Technical Component Lead – Agriculture Business Development Services

Responsibilities:

Technical & Operational Leadership:

• Provide strategic direction for the project, serving as the primary liaison with CapPlus, the Mastercard Foundation, and Opportunity leadership, and interacting with various government officials
• Provide technical oversight and strategic direction for the implementation of OIGs FIRST+II program activities in Ghana, ensuring alignment with the Mastercard Foundation’s requirements.
• Recommend intervention areas in the FIRST+ priority regions based on key agricultural value chains with the highest potential for economic growth and job creation for youth. FIRST+II will focus on regions with high levels of youth unemployment, significant agricultural economies, and with strong rural banks or phase one NBFIs with which to partner. Regions will most likely be Ashanti, Bono, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Western, Western North, and Volta.
• Oversee OIG’s monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) activities, ensuring full compliance with the FIRST+II MERL plan and system, and generating robust impact reporting, innovations, and learning papers.

Partnership and Coordination:

• Coordinate with CapPlus and other partners to align OIG's activities with the overall FIRST+II program strategy and objectives to achieve synergies that increase impact.
• Ensure OIG’s collaboration and coordination with CapPlus’ FIRST+II communications team.
• Represent OIG in technical forums, workshops, and meetings related to the FIRST+II program.
• Serve as the Technical lead and oversee all sub-award requirements and contracts under OIG’s award, ensuring effective communication between key stakeholders and strong coordination toward project objectives.

Program Management:

• Ensure OIG delivers on all commitments and deliverables on time, on budget, and on target.
• Provide technical and operational leadership for the project, including managing work plans, producing high-quality outputs, and disseminating reports and learnings.

Team Management:

• Manage a diverse team of program staff and FSA and BSA project officers to deliver the expected impact within budget and agreed timelines.
• Mentor and coach staff to support their professional development and application of skills and knowledge.
• Lead the development and implementation of OIG's value chain approach, including conducting human-centered design research, aligning with partner financial institutions’ portfolios, and identifying strategic value chains.
• Manage the recruitment and contracting of value chain specialists to develop tailored business development services (BDS) to address identified gaps and market opportunities in the selected value chains.
• Develop and customize training curricula, especially agricultural training for each key value chain in coordination with agronomists and the Ministry of Food & Agriculture.
• Manage the development and digitization of training content.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Project Manager
• Monitoring and Evaluation Associate
• Finance Manager

Qualifications:

• Postgraduate degree in agriculture, agribusiness, rural development, or a related field.
• Minimum of 12 years of relevant experience implementing projects in youth workforce development, agriculture, financial and digital inclusion, or women’s empowerment.
• Previous experience working in Ghana required. Experience working with Ghanaian financial institutions and/or high-level government officials preferred.
• Strong technical knowledge of agricultural value chains, agronomy, and business development services.
• Experience in developing and delivering training programs for farmers and MSMEs.
• Familiarity with digital tools and platforms for training delivery and data collection.
• Demonstrable ability to build and motivate diverse teams around a common vision with proven leadership, coaching, and interpersonal skills.
• Passionate about Opportunity’s mission. Able to promote and communicate the organization’s goals and objectives to external and internal stakeholders.

Contract Type:

•  4-year fixed-term employment contract

 Language Skills:

• Written and verbal fluency in English, additional 1 or 2 local languages required. Must be able to attend & fully participate in meetings conducted in English.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

• Ability and willingness to travel within Ghana up to 40% of the time and occasionally internationally.

Salary Range: Attractive

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Accra