Program Manager

About African Leadership Academy and the Africa Career Networks
African Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing, and connecting a new generation of young leaders who will lead the continent towards lasting peace and shared prosperity for all. Since our inception in 2008, we have worked to lay the foundations of this audacious mission by identifying and developing a group of exceptional young leaders who will work together to shape Africa’s future. Since 2012, the Africa Career Networks (ACN) program at ALA has enabled students and alumni of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program and African Leadership Academy (ALA) to access transformative early-career opportunities and accelerate their progression to impact. Partnerships with various foundations and supporters have allowed ACN to build 7 growing, pan-African career networks focused on key economic sectors - Education, Health, The Arts, Agribusiness, Infrastructure, Governance and Professional Services. Our network-theory driven approach has facilitated powerful social impact collaborations among our young leaders and connected them to over 5000 internships and full-time job opportunities.
About Al for Agribusiness
AL for Agribusiness is a network that supports and develops young leaders who contribute to the transformation of the agriculture sector across Africa. We catalyse connections between key stakeholders along the agriculture value chain to create an ecosystem that facilitates diverse career pathways for our young leaders. We support aspiring agripreneurs in their efforts to build innovative ventures that will drive productivity and job creation in their communities. The network fosters powerful and sustainable intergenerational relationships that enable the exchange of information and know how to positively impact rural livelihoods.
We equip our young leaders with the skills, knowledge and attributes needed to catalyse their careers in the sector by facilitating masterclasses and providing one-on-one coaching and career guidance. We identify, connect, and support young agripreneurs to establish sustainable ventures. In addition, we will partner with established high impact organisations to help develop and promote the work of our entrepreneurs. Our initiatives include a Co-Creation fund program, Coaching and Career Guidance, Stakeholder Engagement through Virtual and In-Person Events, SME Internship Program and Internship Readiness Masterclass for SMEs, Agriculture Sector Employer Engagement, and the Application of Network Theory
Position Overview
We are looking for a dynamic AL for Agribusiness program manager within our Network Programs team. The AL for Agribusiness Program Manager will be responsible for accelerating the career paths of our young leaders, though sector success and challenge programs, professional development and by connecting them to a variety of internship and job opportunities within the Agribusiness sector. This role has the exciting task of building a pan African network of employers and partners in the Agribusiness sector to grow and develop the network. He/she will engage with top employers in this space, to build relationships and place young talent in their organisations. The Agribusiness program manager must engage network members by managing programs and events in which key industry players, professionals, thought leaders and our young leaders can participate. In addition, they will identify Agribusiness entrepreneurial activities that bridge gaps to achieve positive impact. Lastly, the sector program manager will find ways of igniting and fostering collaboration where facilitated knowledge transfer and the exchange of ideas can inspire impactful Agribusiness solutions for Africa in the ALA community, including ALA’s African studies and entrepreneurial leadership departments and ALU’s Agribusiness community. The overall goal is to create a community engaged on the most important strategic challenges facing this sector, and to help develop young talent in Africa.
Position Responsibilities

- Build Partnerships: Sustain existing and develop new partnerships with employers, sector stakeholders, program partners and potential funders.
- Execute on Strategy: Execute upon a long-term strategy to maximize our impact on Agribusiness in Africa whilst thinking about your own vision for the network and what it could become (entrepreneurial thinking).
- Program management: Manage the sector success and sector challenge programs to maximize and develop leadership skills and build professional development skills around Agribusiness related themes.
- Grow the Network: Develop and implement an effective network engagement strategy that will enable diverse stakeholders to connect and collaborate consistently to innovate and improve Agribusiness in Africa.
- External Communications: Articulate the philosophies and approaches of AL for Agribusiness programs and the resulting impact of network members on the wider Agribusiness ecosystem in Africa. Provide thought leadership and represent AL for Agribusiness in global conferences, talks and Agribusiness networks to share learnings and build relationships.
- Stakeholder Partnerships: Manage relationships with key partners and funders.
- Get stuck in: Participate in program design and delivery, providing coaching, program and event facilitation and coordination as necessary for program success and as a means of engaging network members.
- Defines project outcomes across multiple project streams, with increasing degrees of project complexity and task uncertainty. Interprets vague information and interdependencies. Builds strong rhythms to support team management and delivery.
- Assume accountability for work delegated to others. Lead performance management and review of team members. Interpret HR policies and ensure their implementation. Ensure exceptional candidate experiences and drive hiring processes. Capable of difficult and crucial conversations
- Projecting budgetary requirements and reporting. Managing needs of a range of projects. Able to manage grant performance.

- Actively builds external relationships that will attract the time, treasure, and talent required to build their program. Identifies, serves, and follows up with prospective customers, partners, and stakeholders

Profile of the ideal candidate

- Partnership builder: you build win-win partnerships and have the experience of fundraising for non-profit and/or for-profit organizations.
- Demonstrate leadership: you identify, evaluate, and execute on high-impact opportunities using entrepreneurial thinking.
- Program Development Skills: Ability to design or create initiatives, events and programs that will contribute to, and build the Agribusiness network.
- Highly organized project manager: Ability to plan and deliver on projects timeously. Good planning, priority, and organisational skills, especially when under tight deadlines
- You have a strong existing network in the Agribusiness space and are passionate about building and sustaining relationships and networks, especially on the African continent.
- Experience managing complex projects with multiple workstreams.
- Written and verbal communication skills. Experience with public speaking, report writing, proposals, published written work, as well as developing communication strategies and plans.
- Marketing skills: Must have effective communication skills for marketing blurbs, social media posts, newsletter writing and sharing stories of impact.
- Stakeholder Management skills: Ability to confidently work with multiple stakeholders at different levels in organisations, to advance progress and execute on program ideas, both internally and externally.
- Professional development skills: Ability to manage and recognise young, highly skilled, ambitious talent (potentially in their first job) with a strong growth trajectory and provide guidance/coaching as needed.
- Data Management and Analysis skills: CRM Data management, generating analytics that can be used for reporting. (Salesforce knowledge an advantage.)
- Facilitation and coordination skills: Ability to convene and manage events and workshops to drive network engagement

Desired Experience

- Post Grad degree in an Agribusiness - related discipline
- 5+ years of experience working in or advising Agribusiness organizations.
- Management experience in an Agribusiness-related field is a requirement.
- Must have industry knowledge and a broad understanding and knowledge of Agribusiness development challenges and opportunities facing the African continent.
- An awareness about career opportunities and pathways in Agribusiness through the lens of leadership development and be passionate and eager to engage in continuous learning and networking in the field.
- Dedicated to shaping the future of Agribusiness sector in Africa.

Reporting: This role reports to the Senior Director of Career Programs
Start Date: 1 November 2024
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa.