Governance Advisor - Mozambique

Focus of the Role

Our Governance work supports the governments and leaders of fragile, developing, and emerging states to enhance their effectiveness. We are focused on helping governments and leaders make their vision for the development of their country a reality. We work in the centre of government and key line ministries and our work is shaped by national priorities.

TBI’s Agriculture Advisory work

TBI’s work in agriculture focuses on supporting governments to improve coordination and delivery around the implementation of a whole of sector approach that seeks to deliver agriculture transformation at a national or state level. TBI’s greatest value add is three-fold: first, being present in numerous parts of government and anchored in the Presidency, it can work on inter-ministerial coordination. Second, by bringing adaptive, flexible and responsive management and delivery skills to progressive and visionary leaders, it can improve the implementation capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and other key ministries and agencies. Third its model of support is best placed to enable visionary leaders in government and their technical teams to drive a coherent and holistic approach for agriculture transformation that can coordinate various development partners and actors. This can help speed up the implementation of National Agriculture Investment Plan (such as PEDSA in Mozambique), as called for by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Plan.

TBI’s agriculture works aims to bring to governments the complement of management and delivery skills with skills that understand market systems, business and agriculture.

Job Introduction

To support this work we are currently searching for an experienced agriculture advisor will be an integral member of the Mozambique project team in the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. He/she will have responsibility for the development of TBI Mozambique’s Agriculture Work stream. He/She will focus primarily on supporting the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s coordination (with other parts of government, value chain actors and development partners), planning and delivery capability. This work will include support for:

1. Support the implementation of the national strategy and investment plan (PEDSA and PNISA) in view of increasing Agriculture productivity, production and competitiveness (focusing on improved seeds, agricultural mechanization, efficient use of technology and access to agricultural inputs and services);
2. Support the government improving the value chain efficiency of the strategic, traditional and emerging crop development programs in the main development corridors, strengthening structured market (national and international) access to selected crops;
3. Strengthen coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Presidency;
4. Support the country in investment promotion to attract foreign direct investment;
5. The Advisor will work in close collaboration with AGRA and other experts and stakeholders deployed to the Ministry, support sector coordination, planning and effective joint review processes of strategy and investment plans implementation.

The Advisor will also support the Government in its agriculture development policy, regulatory framework and institutional development. He/she will be embedded in the National Directorate of Planning and International Cooperation (DPCI) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

He/she will work in close cooperation with the Country Head and members of the TBI Mozambique Team and members of TBI’s Inclusive Growth practice.

This will entail working in a collaborative and respectful manner; actively contributing to the delivery and success of the Mozambique project to build capacity in the Government of Mozambique; and feeding into the wider work and development of the TBI.  He/she will develop and maintain close relationships with the Minister for Agriculture, most relevant institutional stakeholders in the sector and with other Ministries as well as develop close links with donors and with the diplomatic community. The post holder will report to the Mozambique Country Head.

It is also expected that the advisor will be required to make their expertise available to support TBI teams and Governments across Africa on agriculture issues. This is most likely to involve some support to our advisors and Governments in East and West Africa. This may involve occasional travel from Maputo.

Key Responsibilities

The advisor will be responsible for:

• Supporting the government in the development and implementation of the relevant strategies and national investment plans (PEDSA and PNISA) for the development of the Agriculture sector in the Country;
• Doing the above while building the coordination and delivery capacity of the Ministry and the government, bring in added-value and expertise to the agriculture sector while strengthening linkages to other priority areas such as gas, power, transports and social affairs;
• Improving planning and collaboration: supporting the Ministry of Agriculture and other government actors to work more effectively together to resolve bottlenecks for the development of the sector. This will require collaboration with Government officials and the TBI Country Head and Governance Advisors (energy, gas, transport, social affairs).  
• Support the cross ministerial coordination and raise the profile of the sector within the national development planning systems, processes and delivery mechanisms;
• Strengthen the coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Presidency;
• Providing independent and objective advice to the Minister of Agriculture and his/her designated focal point, whilst recognizing that policy decision-making and implementation of initiatives is the responsibility of the Government of Mozambique;
• Contributing to the success of the Mozambican project, by supporting the country head, including contributing to prudent financial management individually and for the project, monitoring and evaluation of the project work and team building exercises (e.g. organising team briefings, outings, etc);
• Scoping for the sector in order to assess possible future avenues for TBI work in agriculture and developing the agriculture workstream in Mozambique;
• Support TBI’s Inclusive Growth Practice through contributing expertise as required to our support to other Governments in East and West Africa.

Person Specification

·       Ideally 5-years of Private Sector Development (inc in Governments or Development Partners), Market Systems/Value Chains, Finance or AgriBusiness sector experience is required.

·       Experience in institutional capacity development, agriculture production and productivity, value chain analysis, consultancy, agribusiness, investment promotion and working in Africa is desirable;

·       An ability to work independently, think strategically and translate strategies into delivery plans on the ground, with emphasis on attention to details; with excellent analytical, organizational, communication and management skills;

·       An understanding of the needs of senior officials both while office based and travelling; be able to work and interact at the highest level of public life;

·       Excellent inter-personal skills and ability to work in a team with colleagues;

·       Ability to liaise with partner governments, external bodies, organizations and key stakeholders to deliver the requirements of the office, and TBI in particular;

·       Willingness to travel, sometimes at short notice;

·       Experience of identifying and resolving project implementation bottlenecks;

·       Strong of sense ethics, discretion and perseverance required;

·       Fluency in Portuguese and English is required.

About The Institute

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) aims to equip political leaders and governments to build open, inclusive and prosperous societies in an interconnected world. We do this through our Policy Futures ideas and our Government Advisory Practice.  What we believe in as an organisation:

• Open and Progressive – you’ll believe in the value of teamwork
• Bold and Pragmatic – you’ll approach everything you do with integrity and authenticity
• Optimistic Changemakers – you’ll be focused on results

TBI believes embracing diversity and inclusion make us a better place to work.  It’s our goal to reflect everyone in society and we actively welcome applications from individuals and groups who are under-represented in the workplace. We celebrate difference be it ethnicity, religion, age, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.

We will only ever assess you on your abilities and fit for a role. We’re happy to discuss any adjustments you need to ensure a level playing field during recruitment and, if you're successful, discuss any adjustments you might need to thrive in your role.