ASTYE Program Lead job at GOAL

Program Background

The Agrifood System Transformation for Youth Employment (ASTYE) Uganda program

ASTYE is a 5-year transformative initiative designed to enable dignified and fulfilling work opportunities primarily for financially disadvantaged young women, refugees, and vulnerable groups by addressing structural barriers in Uganda's Agrifood system. Aligned with Uganda’s Vision 2040, the National Development Plan and Government of Uganda Agriculture Value Chain Development Strategy, the program will contribute to national efforts toward poverty alleviation, economic growth, as well food and nutrition security. Additionally, ASTYE is part of the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy in Uganda, which aims to empower 4.3 million young Ugandans, particularly young women, by addressing structural barriers to employment and providing them with the skills and resources to succeed.

Specifically, GOAL will implement component one to reach 500,000 financially disadvantaged young people, with 400,000 transiting into work and 320,000 securing dignified and fulfilling work. As the program is young women-centric, 80% of the total outreach target will be young women within Uganda's agrifood ecosystem. Furthermore, 3% of the total youth in work target will be refugees, and another 3% will be people with disabilities.

Job summary

The Agricultural Mechanisation and Technical Specialist will lead the promotion, deployment, and capacity building around labor-saving, gender-responsive agricultural technologies, mechanization services, irrigation systems, post-harvest equipment, and digital advisory tools to enhance productivity, climate resilience, and decent work opportunities for young women under the ASTYE Programme.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

Essential

• Master’s degree in agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, Entrepreneurship
• Minimum of 10 years relevant experience leading a similar program area
• Experience managing large donor-funded programs with a minimum threshold of $20 million.
• Experience working within multi-partner or consortium delivery models.
• Proven experience in complex program management in market systems development, market facilitation, youth engagement and development, livelihoods and/or agriculture and value chain programming including financial services, youth skilling and agricultural inputs and outputs markets.
• Demonstrated ability to apply strategic and systems thinking in program design and delivery in complex operating environments.
• Proven experience in adaptive management and evidence-based decision-making.
• Experience in women’s economic empowerment and refugee inclusion programming.
• Demonstrated skills in budgeting, risk management and adaptive planning

Desirable

• Demonstrated experience in people management with agile leadership skills supervising diverse teams and managing donor relations.
• Experience of partnering with government, private sector and civil society, including sub granting to CSO and private sector companies.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities
• Exemplary communication, organization, prioritization and negotiating skills.
• Demonstrable relationship management and partnerships skills.

• Provide strategic directions and leadership to all aspects of the ASTYE program in line with the Mastercard Foundation strategy and GOAL’s operational strategy - From Crisis to Resilience.
• Lead the relationship management with the Mastercard Foundation, GOAL Uganda’s Senior Management Team as well as the GOAL Global teams.
• Provide leadership to teams undertaking Agri food system inquiry, strategy documentation and the identification of appropriate potential partners.
• Support the Mastercard Foundation’s and GOAL’s commitment to locally led development through strong leadership to the ASTYE team in appropriate partnerships with Government, Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and private sector companies, including sub-granting where appropriate and in line with GOAL’s different partnering toolkits.
• Build into program plans and strategies specific initiatives to develop the technical and organizational skills and confidence of CSO partners and the technical and business skills for private sector partners.
• Stay informed of emerging challenges and opportunities, trends and best practices in the agrifood systems, financial inclusion and youth empowerment.
• Explore, evaluate and present new country opportunities that leverage impact and/or complement core activities supporting youth led agribusiness.
• Working closely with the GOAL Uganda Senior Management Team, Head of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL), Head of Partnerships and GOAL Global Program Technical, MEAL and partnership teams, to design, implement and measure the ASTYE program and provide for cross program/country learning and reporting.
• Manage efficient rollout of all operations in accordance with agreed work plans, budgets and implementation strategy.
• Ensure regular coordination meetings and grant health checks are conducted with the Program Management Unit, Finance, Communications and MERL teams to review implementation progress, budget utilization, and risk mitigation.
• Ensure all Mastercard Foundation regulations and guidelines are adhered to at all times across the program.
• Ensure that all work follows international quality standards and best practices and that agriculture initiatives are technically and environmentally sound.
• Provide high quality and timely reporting to both the Mastercard Foundation and GOAL.
• With technical support from the GOAL Global MEAL & MIS teams, design a comprehensive MEAL system to allow for adaptive management, individual case management, learning and reporting.
• Ensure that program teams are trained in data collection for the MEAL system and that data (in an appropriate format), is available at the point of need for program teams.
• Ensure that the MEAL teams provide regular quality assurance to data and that accountability mechanisms are in place and are responded to.
• Ensure regular documentation and publication of qualitative and quantitative results.
• Oversee the identification, due diligence, co-design engagement and (technical, organizational and MEAL) capacity strengthening of CSO implementing partners, ensuring that partnerships are transparent, effective, compliant and aligned with the program GOAL.
• Oversee the identification, due diligence, and co-design of engagement with private sector partners, ensuring that partnerships are based on existing business models that present opportunities to unlock system level constraints and could lead to sustainable changes at scale in agrifood systems. Where appropriate, build into programing technical and business capacity strengthening with private sector partners.
• Ensure that all partners have a manager relationship with the skills and experience to identify problems and find solutions to adaptively manage and to provide efficient communication and coordination between the different GOAL teams including the Partnership Management, MEAL and Finance Teams.
• Responsible for the financial management of the program, including overseeing budgets and managing spend.
• Ensure rigorous compliance with the Mastercard Foundation and GOAL requirements and organizational policies, proactively identifying and mitigating financial and contractual risks.
• Oversee risk mitigation measures and ensure timely and narrative reporting to HQ and the Mast

• Strategic and systems thinking
• Adaptive management and evidence-based decision-making
• Budgeting, risk management and adaptive planning
• People management with agile leadership skills
• Analytical and problem-solving abilities
• Communication, organization, prioritization and negotiating skills
• Relationship management and partnerships skills

• Master’s degree in agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, Entrepreneurship
• Minimum of 10 years relevant experience leading a similar program area
• Experience managing large donor-funded programs with a minimum threshold of $20 million.
• Experience working within multi-partner or consortium delivery models.
• Proven experience in complex program management in market systems development, market facilitation, youth engagement and development, livelihoods and/or agriculture and value chain programming including financial services, youth skilling and agricultural inputs and outputs markets.
• Demonstrated ability to apply strategic and systems thinking in program design and delivery in complex operating environments.
• Proven experience in adaptive management and evidence-based decision-making.
• Experience in women’s economic empowerment and refugee inclusion programming.
• Demonstrated skills in budgeting, risk management and adaptive planning
• Demonstrated experience in people management with agile leadership skills supervising diverse teams and managing donor relations.
• Experience of partnering with government, private sector and civil society, including sub granting to CSO and private sector companies.