BACKGROUND:

Passing Gifts Private Limited (PGPL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Heifer International USA and it provides services in educating, consulting, training, advising, and providing professional and technical services to individuals, associations, and entities in India and abroad, particularly those who support or are working in the areas of social advancement and sustainable development. This position may also require service agreements, secondment agreements, between entities, etc.

PGPL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, gender identify, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability.

FUNCTION:

The Senior Project Officer - Enterprise Development will play a pivotal role in leading PGPL’s project activities focused on connecting Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and self-help groups (SHG) with market intermediaries. The role involves supporting the development of micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) and collaborating with various public and private sector organizations to enhance both forward and backward linkages in product and input/service markets.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES: (including approximate percentage effort) Business Development and Branding (20%)

•          Conduct market research on demand and supply, value chain analysis, and feasibility studies to identify viable enterprise opportunities;

•          Support the development of bankable business plans and connect with relevant financial and non- financial service providers;

•          Identify branding options for farmers' products and ensure compliance with legal requirements and protocols.

Build Capacity of Staff, Partners, and FPOs on Enterprise Development (20%)

•          Align organizational and business development and build capacity among stakeholders;

•          Prepare capacity-building plans for project staff and partners on market system development, enterprise, and value chain development;

•          Orient FPO staff, follow up on job-related functions to achieve targets. 

Monitoring, Review, and Reporting of Projects (20%)

•          Ensure partner compliance with PGPL monitoring and evaluation requirements;

•          Review project progress with partner staff on a monthly basis;

•          Participate in ongoing partner activities for quality control and improvement;

•          Prepare activity-based reforecasting following the participatory method and coordinate with stakeholders;

•          Document and share best practices and promote the PSRP process at each level in the project;

•          Work collaboratively with the various departments of PGPL.

Develop Business Relationships and Market Linkages (25%)

•          Facilitate multi-stakeholder consultation meetings, workshops, and business-to-business (B2B) meetings;

•          Organize B2B meetings with potential value chain (VC) actors for stronger market linkages;

•          Explore joint initiatives with public, private, and producer organizations to establish viable and sustainable business ventures;

•          Establish functional relationships with market actors to overcome bottlenecks in the market system;

•          Develop and implement a goat market investment plan on public, private, and producer partnerships.

Leadership & General Operations (10%)

•          Manage enterprise, market, and value chain-related activities and functions;

•          Develop market development and private/public sector engagement strategy for the project;

•          Ensure systematic documentation of successes and lessons learned for internal use and external sharing;

•          Develop project implementation plans for the market development component with clear timelines and deliverables;

•          Ensure timely delivery of milestones related to the Market Development component;

•          Produce periodic reports and knowledge documents.

May perform other job-specific duties as assigned (5%) QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS:

•          Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Rural Development, Enterprise Development, or a related field;.

•          Minimum of Four (4) years of experience with an international organization in a similar context;

•          Master's degree or equivalent in Agriculture Economics, Business Administration, Rural Development, Enterprise Development, or a related field;

•          Minimum of two (2) years of field and technical experience in commercial sector, agribusiness development, economic growth/trade, value chain competitiveness, investment promotion, or agriculture development;

•          Experience in working with FPOs and their businesses is highly recommended;

•          Clear understanding of goat, BYP, vegetable, and agri-product value chains;

•          Innovative, analytical, and solutions-oriented mindset;

•          Knowledge of enterprise development and linkages to poverty alleviation.

ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES:

•          Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to navigate challenging situations to achieve goals and deadlines;

•          Demonstrate a high degree of honesty and integrity;

•          Motivated to work responsibly with little supervision;

•          Ability to meet and deal with others in a courteous and tactful manner;

•          Ability to work with sensitive information and to always maintain confidentiality;

•          Ability and willingness to work a flexible schedule

•          Fluent in Hindi, English, and Local Language spoken as well as written;

•          Have an interest in animals/agriculture community development;

•          Willingness and ability to travel locally and internationally;

•          Knowledge of word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, web designing, collaboration platform and tools, and electronic mail software (Microsoft preferred);

•          Constant sitting, standing and walking, with occasional bending and lifting; may work at a computer for extended periods of time.