Senior Donor Stewardship Officer

About AGRA

AGRA and its Work

AGRA is an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems. We do this by empowering the continent’s 33 million smallholder farming households to transform their agriculture from a struggle to survive to profitable businesses. The continent’s farmers regularly face challenges, and we aspire to provide uniquely African solutions that respond to their agricultural and environmental challenges, leading to increased harvests for reduced hunger and more income.

Working in alignment with the development priorities of our focus countries, we enable farmers to access improved and high-yielding seeds, gain knowledge on sustainable farming, and linkages to profitable markets.

In our work, we aspire to build the alliances, partnerships, and networks required to drive an inclusive agricultural transformation. We work with our partners to create an equitable youth-friendly environment that harnesses the youth dividend on the continent to drive growth and facilitate open employment opportunities for young women and men. We achieve our key objectives through a focus on the following four areas of intervention:

Policy and state capability – We support governments in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transformation.
Seed systems – We trigger higher productivity by increasing the availability and access to improved seeds by farmers allowing them to increase their harvests for food security and better incomes.
Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irrigation.
Inclusive markets and trade – We work to increase the linkages between farmers, and other market actors for a positive, sustained cycle of commercialization and reinvestment.

AGRA’s 2030 Strategy

The continent has, in recent years, taken steps towards inclusive agricultural transformation resulting in notable improvements in food security, with clear progress across all AGRA’s focus countries. However, with over 20% of Africans still suffering from hunger, we need to accelerate our progress and mitigate against the growing external pressures of conflict and climate on our food systems.

AGRA 2022-2030 Strategic Framework (SF2030) demonstrates our long-term vision for how we intend to contribute to, and align with, global and continental priorities, applying a food systems lens towards the goals of zero hunger, improved nutrition, an end to poverty, and climate adaptation. We have split our Strategic Framework 2030 into two 5-year strategies so that we have a clear mid-way point to evaluate progress and re-route our strategic focus if necessary. Our 2023-2027 Strategic Plan sets out to catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa by influencing and leveraging partners to build a robust enabling environment where the private sector thrives, and smallholders are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food.

AGRA’s Vision

To contribute to a food system-inspired inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa, to reduce hunger, improve nutrition, and adapt to climate.

AGRA’s Mission

To catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa by influencing and leveraging partners to build a robust enabling environment where private sector thrives, and smallholder farmers are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food.

AGRA’s Strategy

Empowering and building the resilience of small holder farmers
Supporting the development of inclusive markets and finance to strengthen agricultural systems.
Strengthening state capability to sustain agricultural transformation.

Implementing Our New Strategy Through People

AGRA is at the threshold of a new chapter where we begin implementing our new strategy of catalyzing inclusive, resilient and sustainable agricultural transformation. At AGRA we believe Agriculture is the single greatest opportunity to deliver inclusive economic growth, jobs, and health to the African continent.

People are the heart of our organisation and remain the true drivers of our delivery and our impact.

We are excited about a new fit-for-purpose organizational structure that is largely driven by an ambition to enhance collaboration across teams and drive sustainable growth. We have therefore purposed more focus on delivery of country programs within the new strategy giving even greater attention to optimising existing talent in addition to upscaling technical and operational resources.

We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the continent combined with an inclusive and diverse workforce from over 24 nationalities. Our values of (I-RISE; Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship and Equity) espouse our commitment to a call to action to go beyond ourselves as we arise and transform Africa’s Agriculture.

We are looking for people who are passionate about Africa, curious and collaborative to join our innovative, growing, and multidisciplinary team. Together, we can grow Africa’s food systems improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Want to join us?

The Opportunity

Senior Donor Stewardship Officer

Role purpose

The Senior Donor Stewardship Officer is responsible for the management of a portfolio of critical donors and support the development and implementation of AGRA’s overall organizational resource mobilization strategy. S/he will is responsible for ensuring streamlined and efficient donor stewardship (including reporting, compliance and other donor requests), developing, implementing and managing the donor communications strategy and the day-to-day management of donor platforms (e.g., PIATA). S/he will ensure proper relationship management to leverage an ever-stronger donor support base for AGRA across select bilateral, multilateral, philanthropic, and corporate partners that lead to increased donor satisfaction score and renewed funding for AGRA.

Role Summary

Working closely with the Head of Donor Stewardship, s/he will lead the development of AGRA’s donor stewardship, donor communications and donor platform strategies, associated implementation modalities and coordinate with relevant AGRA teams on execution and results monitoring. S/he will work closely with other Program and Finance teams supporting on contractual compliance to donor and AGRA requirements during implementation.

