Project Officer for Business Development Services and Innovation in Agro-food SMEs

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a German federal enterprise. As a service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education work, GIZ is dedicated to shaping a future worth living around the world. Together with commissioning parties and partners, GIZ generates and implements ideas for political, social and economic change. GIZ Viet Nam is currently engaged in three priority areas: 1) Vocational training; 2) Environmental policy and sustainable natural resource use; 3) Energy. For further information, please visit our website: www.giz.de/viet-nam.

German Cooperation has been supporting Viet Nam to restructure its agriculture sector to ensure sustainable rural development, particularly in the Mekong Delta. In continuation of this support, the Viet Nam country package of the global program “Green Innovation Centres in the Agriculture and Food Sector” in Viet Nam (GIC), has been commissioned to support the transition to higher resource efficiency and value creation in Mekong Delta farming systems. A central element of the project is to increase the ability of smallholder farmers and upstream/downstream companies to adopt climate-smart and sustainable innovations that increase incomes, employment, and the quality of produce while reducing their environmental footprint. Through the promotion of innovations and novel business models along the agro-food value chains rice and mango, GIC contributes to farmer’s stable and competitive production, increased incomes through higher product quality and compliance with standards. Businesses up- and downstream of agricultural production improve farmer’s access to diverse services, and stable access to markets.

The project is looking for a local qualified candidate to fill the following position:

Project Officer
for business development services and innovation in agro-food SMEs
Duty station: Can Tho City
Duration: ASAP to 30.12.2021 with possible extension

Job description:

To move from innovation to business and to impact at scale, development partnerships with the private sector and entrepreneurial coaching for farmer organizations and SMEs support actors seeking to increase incomes and revenues. Based in GIZ’s Can Tho office, the Project Officer is responsible for the engagement with and support to private sector partners. Dealing with a large range of businesses, from upstream service providers for agricultural production, to post-harvest and processing along the two value chains of rice and mango, he or she assesses, develops, and promotes business models that foster the adoption of innovations in the sphere of private businesses. In addition, profit centers for cooperatives are promoted in support to the project’s cooperative development support component. The PO analyzes capacity development needs, defines and develops the business development service package, ensures effective advisory, as well as third-party support. Partner’s compliance with commitments, uptake of the support, and KPIs are continuously monitored.

Main responsibilities:

• The PO organizes and manages the work related to private sector partners, technically instructs his counterparts, consultants, and his colleagues, as applicable
• Development and implementation of the toolkit for SME training and coaching in the agro-food sector
• Developing and acquiring new partnerships and networks
• Regular review of relevant dynamics in the partner’s business environment, and the two value chains as part of the Mekong Delta, Vietnamese, and regional agro-food sector
• Documentation of innovations and business models, of results and impacts
• Inputs for PR, knowledge management, data on activities conducted, and results for the project’s M&E
• Contribution to planning and implementing knowledge and experience exchange formats between the GIC country package Vietnam and international working groups, as well as for exposure visits.

Minimum requirements:

• University degree in business administration, economics, food technology, environmental management, or another relevant field of expertise
• At least 10 years of general professional experience in related fields of work, either in consultant work or as employee. Work experience acquired abroad is considered a strong asset.
• At least 3 years of work experience in the agro-food industry, experience with the rice sector and in the Mekong Delta are considered an asset, as well as an established network in the rice value chain.
• Strong investment planning and assessment capacities with an interdisciplinary perspective, and capacity to assess both technical and economic parameters of business models
• Certified advisory capacities and proven accomplishments of business level capacity development, out of which at least 3 assignments in the agro-food industry.
• Strong project management skills and experience with the initiation, planning, budgeting, execution, monitoring of projects and other project management tasks
• Strong networking capability
• Readiness for frequent travelling in the Mekong Delta, to HCMC and Hanoi, and occasionally abroad, international travel conditions permitting
• Ability to work individually as well as in a team; ability to work together with people from different sectors (e.g. private sector, ministries, international experts) and cultural backgrounds
• High-level proficiency of oral and written English and Vietnamese, including solid reporting skills
• Solid computer skills (e.g. Microsoft Office)
• Strong critical, analytical thinking and structured working abilities. Strong work ethic.

Successful candidates will enjoy professional and dynamic working conditions and good policies of training and development.

Interested qualified candidates are invited to send the GIZ Application Form in English (http://bit.ly/2nyiCY6), copies of relevant certificates and references by email to [email protected] before 08th December 2020.

Note: Please state "Application for the Project Officer for business development and innovation in agro-food SMEs - GIC" in the subject line or on the envelope

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted after the deadline. Telephone contact is not encouraged.

Please complete all the information in GIZ Application form with link download here: http://bit.ly/2nyiCY6

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