The Foundation
We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, weโre committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.
The TeamThe Africa team works to enable the foundationโs ambitious goals of scaling evidence-based interventions that target a range of diseases and socio-economic conditions across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The team implements its responsibility through direct country engagement to deploy interventions and delivery models, and by building the partner architecture to replicate successful interventions and models across multiple countries.
The Enabling Country Systems (ECS), Africa - Agricultural Development Program (AgDev)
The Agricultural Development (AgDev) program aims to catalyze a country-led, inclusive, agricultural transformation (IAT) process by developing and scaling products, services, policies, and system-wide innovations that benefit small-scale producers (SSPs), empower women, and improve nutritional outcomes. We want farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA) to be empowered with the knowledge, tools, and technologies to improve their livelihoods and lift themselves and their families out of poverty.
ECS-Africaโs overall goal is to drive IAT through better policy engagement with governments, improving the technology adoption by both the public and private sectors and catalytic investments through our key partners.
ECS Africa portfolioโs Bodies of Work (BOWs) jointly focus on: a) accelerating IAT at the country level through clear country strategies that reflect government priorities and increase potential impact and b) driving demand-led innovative products and scaling practices within SSA through building regional platforms for scaling technology adoption, data for decision making and private sector engagement.
The work by the team includes interpretation, packaging, and communicating our comparative advantage in technological innovations for SSPs, aligning with leadership vision at the country level and nurturing partnerships that drive co-creation and implementation of interventions that drive IAT. The BOWs are discrete areas to better track our progress against a set of portfolio targets and milestones. The prioritized investments from across AgDev portfolios come together in focus countries to support the strengthening and modernization of select systems.
Your Role
We are seeking a strategic, results-driven, and transformation-oriented Senior Officer, Livestock & Economic Opportunity, Africa to lead the execution of African Regional Officeโs (ARO) Africa livestock-focused flagship programs, ensuring alignment with country priorities and driving inclusive economic transformation across key focus countries and the broader Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region. This includes:
Develop and execute key investments that drive economic development by leveraging livestock (pastoral, dairy, poultry) and aquaculture value chains, while integrating cross-cutting priorities in animal health, genetics, and nutrition, in close collaboration with the AgDev (Livestock) program strategy team (PST) and other PSTs within the economic opportunity portfolio.
Lead engagement with government agencies, continental bodies, and industry stakeholders to strengthen the enabling environment, address chronic market distortions, and incentivize private sector participation to make livestock markets more inclusive and effective for poor livestock producers, particularly women and pastoralist communities
Advocate for policy and regulatory improvements to create a more conducive environment for livestock sector growth.
Build strategic partnerships with international, regional, and local private sector actors, multilateral institutions, financial institutions and investors to unlock financing and scale sustainable solutions.
Advance the south-south cooperation agenda in the livestock sector by fostering collaboration with countries in the global south and bringing relevant models, innovations and partnerships to Africa.
Drive cross-sector collaboration within Economic Opportunity (EO) initiatives, including digital transformation, inclusive financial systems, womenโs economic empowerment, and nutrition.
This is a limited-term position (LTE) for 24 months, based at the foundationโs office in Nairobi, and reporting administratively to the Deputy Director, AgDev ARO Africa and with a technical reporting line into the AgDev Livestock team. The postholder will collaborate closely with several other teams in a one-foundation approach.
What Youโll Do
You will drive strategic execution, policy engagement, investment development, and cross-team collaboration to advance the livestock-focused flagship programs from the ARO. Your key responsibilities include:
Continuously contribute to refining the livestock strategy for Africa with the livestock team, adapting to country-specific realities in key countries in SSA.
Develop and execute a pipeline of high-impact investments to drive national-level livestock transformation and impact at scale.
Develop country dashboards together with the agriculture delivery systems team to track and analyze livestock investment progress (at both projects as well as sectoral levels), ensuring data-driven decision-making.
Integrate livestock priorities into the broader EO agenda, collaborating with other PSTs.
Contribute to developing evidence-based policy recommendations in partnership with internal policy experts and external multilateral and industry stakeholders to enhance livestock sector competitiveness and engage with governments and continental bodies (e.g., AU-IBAR) to improve policy and regulatory environments for livestock sector growth.
Forge alliances with private sector actors, multilateral institutions, and global investors and advance the South-South cooperation in the livestock space.
Strengthen collaborations with livestock enterprises, industry associations, and key development partners.
Support the development of viable business models to attract private-sector investment in pastoral livestock markets.
Support communications and advocacy efforts, in coordination with the Policy, Advocacy and Communications team.
Drive evidence-based investment-making by leading program monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) efforts and ensuring the integration of data-driven insights, research findings, and emerging trends into investment design and execution.
Drive and support other economic opportunity-related investments and engagements, as required.
Your Experience
We are seeking a versatile, open-minded, and results-driven professional who can operate diplomatically in a matrixed structure while balancing development impact with market-driven approaches. The ideal candidate will bring:
An MBA, or other advanced degree in International Development or equivalent is preferred. A degree in Veterinary Medicine, Animal Science, Agribusiness, or a related field will be an advantage.
10+ years of experience in livestock development, agribusiness, or private sector development roles in the SSA context.
Strong background in livestock sector development, with expertise in market-based approaches, pastoralist systems, small-scale producers, and national economic transformation strategies.
Familiarity with policy engagement, working with government officials, donors, and multilateral agencies to advance regulatory improvements for livestock growth.
Track record of leading complex, multi-stakeholder projects, with a focus on sustainable business models, innovative financing and private-sector engagement.
Experience in integrating women and youth into agricultural value chain initiatives, particularly related to livestock.
Strong analytical skills, including gap analysis of country capacity, business model design, and data-driven decision-making.
Ability to build and sustain strategic partnerships with governments, private sector players, investors, and development partners.
Strong collaboration and diplomatic skills to work across multicultural environments
Excellent communication, negotiation, and advocacy skills.
A 'can-do' attitude, with the ability to explore innovative approaches, take strategic risks, and drive measurable impact.
Other Attributes
Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.
Willingness to travel up to 25% domestically and internationally.
*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.
Application deadline: 24 May 2025
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Hiring Requirements
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Candidate Accommodations
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Inclusion Statement
We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion โ of voices, ideas, and approaches โ and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.
All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.