Key Measures of Performance

The performance of this role holder will be assessed on the basis of the achievements made on:

Effective and well-coordinated delivery of the donor stewardship, compliance and communication strategy
Building and maintaining a relationship based on trust and transparency with AGRA donors.
Develop and implement an effective and efficient donor stewardship platform that ensures prompt and efficient responses to donors, donor compliance, management visibility of key issues and flags
Efficiently coordinate PIATA secretariat with the Director of Cooperation that delivers on the overall vision of coordination, alignment and leverage from partners. Well defined strategy and vision that draws heavily from partners supported by strong execution and delivery
Support provided including socializing and capacity building of relevant units across the organization on compliance to donor and AGRA requirements, including on reporting, and where necessary to subgrantees.
Develop and socialize a compliance framework setting out responsibility, acceptable quality and performance standards.
Collaborate with finance, legal and ERC team to ensure donor rules are manageable for AGRA by defining acceptable standards (as per donors’ requirements) in coordination and advising on risk mitigation.
Liaising with donors to solve compliance issues with adequate problem-solving skills and adequate corrective actions in accordance with donor expectations.

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose – Adapt

Develops and maintains a current understanding of AGRA’s programs and grantees across the organization in all the countries in which operations are conducted
Designs, implements and coordinates an institution-wide, comprehensive donor relations and stewardship system that fosters positive and mutually rewarding relations between AGRA and its donors
Expands AGRA’s donor base, through effective stewardship that leads to renewed funding for AGRA and growth in donor support for AGRA
Support a culture of continuous improvement, and performance optimization across all program development processes, as well as use of tools and systems that support that, in close collaboration with Program and operations teams to embed key tools and practices in the donor’s relationship management and retention

Engagement – Persuade

Collaborates with technical teams and other Development Cooperation Officers to ensure the institution meets its donor contractual obligations.
Engages with current donors, works closely with AGRA’s Communication Unit and Strategy & Analytics Unit, to design and execute a donor communications strategy and coordinate inputs to external events and opportunities
Supports the Head of Donor Stewardship to coordinate the strategy and activities of the PIATA secretariat, county platforms and thematic platforms.
Provides proactive and timely advice to senior management on donor stewardship KPIs with individual donors.
Advises and responds to internal and prepare response to external queries regarding donor contributions.
Advises teams on donor compliance and AGRA requirements, including ensuring timely and quality reporting and communication (within set donor response turnaround times).
Engages and stewards relationships with other institutions with whom AGRA wishes to jointly bid for funding opportunities.
Advises and build capacity of country and regional teams on donor stewardship and contract compliance.
Collaborates with ERC team to mitigate potential risk related to donor compliance
Responds to donor queries related to compliance and stewardship in a timely manner

Delivery – Adapt project Cycle

Assesses and contributes to AGRA’s strategy documents and knowledge management products to help best position the institution for resource mobilization.
Organizes for briefings, meetings, visits and events with current coordinate programmatic and logistical arrangements, draft reports and set action plans for follow-up.
Contributing to the grants closeout process by sharing information on internal and external closeout processes for the grants; updating information in the CRM system and following other closeout guidelines and processes as required.

Requirements

Academic and Professional Qualifications

Master’s degree in International Development, Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, Public Finance, Public Administration, Rural Development, Social Sciences, or any other relevant field.

Required Skills/Abilities

Experienced donor development and resource mobilization expert with a superior track record of success serving international development organizations.
Ability to work with donors as well as manage and build strategic donor relations; sound understanding of the donor financing landscape and processes.
Strong working knowledge of international development funding mechanisms, rules and regulations
Ability to work on performance-based targets for fundraising.
Fluency in English; Knowledge of French will be an advantage.
Results-oriented, accountable, proactive and able to work on behalf of AGRA with a wide range of stakeholders.
Ability to work effectively within multi-disciplinary teams.
Strong quantitative and analytical skills.
Excellent written communication skills.
Results-oriented and accountable.
Optimistic and persuasive on AGRA’s strategic approach to solving for challenges impeding agriculture transformation and that African farmers and consumers will benefit from improved, well-adapted agricultural technologies and reforms across the input and output value chains
Ability to communicate effectively and with polish to individuals and groups of people.
Ability to translate program-based concepts into practical realities

Relevant Experience

Minimum 7 years of high-level experience in international development with demonstrable success in resource mobilization with large multilateral or bilateral agencies or trusts and foundations or private sector donors
Proven experienced resource mobilization and donor management expert with a superior track record of success serving international development organizations.
Knowledge of and relationships with European bilateral and multilateral donors will be an advantage
Ability to work with donors as well as manage and build strategic donor relations; sound understanding of the donor financing landscape and processes
Ability to work on performance-based targets for fundraising.

Person Specification

She/he shall at all times, in intent, word and action represent and exhibit the AGRA values of Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship and Equity (I-RISE) and champion these values within and outside the organization.

