribusiness development.
- Sound financial and operational management skills.
- Strong stakeholder engagement and community mobilization skills.
- Good analytical, planning, and reporting abilities.
- High level of integrity, professionalism, and accountability.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications.
- Ability to communicate in the predominant local language of the assigned state
Benefits
REMUNERATION
We offer highly competitive salary with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.
METHOD OF APPLICATION:
Interested applicants should complete the online application attaching detailed cover letter and curriculum vitae saved with their names in Microsoft word format to IITA website: https://apply.workable.com/iita/#jobs no later than Two Weeks from the date of this publication.
IITA is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse workforce, particularly welcoming applications from women. While all applications will be acknowledged, please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Skills Required
- Master's degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, Development Studies, Economics, Social Sciences, or a related discipline
- Minimum of five years of relevant experience in programme or project implementation
- At least two years of supervisory or team-leadership experience
- Experience in youth employment, enterprise development, agribusiness, workforce development, or agricultural extension
- Experience managing project budgets, work plans, and donor-funded activities
- Experience engaging government institutions, community structures, and private-sector partners
- Strong programme coordination and team leadership skills
- Understanding of youth employment, entrepreneurship, and agribusiness development
- Financial and operational management skills
- Stakeholder engagement and community mobilization skills
- Analytical, planning, and reporting abilities
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications
- Ability to communicate in the predominant local language of the assigned state
- Familiarity with the socio-economic and agricultural context of the states
What We Do
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a non-profit agricultural research-for-development (R4D) organization and a member of the CGIAR Consortium. IITA is dedicated to transforming African agriculture through innovative science and sustainable solutions. Its mission focuses on food security, poverty reduction, and climate resilience by developing high-yielding, climate-smart crops, improving soil health, and enhancing agricultural value chains to empower farmers and communities across the continent.







