Alliance Director, Agricultural Competitiveness at Palladium Group

Project Overview and Role   

• Palladium is recruiting for the anticipated USAID-funded Nigeria Agriculture Competitiveness project. 
• The goal of the project is to create a catalytic investment mechanism which links smallholder farmers to the private sector and to create a positive business enabling environments for thriving agribusiness sector.

Purpose of Position

• Palladium seeks a Director of Trade Policy and Promotion for the USAID-funded Nigeria opportunity in Agriculture Competitiveness.

Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains strong partnerships with private sector organizations, cooperatives, partners, collaborators and financial institutions;
• Facilitates relationships between value chain actors including smallholders, traders, financial institutions, buyers, processors and agribusiness;
• Organizes and facilitates discussions on agribusiness investment-related policy issues involving representatives of the private and public sector, with a view to reach consensus on improved policies;
• Facilitate high level market linkages to add value to specific value chains.  This includes cluster creation with value chain actors from the smallholder field to anchor firm level.

Requirements

• Master's degree in Crop Production, Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics or related field.  Knowledge of aquaculture a plus.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience working with USAID or another donor agency.
• Seven years professional work experience in crop production and/or crop protection, or food security, value chain development including facilitation, agribusiness, marketing, and financial services, private sector development, and enabling environment policy reforms.
• Experience in training, provision of technical assistance and public private facilitation among smallholders and value chain actors.
• Previous experience in Nigeria preferred
• Strong interpersonal skills required for working with project staff and  beneficiaries
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure with limited guidance
• Excellent communication skills are essential to write effectively and  persuasively and be able to present information in a variety of settings and formats
• Fluency in English required
• Experience with gender mainstreaming a plus
• Nigerian Nationals Strongly Encouraged to Apply