Value (I-RISE)

Integrity– Honest and moral conviction
Respect – Value differences and dignity
Innovation – Continuous improvement and bold creativity
Stewardship – Committed and transparent
Equity – Fairness and impartiality
Integrity– Honest and moral conviction

Competencies

Trustworthy: is known to espouse and apply a high set of ethical and moral principles. Stays true to his or her values, regardless of internal or external pressures.
Social and Cross-cultural Awareness: interacts with people (colleagues, stakeholders and the public at large) in different social and cultural environments, showing respect and positive regard for them in an ethical and appropriate manner that are consistent with the values of the organization.
Curious, imaginative and creative: inquisitive, open-minded, and expressing new meaning through the application, synthesis or repurposing of knowledge. Devising new ways of doing things, new solutions, new approaches and new perspectives. Finds innovative ways to work and respond beyond that which is routine or rule-based. Is agile, able to change plans, methods, opinions or goals in light of new information, with the readiness to act on opportunities.
Maintaining Professionalism: takes responsibility for own work, actions, decisions and for the impact of own actions. Maintains professional behavior in accordance with relevant codes of conduct. Does not abuse one’s position and acts without consideration of personal gain. Embraces and encourages transparency, balancing this with the need for discretion and confidentiality.
Impartiality and Fairness: decision-making rationale is clear and considered so that it is easily understood by all and equitable to all. Maintains impartiality and takes prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behaviour. Challenges biases.
Trustworthy: is known to espouse and apply a high set of ethical and moral principles. Stays true to his or her values, regardless of internal or external pressures.

Core Competencies

Achieving Results Effectively (L2): Anticipates constraints, identifies solutions and takes responsibility for addressing critical situations; Sets self and others stretching goals, over and above those required to meet organizational standards and targets; Takes the necessary actions to meet these goals; identifies and applies measures to track and quantify achievement; Aligns projects with organization’s mission and objectives and demonstrates a good understanding of the impact of team’s and own work on external and internal counterparts.
Managing & Sharing Knowledge (L2): Disseminates and shares knowledge openly and actively contributes to knowledge/network communities for topics relevant to area of expertise; Builds networks for the effective communication and exchange of knowledge and ideas and puts others into contact with various sources of knowledge; Contributes to an environment that is conducive to innovation and learning.
Accountability (L2): Maintains ethical behavior, admits mistakes and exhibits responsible behavior in the meeting of performance expectations; Actively seeks out solutions to achieve results; Holds self-accountable for achieving results as an individual as well as team members; Identifies and assists in addressing areas of weakness that may impact the department’s performance.
Diversity & Inclusion (L2): Takes a conscious effort to learn about different styles of conflict resolution; Has insight into and monitors own preferred conflict management style and its impact on others; Is proactive in managing conflict over differences when it arises rather than avoiding it; Actively creates the space for people to use different forms of conflict resolution; Listens actively for the frames of reference and does not prejudge; Seeks to understand and adapt to different styles when working with those who are different; Treats others as they wish to be treated; Shows readiness to change the way he/she does things to meet the needs of those from diverse backgrounds.
Adaptability (L2): Adapts personal approach to meet the needs of different or new situations; Seeks guidance in adapting behavior to the needs of a new or different situation.
Stakeholder Focus/Partnerships (L2): Contacts stakeholders to follow up on services, solutions or products to ensure that their needs have been correctly and effectively met; Understands issues from the stakeholder’s perspective; Keeps stakeholders up-to-date with information and decisions that affect them; Monitors services provided to stakeholders and makes timely adjustments as required; Maintains ongoing communication with stakeholders; Regularly and systematically contacts stakeholders or prospective stakeholders to determine their needs; Uses understanding of stakeholder’s perspective to identify constraints and advocate on their behalf; Works with stakeholders to adapt services, products or solutions to meet their needs; Encourages co-workers and teams to achieve a high standard of service excellence; Anticipates areas where support or influence will be required and discusses situation/concerns with appropriate individuals; Proposes new, creative and sound alternatives to improve stakeholder service delivery; Engages effectively with all stakeholders.
Teamwork (L2): Establishes strong relationships with colleagues and partners; relates well to people at all levels; Is fully aware of the team purposes, respects and understands individual and collective responsibilities; Willingly puts in extra effort without being asked and adopts a ‘hands-on’ approach whenever necessary to achieve team objectives; Coordinates own work with that of the team to meet agreed priorities and deadlines.

Leadership Competencies

Leading Others: highly developed project management skills to coordinate donor engagement and development of proposals and concepts to secure funding
Empowering Others and Building Trust: working through technical teams and country teams to develop concepts and proposals and engage appropriately with donors
Developing Others: capacity building for country teams and technical teams in fund raising and donor contract management

Functional Competencies

Strategic orientation
Partnership development and management
Concept and Proposal development
Donor compliance management, including reporting
Excellent written and verbal communication skills (English)

Other Job Requirements

Key contacts: Internal and External

Development Cooperation team
Teams in Programs, Strategy & Analytics and other AGRA Units
Donor organizations
Government & Private Sector

Terms of Appointment

3 Years Fixed Term (Consideration for renewal will be made subject to AGRA’s needs, available funding and performance).

Location

Based in Nairobi, Kenya with frequent travel at approximately 25% per month.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please ensure you complete the Application Form provided here by 6 February 2024 (23:59 hrs, GMT +3). It is essential that you submit your CV in English, specifically in Microsoft Word format (.doc/.docx).

Applications in other languages or formats will not be considered.

Rest assured, all information will be handled with the utmost confidentiality.

SRI Executive is exclusively retained by AGRA to undertake this assignment.