Program Director job at TechnoServe
Posted by: great-volunteer
Posted date: 2025-Aug-15
Location: Uganda, Kampala
Program Director 2025-08-14T14:50:50+00:00 TechnoServe https://cdn.ugashare.com/jsjobsdata/data/employer/comp_850/logo/technoserve.png https://www.technoserve.org/ FULL_TIME Uganda Kampala 00256 Uganda Professional Services Management 2025-08-29T17:00:00+00:00 Uganda 8 TechnoServe seeks a Program Director to provide overall technical and administrative leadership and expertise over the program. Primary Functions & Responsibilities: 1. Strategic Leadership and Program Delivery - Provide overall strategic, technical, and managerial leadership for successful delivery of HortiMAP 2.0.
- Ensure program implementation is rooted in participatory-planning driven, farmer-defined priorities, in line with EKN’s bottom-up, supply-driven vision.
- Lead planning, execution, and adaptation of project work plans and milestones during inception and implementation phases.
- Ensure effective integration of cross-cutting issues including participatory planning, power dynamics and equity, and market development into program outcomes.
2. Team Management and Capacity Building - Supervise and support senior team members including Technical Leads, MEL Manager, Finance & Operations Manager, and Regional Coordinators.
- Ensure the project is adequately staffed to implement the participatory planning approach, including agronomists and community-level facilitators.
- Foster a collaborative team culture that emphasizes learning, adaptive management, and local ownership.
3. Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination - Serve as the key point of contact with EKN and other donors on project strategy, performance, and reporting.
- Facilitate alignment and collaboration with EKN-funded partners (e.g., Agriterra, GOAL, SNV) and relevant government bodies (e.g., MAAIF, local governments).
- Engage farmer cooperatives, private sector actors, and financial institutions to build inclusive and sustainable value chains.
4. Monitoring, Learning, and Adaptive Management - Guide the development and use of a robust Results Framework and MEL system, ensuring flexibility and responsiveness to evolving field realities.
- Incorporate lessons learned from HortiMAP 1.0, including the need for stronger impact modeling, power dynamics analysis, and post-project sustainability.
- Lead internal reviews, donor reporting, and strategic learning moments with EKN and partners.
5. Operational Oversight and Risk Management - Oversee program budgeting, procurement, and compliance in coordination with TechnoServe’s finance and operations teams.
- Ensure adherence to EKN’s guidelines and regulations.
- Mitigate program risks through proactive planning, scenario analysis, and regular communication with field teams and the donor.
Basic Qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, or another relevant field, and at least 12 years of experience in relevant private sector or development programs,
- Or a Master’s degree plus 8 years of relevant experience.
- Significant program management experience in commercial agriculture, agribusiness development, access to finance, market access, trade facilitation, and partnership development
Preferred Qualifications: Additional qualifications that would make a candidate more desirable. We seek candidates who bring experience with: - Leading complex horticulture or other agriculture programs in Uganda and/or Sub-Saharan Africa strongly preferred
- Brokering and nurturing public-private partnerships using a high-touch approach to partnership development and implementation
- Influencing and collaborating with senior management of agribusinesses (input suppliers, producer organizations, processors, traders, etc.), financial institutions, and other private sector actors to achieve partnership results
- Implementing market systems development approaches, including a nuanced understanding of when to implement hybrid MSD-value chain approaches depending on the maturity and needs of market actors
- Sourcing and delivering demand-driven technical assistance and business development services particularly through technical assistance facility mechanisms
- Deploying a broad variety of catalytic financial instruments, including matching grants, credit facilities, and access to commercial finance, and a demonstrated understanding of factors that influence which instruments or combination of instruments to select
- Designing and implementing inclusive business models that integrate women and youth (farmers, entrepreneurs) and successfully removing structural barriers that bar entry from entering or thriving in agricultural value chains
- Designing and implementing climate-smart approaches that improve the resilience of value chain actors and agricultural sectors as a whole
- Implementing consumer-facing campaigns to promote food safety and nutritious diets
- Implementing large, complex programs funded by the Government of the Netherlands
Required Languages: Fluency in English required. Understanding of Luganda, Swahili, and other native languages is an advantage. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: - Strong interpersonal and communications skills and ability to effectively motivate and manage teams in a multi-cultural environment
- Ability to work under tight deadlines while managing multiple tasks and activities
- Ability to develop well written, cohesive analyses and reports
- Understanding of capacities and constraints of smallholder farming and agribusiness development
- An honest broker who is able to build win-win partnerships between multiple agriculture sector stakeholders, including agribusinesses, public sector, financial institutions, technology providers, and others
- Ability to clearly communicate a high level strategy to internal and external stakeholders, while driving execution of a workplan and achievement of short-term milestones. Ability to use adaptive management principles to make strategic, data-driven decisions in the face of uncertainty and complexity
Supervisory Responsibilities: Typically, 4 to 5 senior level staff including tech specialists, financial directors and M&E staff. Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams is desired. JOB-689df7caf2208 Vacancy title:
Program Director Jobs at:
TechnoServe Deadline of this Job:
Friday, August 29 2025 Duty Station:
Uganda | Kampala | Uganda Summary
Date Posted: Thursday, August 14 2025, Base Salary: Not Disclosed JOB DETAILS: TechnoServe seeks a Program Director to provide overall technical and administrative leadership and expertise over the program. Primary Functions & Responsibilities: 1. Strategic Leadership and Program Delivery - Provide overall strategic, technical, and managerial leadership for successful delivery of HortiMAP 2.0.
