Senior Business Advisory Services Manager

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)

POSITION TITLE : Senior Business Advisory Services Manager (Level- P5)

LOCATION : Regional KISAN Office, Nepalgunj, Banke, with regular travel in West, Mid- West and Far-West Region of Nepal

GROUP/UNIT : Business Opportunities

REPORTS TO : Business Opportunity Director

PROJECT SUMMARY:

The USAID/Nepal funded KISAN project is improving food security in twenty Hill and Terai districts in the Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western regions of the country. The project is in its third of five years. The goal of the project is to sustainably reduce poverty and hunger in Nepal by achieving inclusive growth in the agriculture sector, increasing income of farm families, and improving the participation of the private sector in promoting agriculture growth. Many farmers in Nepal, particularly smallholder farmers in rural areas, lack access to quality inputs, technologies, information, and markets. KISAN is interested in improving the efficiency of key supply and value chains, and expanding their reach to rural farmers, to help increase smallholder farmers’ productivity and income. To ensure sustainability, the KISAN project is working with the private sector to take on the role of engaging famers in commercial or semi-commercial agriculture.

POSITION SUMMARY AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Senior Business Advisory Services Manager will work closely with Business Opportunity Director, Sr. Marketing Business Opportunity Manager, Sr. Agricultural Business Opportunity Manager. BDSs and Cluster Managers and Outcome Leads:

• Shared responsible for Outcome 5 and outcome 4 to improve production and productivity of rice, maize, lentil and high value vegetables in the KISAN districts so that improved agriculture production program supports the KISAN beneficiaries;
• Work with both large, medium and small firms to identify and implement program interventions that promote market development and sustainable solutions to industry constraints. To assess the feasibility of proposed initiatives/ investments in their supply chain or distribution channels that will result in increased competitiveness as well as positive impact on the farmers they transact with potentially.
• Increase the capacity of private sector enterprises to increase the number of producers receiving assistance and number of organizations that apply improved technology or management practices and systems (e.g. outgrowers systems, financial systems, QA systems etc.) in ICT.
• Provide management and coaching support to the KISAN BDS staff in implementing their activities and duties and assist any Kisan program staff to creatively and effectively facilitate the initiatives of private sector value chain market actors. 
• Promote market access, financial products, new technologies, management skills, and policy reform with businesses in targeted industries
• Facilitate improved relationships between market actors in targeted industries and build capacity of private sector firms to prepare and conduct training and demonstration activities for the producers they buy from / sell to
• Conduct value chain/ market assessments including the identification of market trends, farmer technology improvement, relationships between market actors, constraints/opportunities and market-based solutions.
• Coordinate and promote good relationships with district, regional, and central level relevant stakeholders and organizations working with the similar objectives and leverage the resources; (e.g. Linking with other sources of funding for construction).
• Assist KISAN grants personnel to develop technical and financial support agreements with private sector value chain market actors that will help to facilitate their initiatives
• Collaborate with KISAN M&E staff to monitor the initiatives of private sector value chain market actors facilitated by KISAN, track results and coordinate with other KISAN Outcome Leads;
• Prepare and conduct formal presentations and participate in meetings and conferences to present opportunities for value chain facilitation to program stakeholders.
• Assist in development of DIPs and annual work-plans and such other documents as needed by the project;
• Ensuring timely reporting as required, especially on the status of initiatives of private sector value chain market actors facilitated
• Perform any other appropriate tasks that support the overall project, as assigned by the supervisor or his/her designee.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

Education:

• Preferably a Master degree in Business Administration, Economics or Agriculture and experience in development/agriculture related projects or a Bachelors in Business Administration with extensive work experience in development/agriculture related projects

Experiences: The ideal candidate will have the following experience:

• At least 5 years of experience private sector development/agribusiness project management in Nepal.
• Prior experience working with the private sector preferred
• Demonstrate strong understanding and respect of the private sector in Nepal and its ability to generate economic benefits for local population
• Demonstrate good understanding of management, marketing, accounting, organizational development, and finance - both theory and practice
• Experience implementing and adapting sustainable agriculture approaches under donor funded projects, USAID strongly preferred
• Experience monitoring project activities and outputs and progress against project targets;
• Demonstrated experience in writing project reports / documents, etc.
• Ability to accept and discharge substantial responsibilities, to meet deadlines, and to exercise professional judgment.
• Knowledge of smallholder agriculture in the West, Mid-West, and Far-West of Nepal require;
• Strong communication skills, both oral and written with fluency in both English and Nepali required.
• Strong computer Excel spreadsheet, MS Word and Power Point skills are required.
• Ability to work both independently and in a team environment. 

How to Apply

Interested candidates can post their CV to Jobs.KISAN@winrock.org within 8th September, 2015. Mails received after the stipulated date will not be entertained.