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Reports to: Country Director

Classification: Locally-Engaged Staff position open to nationals of the country of assignment and permanent residents with authority to live and work in the country of assignment.

Duration: 12 months, with the possibility of extension

Location: MDF Country Office

The Market Development Facility (MDF) is an Australian Government-funded initiative currently being implemented in five countries. MDF utilises a market systems development (MSD) approach to connect with private and public sectors players with the ability and leverage to trigger lasting systemic change and create broad-based, sustainable pro-poor growth.

MDF is a multi-country facility, currently operating in Fiji, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Each country has its own country team on the ground, with a Core Leadership Team (CLT) headed up by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) providing strategic, technical and managerial oversight across all MDF partner countries. The CLT ensures uniformity and integration of approach and systems across countries, while at the same time ensuring sufficient programmatic flexibility for Country Teams to respond to local context and DFAT country strategy.

Assignment Objectives:

MDF interventions are designed to stimulate innovative practices that unlock the growth potential of strategic engagement areas within the economy to create additional jobs and income earning opportunities for the poor and the underprivileged. The role of an MDF Business Adviser is to design and manage interventions working closely with a large variety of strategic private and public players to achieve these results. S/he works very closely with a team of Quality and Inclusion Specialists to measure the effectiveness of MDF interventions and learn from the results generated, as well as with Communications Specialists to share MDF intelligence and engage relevant audiences.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Understand and apply the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach to development and design and manage interventions in line with its principles.
  • Understand and apply the DCED guidelines for results measurement in order to be able to conduct results measurement in line with these principles.
  • Analyse (sectors) of the economy in a quantitative and qualitative manner, develop a ‘deep’ understanding of their functioning,
  • Identify their potential for pro-poor growth, constraints to growth and innovative solutions and opportunities to unlock this growth potential, making enterprises more competitive and creating job and income earning opportunities for the poor and underprivileged.
  • Support the development of sector growth strategies for inclusive, pro-poor growth.
  • Communicate with, negotiate with and develop partnerships with a large variety of strategic private and public players in these (potential) growth sectors to introduce innovation and unlock the pro-poor growth potential, with a focus on partnership(s) involving media and/or communicating with large audiences.
  • Draft partnership justifications and partnership agreements.
  • Contribute to maintaining a results measurement system in line with DCED guidelines and collaborate with the Quality and Inclusion Director and the Quality and Inclusion Coordinator/Specialist for effective results measurement.
  • Develop intervention plans and, in collaboration with the Quality and Inclusion Coordinator/Specialist, develop results chains and measurement plans for each intervention and sector in which the Facility is active, and execute those plans in collaboration with the Quality and Inclusion Specialist, applying good research practice.
  • Contribute to communications products and engagement, influencing and learning events.
  • Work in a flexible, professional, business-friendly manner, driven by a wish to create real collaboration, real changes and real results, and be a team player.
  • Willing to travel extensively to develop a deep insight in the economy, meet the players and potential partners, and verify whether the interventions designed achieve their objectives.

Other

  • Other activities as directed by the Country Director, Chief Technical Officer or other representative(s) of Palladium.

Requirements:  

  • Preferably more than three years of work experience.
  • Post graduate qualifications in agricultural science, agricultural economics, business, economics or other relevant field(s) relevant to the strategic engagement areas that comprise the MDF country portfolio.
  • Familiarity with the issues affecting the private sector in the country of assignment as well as international trends in business and the economy.
  • Evidence of strong analytical skills including the ability to design and execute qualitative and quantitative research projects.