The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture seeks suitable Nigerian nationals for the position below at the Institute's Headquarters in Ibadan.
Duties
Design and coordinate business development interventions that promote the growth, competitiveness, and sustainability of youth-led enterprises.
Develop and implement enterprise growth strategies, business improvement plans, and post-training support services for project beneficiaries.
Provide strategic business advisory services covering business planning, financial management, operations, marketing, customer acquisition, branding, business formalization, and enterprise expansion.
Conduct enterprise diagnostics to identify business needs and develop tailored interventions that improve enterprise performance and sustainability.
Coordinate business coaching, mentorship, incubation, acceleration, and advisory services for project beneficiaries throughout the enterprise lifecycle.
Liaise with the Enterprise Growth Coordinator for opportunities to grow enterprises, investment and linkage to financial institutions, investors, grant opportunities, and other financing mechanisms.
Promote market access by facilitating business linkages with buyers, off-takers, processors, aggregators, input suppliers, exporters, and other market actors.
Identify mentorship programs and opportunities to expand participants' businesses.
Identify mentors; develop a mentorship coordination and engagement plan for the agribusiness park activities.
Coordinate the establishment, operationalization, and effective management of Agribusiness Parks as enterprise incubation, innovation, demonstration, and commercialization hubs.
Develop operational guidelines, business models, and management systems to ensure the sustainability and effective utilization of Agribusiness Parks.
Coordinate enterprise incubation programs and oversee the provision of business support services, shared facilities, mentorship, and commercialization opportunities within the Agribusiness Parks.
Build strategic partnerships with private sector organizations, financial institutions, research organizations, technology providers, and business development service providers to strengthen enterprise growth and Agribusiness Park operations.
Monitor enterprise and Agribusiness Park performance using agreed performance indicators and recommend interventions to improve business growth, investment, job creation, and sustainability.
Work closely with the Capacity Building Intervention Coordinator to ensure enterprise support services complement technical and entrepreneurship training programs.
Collaborate with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team to monitor enterprise performance, document success stories, and assess the impact of enterprise development interventions.
Prepare annual work plans, budgets, technical reports, enterprise performance reports, and progress updates relating to business development and Agribusiness Park operations.
Perform any other duties assigned by the Supervisor
Requirements
Master's degree in business administration, Agribusiness, Entrepreneurship, Agricultural Economics, Economics, Finance, or related discipline.
A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in managing an agribusiness park, business development, enterprise development, agribusiness, SME support, or entrepreneurship development is required.
Competencies:
The ideal candidate must have:
Demonstrated experience supporting MSMEs through business incubation, acceleration, enterprise advisory services, or business development programs.
Experience facilitating access to market development, and private sector partnerships.
Experience establishing or managing Agribusiness Parks, business incubation centers, innovation hubs, enterprise support centers, or similar enterprise development facilities will be an added advantage.
Strong understanding of agribusiness value chains, enterprise ecosystems, and business growth strategies.
Strong business development and enterprise advisory skills.
Excellent knowledge of entrepreneurship, SME growth, and agribusiness development.
Good understanding of business incubation, enterprise acceleration, and Agribusiness Park operations.
Strong analytical, financial, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent coaching, mentoring, and stakeholder engagement abilities.
Strong understanding of investment readiness and market systems development.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and report-writing skills.
Results-oriented with strong planning and organizational skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and enterprise performance management tools.
Benefits
We offer highly competitive salary with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.