Specialist – Private Sector Development

Location: Dodoma, Tanzania

AGRA and its Work to Transform Agriculture

AGRA is an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems. We do this by empowering the continent’s 33 million smallholder farming households to transform their agriculture from a struggle to survive to profitable businesses. The continent’s farmers regularly face challenges, and we aspire to provide uniquely African solutions that respond to their agricultural and environmental challenges, leading to increased harvests for reduced hunger and more income aligned with the Kampala CAADP and national priorities.

Working in alignment with the development priorities of our focus countries, we enable farmers to access improved and high-yielding seeds, gain knowledge on sustainable farming, and linkages to profitable markets. In our work, we aspire to build the alliances, partnerships, and networks required to drive an inclusive agricultural transformation. We work with our partners to create an equitable youth-friendly environment that harnesses the youth dividend on the continent to drive growth and facilitate open employment opportunities for young women and men. We achieve our key objectives through a focus on the following four areas of intervention:

1. Policy and state capability – We support governments in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transformation.
2. Seed systems – We trigger higher productivity by increasing the availability and access to improved seeds by farmers allowing them to increase their harvests for food security and better incomes.
3. Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irrigation.
4. Inclusive markets and trade – We work to increase the linkages between farmers, and other market actors for a positive, sustained cycle of commercialization and reinvestment.
5. Youth, Gender, and Inclusiveness – We enable women and youth to contribute to and benefit from agriculture for their economic empowerment.

Implementing Our New Strategy Through People

People are the heartbeat of our organization and remain the true drivers of our delivery, impact, and success. We have cultivated a workplace that fuels Depth in Collaboration, Excellence in Execution, Constructive Engagements, and a spirit of being Increasingly Entrepreneurial; all underpinned by our cherished I-RISE Values (Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship and Equity)

We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the African continent combined with an inclusive, diverse, and talented workforce from over 25 nationalities. Our commitment to a call to action goes beyond ourselves as we arise to catalyze African Food Systems transformation and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

We are looking for people who are passionate about being part of a mission-driven team that is making a real difference on the continent; love to work on cutting edge Ag technologies; and able to grow their skills, expertise, and experience career growth, while enjoying very competitive compensation and benefits.

Background

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, supports the operationalization of the Agricultural Transformation Office (ATO) under the Ministry of Agriculture. The ATO serves as the delivery enabler for the Agricultural Master Plan, strengthening coordination, implementation discipline, performance management, and follow-through across the implementation chain. Private-sector participation is central to achieving the Agricultural Master Plan’s commercialization, value addition, and market expansion goals.

The Position

The Private Sector Development Specialist will strengthen structured engagement with private-sector actors, support investment readiness, identify and develop business opportunities, and ensure systematic follow-up on private-sector commitments aligned to Agricultural Master Plan priority value chains. The role focuses on unlocking private-sector investment, strengthening partnerships with agribusinesses, financial institutions, and industry associations, and ensuring that constraints raised by the private sector are elevated, analyzed, and addressed in collaboration with the Policy, Delivery, and Resource Mobilization teams.

The ideal candidate will coordinate all private-sector engagement related to the Agricultural Master Plan implementation. Working under the guidance of the ATO Director, the Specialist will map key private-sector actors, strengthen dialogue mechanisms, develop investment opportunities, prepare business cases, and surface constraints affecting private-sector participation. Additionally, the Specialist will maintain close collaboration with the ATO team to ensure alignment of policy reform needs, investment requirements, and delivery follow-through.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement ATO’s private-sector engagement framework, aligned to Agricultural Master Plan commercialization priorities.
• Identify investment opportunities and prepare business cases, concept notes, and briefs to attract private investment in Agricultural Master Plan value chains.
• Conduct market and stakeholder analyses to identify barriers, investment gaps, and strategic opportunities across key value chains.
• Support policy and regulatory reforms in collaboration with the Policy Advisor, based on private-sector insights and operational challenges.
• Strengthen linkages between private-sector investment initiatives and the Agricultural Master Plan delivery clusters.
• Prepare financing pitches, investment briefs, and proposals for capital providers and blended-finance partners.
• Coordinate financial mapping to determine flagship financing gaps and opportunities.
• Work with Treasury and Ministry of Agriculture/Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries planning units to align Agricultural Master Plan priorities with government budgeting cycles.
• Support development of strategic partnerships with private sector associations and technical partners
• Strengthen financing documentation, ensuring accuracy, coherence, and alignment with financing standards.
• Facilitate structured engagement with agribusinesses, cooperatives, processors, aggregators, financiers, and industry associations.
• Maintain active coordination platforms to surface issues, track commitments, and promote collaboration.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for private-sector stakeholders seeking to engage with Agricultural Master Plan programs.
• Coordinate with the Resource Mobilization Specialist to align investment discussions with financing opportunities and donor programs.
• Serve as the primary liaison for development partners, DFIs, and sector coordination bodies on Agricultural Master Plan financing.
• Facilitate structured financing discussions, ensuring clear articulation of resource needs and expected outcomes.
• Engage DFIs to explore risk-sharing instruments, credit lines, and blended-finance mechanisms to support Agricultural Master Plan value chains.
• Ensure timely communication and follow-up on commitments, next steps, and responsibilities.
• Maintain updated Agricultural Master Plan financing pipelines, dashboards, and commitment-tracking systems.
• Prepare regular financing reports, briefs, and updates for ATO leadership, ASWG, and government
• Support Delivery Specialists in validating financial progress reports for flagship programs.
• Provide data and insights for stock-take sessions, performance reviews, and leadership dashboards.
• Track private-sector commitments, follow up on agreed actions, and ensure timely issue resolution through cross-institutional collaboration.
• Prepare private-sector engagement reports, investment briefs, and inputs for ATO leadership dashboards and stock-take sessions.
• Support Delivery officers in validating private-sector progress data related to commercialization, processing, storage, and market access.
• Maintain accurate databases of private-sector actors, commitments, and follow-through items.

Key Qualifications and Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Agribusiness, Economics, Commerce, Development Finance, or related field.
• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Economics, Agribusiness Management, Development Finance, or a similar field is an added advantage.
• Minimum of seven (7) years of experience in private-sector development, agribusiness, investment promotion, value-chain development, or public–private partnerships.
• Proven experience working with agribusinesses, financial institutions, cooperatives, or industry associations.
• Demonstrated ability to prepare investment briefs, business cases, and market analyses.
• Strong experience in multi-stakeholder coordination and facilitation.
• Understanding of Tanzania’s agricultural market systems, investment environment, and regulatory landscape.
• Demonstrated ability to apply market-systems approaches to strengthen value chains and expand commercial opportunities.
• Ability to convene multi-stakeholder platforms and manage dialogue processes that encourage accountability and collaboration.

If you believe you are the right candidate for this position, please apply for this vacancy by clicking the link below:

https://ekjd.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX/jobs

For more information on the AGRA, visit www.agra.org.

AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer