Programs Director at Palm Valley Nigeria Limited (PVNL)

Palm Valley Nigeria Limited (PVNL) is a limited liability company registered under the company Allied Matters Act of 1990 with RC No 792177. The company was established in 2008 with the vision of providing agricultural solutions to small holder farmers in Nigeria. 

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Programs Director

Location: Kaduna
Employment Type: Full Time

Role Summary

• The Programs Director will report to the CEO/Executive Director and work closely with other heads of units to drive all PVNL’s agribusiness programs across the different sectors. 
• The Program Director role will be a senior leadership position and will be leading all the PVNL’s technical and agribusiness programs. He /She will be responsible for driving the PVNL's program initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture and empowering smallholder farmers.
• The Program Director will also oversee the effective design, implementation, and evaluation of all PVNL’s projects and interventions across multiple regions and, manage a diverse team of technical project staff, and engage with a wide range of stakeholders to enhance the organization’s impact and reach.

Key Responsibilities
Organizational Strategy and Management:

• Support the Senior Management Team (SMT) and the Executive Director in developing and executing the PVNL's strategic plan and roadmap for agribusiness impact programs and interventions.
• Lead all strategic technical planning activities and program design endeavours, ensuring development of quality and high impact programs initiatives in alignment with PVNL’s strategic vision and objectives.
• Provide guidance and advisory support to the senior leadership and the board in all technical program areas to support high level decision making and resource allocation.
• Lead strategic plan review processes and provide relevant updates based on empirical data, emerging needs, opportunities, and trends in the agribusiness sector to inform program development.

Program Management and technical oversight:

• Drive the technical design and implementation of innovative and sustainable agricultural programs, climate-smart technologies (focusing on building resilience through climate adaptation and mitigation strategies), community development, youth & gender and economic empowerment initiatives to drive the achievement of PVNL’s vision.
• Lead the development of PVNL donor funded program/project plans, budgets, and timelines, ensuring effective resource allocation based on donor requirements and organizational standards.
• Oversee the direct implementation of all PVNL projects, prepare and present program reports to senior management, donors, and other stakeholders to communicate program impact according to donor standards.
• Lead all PVNL agribusiness investments and drive business sustainability and impact in the Farmers Input Credit Facility Scheme (FICS) across all the states, adopting strategies for ensuring high repayment rates.
• Support the PVNL M&E team to ensure the highest level of quality in program design and establishing frameworks for robust and in-depth context analysis, development of theories of change and rollout of M&E plan. Provide technical guidance in the setup of a rigorous M&E processes and results-based management system for tracking project outcomes and results.
• Work closely with the Senior Management Team (SMT) for an efficient and effective delivery of program quality through providing technical and financial support on program implementation such as program governance and management, budget versus actual reports, monitoring work plans and collaborate with project management teams to generate project reports.
• Establish and oversee the implementation of a robust risk management strategy to safeguard program integrity and sustainability of PVNL’s operations.

Team Management and Capacity Building:

• Lead and manage a multi-disciplinary program team across different projects, providing technical guidance and support, and creating professional development opportunities for capacity improvement.
• Provide mentorship, coaching and foster a collaborative and high-performance culture within the program team with established systems for periodic performance review.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and continuous improvement within the program team.
• Identify learning and development needs across the program team and develop and implement training and capacity development plans, prioritizing initiatives based on the needs of the program and the evolving context.
• Lead all program research activities with support from the M&E team to conduct surveys, analyze data and provide critical inference from research activities.

Business Development and Grant Management:

• In collaboration with the Senior Management Team (SMT) members, lead the development, implementation and review of PVNL’s annual business and operation strategy and planning process to ensure adequate resource allocation for all operations.
• Lead all fund raising efforts through sourcing and building the technical components to respond to RFP’s and profile funding pipelines to align with organizational strategic plan and to support program interventions.
• Lead the grant management team for each project to ensure compliance to all institutional donor standards and internal reporting requirement.

Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders, including farmers, community leaders and partners, government agencies, donors, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Represent PVNL at external functions, relevant forums, conferences, and meetings to advocate for the organization’s mission and contribute to sector-wide objectives.
• Engage with donors and funding agencies to secure financial support and report on program progress and impact. Collaborate with partners to leverage resources, expertise, and networks for program success.
• Support PVNL’s program communication activities and assist the communication team to maintain high level of professionalism in all program communication engagement with external stakeholders and to highlight the impact of PVNL’s program in the right context.

Desired Qualification Skills and Experience
The desired candidate must possess:

• A Bachelors and Master's degree in Agriculture (Economics or Extension, Agronomy), Agribusiness Management, International Development Studies, Business Administration, or any related field with certification in Project Management (PMP, PMD-Pro etc.) preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in agribusiness or agricultural development programs with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role within the NGO and agribusiness sector.
• Extensive and proven experience in fundraising (proposal development) and working with a wide range of international donor organizations such as USAID, EU, FCDO, GIZ, AGRA etc.
• Must be able to demonstrate strong expertise and knowledge of Food Security, Livelihood, climate change adaptation and mitigation programming with proven track record of successfully completed projects in the agricultural or environmental sustainability sector.
• In-depth understanding and experience working with the agricultural value chain specifically in crop production, agro-processing and market systems under smallholder farmer’s context (vast experience working with smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria).
• Proven expertise in program design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation methodologies.
• Excellent project management, budgeting, and financial management skills.
• Proficient in stakeholder engagement, partnership building, and donor relationship management.
• Excellent leadership skills with strong communication and presentation abilities, with experience representing organizations at high-level forums.
• Must possess a strong ICT skill with proficiency in relevant project management software and data management tools (Commcare, Power-Bi, Asana, Project planner etc.).

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Resume and a one-page Cover Letter attached as a single file document to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.