About TechnoServe:

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of TechnoServe’s work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of business and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.

The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets and unpredictable political dynamics. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing…when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better, they can access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off. 

Program Overview:

Soybean, Sesame, Tomato and Ginger are high-valued agrifood value chains with the potential to create jobs at scale, improve local food production for import substitution, while also strengthening Nigeria’s export market. Women play a critical role in post-harvest and processing activities in soybean, sesame, tomato and ginger value chains, especially in handling, drying, sorting, milling, packaging, and vending. However, they bear the brunt of post-harvest losses up to 26 - 50% of the produce due to inadequate drying and storage, limited transport, and lack of access to appropriate processing tools and markets.

TechnoServe is in the process of developing a program focusing on creating more than 100,000 jobs in value addition/processing and distribution for youth, women, and persons with disabilities (young women 80%, persons with disabilities 5%, and displaced persons 1%), by investing in processing soybean, sesame, tomato, and ginger value chains. This phase of the two-phase program will target rural unemployed youth, aged 18–35, often with limited formal education, constrained access to skills, equipment, finance, and markets, yet highly motivated to earn dignified livelihoods through practical, cluster-based agribusiness opportunities.

Job Summary:

The Program Director will provide overall strategic, technical, and operational leadership for this market systems development (MSD) program focused on strengthening food processing and inclusive markets for tomato, soybean, ginger, and sesame. S/he will be responsible for the quality of implementation, managing a team of 10+ people across the targeted states and will execute the overall strategy of the program to reach its goals and targets. S/he will operationalize the work plan, adapting technical approaches and interventions as needed, and manage program resources.

The role is responsible for ensuring the program achieves sustainable, scalable, and commercially viable outcomes by facilitating systemic change across input supply, aggregation, processing, finance, and market linkages—without distorting markets.

The Program Director will lead a multidisciplinary team, engage public and private sector partners, ensure donor compliance, and drive results that improve incomes, resilience, and employment—particularly for women and youth. S/he will also serve as the primary liaison with public and private sector counterparts and other key stakeholders, including donors. This role requires expertise in project/program management and a deep understanding of Nigeria’s agri-food systems, food processing ecosystem and regulatory landscape, especially for the core crops (soybean and sesame) and intercrops (tomato and ginger). The ideal candidate will be motivated and able to provide critical leadership in the three years of the first phase of the program, while delivering high quality results that may feed into the second phase.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

Strategic & Technical Leadership

• Provide overall vision, strategy, and technical direction for the market systems development approach across the four priority crops.
• Ensure interventions align with MSD principles, including facilitation (not substitution), sustainability, and scale.
• Oversee the design and implementation of interventions across:
  
  
  • Processing and value addition
  • Input and service markets
  • Aggregation and logistics
  • Access to finance
  • Market access and trade
    
    
• Lead the implementation of activities through the operationalization of the work plan
• Adapt program approaches and interventions, as needed, to reach targets and milestones
• Work with the Women and Youth Manager, as well as the Women and Youth Practice to ensure inclusivity and that the targets for women, youth and people living with disabilities are met.
• Guide adaptive management, ensuring strategies evolve based on learning and market signals.
• Advise TechnoServe’s Program Development team on new project proposals, as needed.

Market Systems Development

• Apply MSD principles to ensure interventions are facilitative, scalable, and sustainable.
• Support pilot innovations and crowd-in private sector investment in soybean, sesame, tomato and ginger value chains.
• Monitor market responses and adapt interventions based on learning.