- Ensure program implementation is rooted in participatory-planning driven, farmer-defined priorities, in line with EKN’s bottom-up, supply-driven vision.
- Lead planning, execution, and adaptation of project work plans and milestones during inception and implementation phases.
- Ensure effective integration of cross-cutting issues including participatory planning, power dynamics and equity, and market development into program outcomes.
2. Team Management and Capacity Building - Supervise and support senior team members including Technical Leads, MEL Manager, Finance & Operations Manager, and Regional Coordinators.
- Ensure the project is adequately staffed to implement the participatory planning approach, including agronomists and community-level facilitators.
- Foster a collaborative team culture that emphasizes learning, adaptive management, and local ownership.
3. Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination - Serve as the key point of contact with EKN and other donors on project strategy, performance, and reporting.
- Facilitate alignment and collaboration with EKN-funded partners (e.g., Agriterra, GOAL, SNV) and relevant government bodies (e.g., MAAIF, local governments).
- Engage farmer cooperatives, private sector actors, and financial institutions to build inclusive and sustainable value chains.
4. Monitoring, Learning, and Adaptive Management - Guide the development and use of a robust Results Framework and MEL system, ensuring flexibility and responsiveness to evolving field realities.
- Incorporate lessons learned from HortiMAP 1.0, including the need for stronger impact modeling, power dynamics analysis, and post-project sustainability.
- Lead internal reviews, donor reporting, and strategic learning moments with EKN and partners.
5. Operational Oversight and Risk Management - Oversee program budgeting, procurement, and compliance in coordination with TechnoServe’s finance and operations teams.
- Ensure adherence to EKN’s guidelines and regulations.
- Mitigate program risks through proactive planning, scenario analysis, and regular communication with field teams and the donor.
Basic Qualifications: - Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Agricultural Economics, or another relevant field, and at least 12 years of experience in relevant private sector or development programs,
- Or a Master’s degree plus 8 years of relevant experience.
- Significant program management experience in commercial agriculture, agribusiness development, access to finance, market access, trade facilitation, and partnership development
Preferred Qualifications: Additional qualifications that would make a candidate more desirable. We seek candidates who bring experience with: - Leading complex horticulture or other agriculture programs in Uganda and/or Sub-Saharan Africa strongly preferred
- Brokering and nurturing public-private partnerships using a high-touch approach to partnership development and implementation
- Influencing and collaborating with senior management of agribusinesses (input suppliers, producer organizations, processors, traders, etc.), financial institutions, and other private sector actors to achieve partnership results
- Implementing market systems development approaches, including a nuanced understanding of when to implement hybrid MSD-value chain approaches depending on the maturity and needs of market actors
- Sourcing and delivering demand-driven technical assistance and business development services particularly through technical assistance facility mechanisms
- Deploying a broad variety of catalytic financial instruments, including matching grants, credit facilities, and access to commercial finance, and a demonstrated understanding of factors that influence which instruments or combination of instruments to select
- Designing and implementing inclusive business models that integrate women and youth (farmers, entrepreneurs) and successfully removing structural barriers that bar entry from entering or thriving in agricultural value chains
- Designing and implementing climate-smart approaches that improve the resilience of value chain actors and agricultural sectors as a whole
- Implementing consumer-facing campaigns to promote food safety and nutritious diets
- Implementing large, complex programs funded by the Government of the Netherlands
Required Languages: Fluency in English required. Understanding of Luganda, Swahili, and other native languages is an advantage. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: - Strong interpersonal and communications skills and ability to effectively motivate and manage teams in a multi-cultural environment
- Ability to work under tight deadlines while managing multiple tasks and activities
- Ability to develop well written, cohesive analyses and reports
- Understanding of capacities and constraints of smallholder farming and agribusiness development
- An honest broker who is able to build win-win partnerships between multiple agriculture sector stakeholders, including agribusinesses, public sector, financial institutions, technology providers, and others
- Ability to clearly communicate a high level strategy to internal and external stakeholders, while driving execution of a workplan and achievement of short-term milestones. Ability to use adaptive management principles to make strategic, data-driven decisions in the face of uncertainty and complexity
Supervisory Responsibilities: Typically, 4 to 5 senior level staff including tech specialists, financial directors and M&E staff. Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams is desired. Work Hours: 8 Experience in Months: 96 Level of Education: bachelor degree Job application procedure Interested in applying for this job? Click here to submit your application now
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