Senior Portfolio Manager

Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

• The Senior Portfolio Manager will be responsible for identifying systemic constraints within climate-smart agricultural markets and developing sustainable market-based solutions that deliver increased resilience, productivity, and nutrition outcomes for smallholder farmers. 
• Key functions include managing technical assistance to partners, guiding the development and uptake of inclusive, “green” and sustainable business models (e.g. crop intensification, seed multiplication, solar-powered agric mechanisation, aggregation of nutrient-dense grains etc.), facilitating the delivery of demand-creation initiatives, and ensuring integration of gender and nutrition across the implementation of all interventions. 
• The successful candidate will also be expected to lead results measurement and contribute to knowledge management, communications, learning, and reporting.
• S/he will work closely with the GESI Advisor and MERL team to ensure that intervention designs align with programme gender targets and MERL plan for ease of tracking, evaluation, course-correcting, and reporting results. 
• Close collaboration with cross-functional teams including, communications, knowledge management and policy is critical to scale impact and deepen systemic change across Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

Specific Responsibilities

• Intervention facilitation
• Use research and evidence to develop market-led strategies and business models.
• Identifying and selecting project opportunities, maintaining coverage, and fulfilling project commitments.
• Develop annual work plans, resource requirements, and budgets, in alignment with Programme deliverables.
• Work with the Pillar Lead and other members of the technical team to develop business case decks and identify and pitch business cases to potential partners.
• Provide technical assistance to targeted private sector partners in identifying new roads to markets as well as designing efficient distribution and aggregation channels.
• Broker trade negotiations and market linkages between farmer groups/BMOs/Associations and national and multinational companies to expand market access and value to all actors.
• Lead field delivery, working with partners to execute bottom-of-the-pyramid strategies.
• Perform periodic industry analyses on the broader agricultural market and targeted subsectors to keep the programme strategy responsive.
• Work with the Operations and Management team to ensure due diligence, financial, credit, and risk reviews on potential partners.
• Ensure the appropriate communication of clear intervention guidelines, expected outcomes, timeframe and work plan to all relevant parties.
• Assist the Pillar Lead and other members of the technical team in the development of relevant grant agreements, MoUs, ToRs, and any other administrative requirements for the interventions.
• Conduct regular field visits to ensure proper implementation of activities.
• Periodically assess Programme/intervention assumptions in the light of the changing environment; identify emerging priorities, refine, and adapt intervention strategies accordingly.
• Work closely with other management teams to ensure programme support and facilitation tools are creating additionality, catalysing markets, and not distorting development.
• Stakeholder Management
• Understand how the political economy impacts markets, and how the knowledge can be used to shape local policies and markets.
• Maintain contacts with key stakeholders to increase synergies.
• Assist in establishing contacts with state and non-state actors that may contribute to the successful implementation of market activities and maintain relationships with key players with common interests as Propcom+
• Ensure value for money in the delivery of every intervention activity managed by partners.
• Serve as liaison for the Programme in targeted subsectors and markets, displaying the qualities of a good market facilitator – listening, good communication, courtesy, tact, and discretion.
• Competencies
• Communication: Confidently delivers tailored messages to various audiences using various media and tools. Asks insightful questions, validates the speaker’s feelings and points, and encourages the speaker; leaves the speaker feeling ‘heard’. Reports concisely and proactively with observations, analysis, and implications of the observations on project work and can present such findings to a variety of stakeholders concisely and effectively.
• Relationship Builder: Quickly develops trusting relationships with others; proactively assesses and manages trust with others. Maintains industry, government, and corporate networks and consistently forges new business relationships to fit priorities. Follows-up on connections to catalyse positive relationships. Demonstrates neutrality and helps parties come to creative agreements and solutions while keeping ownership with the parties.
• Businessperson: Understands the idea of the marketing mix (the 5 ‘P’s); can gather market info and advise on marketing strategy; Advises on building and keeping good customer relations. Keeps records in more.
• Innovator: Tests out new ideas on an ongoing basis; actively searches for solutions beyond traditional boundaries and informs colleagues. Makes time to reflect and codify learning; seeks out sources of learning. Proactively shares both successful and unsuccessful endeavours; actively identifies issues that may hinder effective collaborations and devises means of minimizing these; takes a leadership role in a team. Collects and arranges complex evidence within an Excel workbook; to aid subsequent cost-benefit analysis of economic options; and prescription and argument for pro-poor improvements in the market

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, marketing, business, or related fields. A master’s degree will be an added advantage 
• 5-10+ years of cognate experience in similar programmes, developing market systems, or designing bottom-of-the-pyramid models.
• Technical experience in market system development approach to development  
• Experience with supporting assessments, monitoring and evaluation, and other learning efforts required.  
• Knowledge and experience working in the North of Nigeria, with an understanding of the gender and youth inclusion challenges. 
• Demonstrated ability to work and coordinate effectively with a wide variety of stakeholders, including government, community-based organizations, and the private sector.  
• Excellent analytical and report-writing skills.
• Excellent oral, written, and computer skills.
• Fluency in English; fluency in Hausa is an added advantage.
• Adaptive and can work independently