Value Chain & Food Processing Development

• Lead efforts to strengthen processing capacity, quality standards, and competitiveness for tomato, soybean, ginger, and sesame.
• Support the development of commercially viable processing models, including SMEs and anchor firms.
• Promote improved post-harvest handling, food safety, traceability, and quality assurance systems.
• Work with the other consortium partners to facilitate linkages between producers, aggregators, processors, and end markets (domestic and export).
• Support the development of training materials

Partner & Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and manage strong partnerships with:
  
  
  • The consortium lead for the program.
  • Other consortium partners (for linkages and where necessary)
  • Private sector firms (processors, off-takers, input suppliers, financiers)
  • Government ministries, agencies, and regulators
  • Industry associations and business membership organizations
  • Development partners and other donors
    
    
• Work with the Country Director to represent the program at high-level forums and policy dialogues.
• Serve as the primary liaison with public and private sector counterparts, including local government agencies, and other key stakeholders
• Support policy and regulatory reforms that improve the enabling environment for food processing and agribusiness.

Team Leadership & Management

• Lead, mentor, and manage a high-performing program team.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, inclusion, and learning.
• Ensure effective coordination across technical, operations, finance, M&E and other cross-cutting functions (women and youth, communications, safeguarding, etc).
• Oversee performance management and professional development of program staff.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning & Adaptation (MEL)

• Work with the MEL Manager & Program’s MEL Specialist to ensure robust results measurement systems are aligned with TechnoServe’s best practices.
• With the Senior MEL Specialist, ensure high-quality data is being collected to demonstrate program impact and results
• Use data and evidence to inform strategic decisions and adaptive management.
• Work with the Communications Manager, as well as the Knowledge and Content Development Manager to oversee documentation of learning, success stories, and systemic change.
• Develop high-quality deliverables, including quarterly progress reports/presentations, that meet donor requirements and deadlines
• Ensure timely and high-quality reporting to the consortium lead/donor and internal stakeholders in TechnoServe.

Financial & Operational Oversight

• Provide oversight of program budgets, work plans, and resource allocation.
• Monitor the program budget to ensure a healthy burn rate and allowability of costs
• Ensure compliance with donor rules, regulations, and reporting requirements.
• Manage risks related to implementation, partnerships, and external shocks.
• Identify and address implementation challenges
• Ensure value for money and cost-effectiveness across all program activities.

Qualifications:

• A master’s degree or equivalent in agribusiness, agricultural economics, business administration, international development, economics, or other relevant field with at least 7 years of experience. Alternatively, a bachelor’s degree with 10 years of experience.
• At least eight years of relevant professional experience in international development.
• At least four years of proven experience leading/managing and implementing large, multi-stakeholder donor-funded programs/projects.

Required Languages: Fluency in English is required.

Travel: Local travel 40-50%

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Deep technical expertise in MSD and food processing value chains
• Demonstrated experience working across multiple value chains, preferably including tomato, soybean, ginger, or sesame.
• Strong understanding of the private sector–led development and market systems development approaches.
• Extensive experience managing large teams at a high level of leadership (e.g Team Lead, Chief of Party, Program Director).
• Familiarity with food safety standards, quality certification, and export requirements
• Prior work experience or collaboration with private sector companies and businesses.
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of public and private sector counterparts and other key stakeholders.
• Experience working in Nigeria or similar emerging market contexts preferred.
• Experience in successfully implementing inclusive women/youth/PLWD-integrated programs and promoting women- and youth-led enterprises is a plus.
• Strong local and regional market knowledge
• Strong strategic thinking and systems analysis skills
• Excellent leadership, team management, and mentoring abilities
• High-level stakeholder engagement and negotiation skills
• Strong financial and operational management capability
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to manage complexity, uncertainty, and adaptive programming
• Commitment to gender equity, youth inclusion, and environmental sustainability
• Extensive project management skills, including strategic planning, stakeholder coordination, resource allocation, compliance monitoring, and performance tracking
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills in a multicultural environment.
• Ability to work with tight deadlines while managing multiple tasks and priorities.
• Ability to develop well-written, cohesive analyses and reports.

Supervisory Responsibilities: A team of 10+ people, including technical managers, cross-cutting managers & consultants.

This position is only open to Nigeria nationals. This position is contingent upon donor funding and approval.

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.

If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources at [email protected] or call +1 202 785 4515.