Position: Senior Market Systems Development Specialist
Location: Dhaka and Jessore
Reports to: Deputy Chief of Party
Job Type: Full-time
Duration: 5 years
Effective from: January 1st, 2025
POSITION OVERVIEW
Innovision is recruiting for a Senior Market Systems Development Specialist position for the Feed the Future Bangladesh Sustainable Aquaculture Activity. The Activity aims to enhance inclusive and sustainable aquaculture sector growth in Bangladesh through a market system approach to improve rural household income and nutrition.The Senior Market Systems Development Specialist will lead the design and implementation of market systems development interventions to enhance inclusive economic opportunities in Bangladesh. This includes improving the efficiency, resilience, and inclusivity of the aquaculture sector. The role requires expertise in systems thinking, private sector engagement, and the facilitation of market-based solutions that address key barriers to economic development. They must ensure technical quality and provide support to project teams in the design and implementation of an inclusive market-based approach that promotes market opportunities for smallholder and subsistence farmer households, women, and youth. The Specialist must bring thoughtful, strategically sound knowledge of approaches in market system development, with the ability to craft clear and impactful project descriptions (PDs) and knowledge pieces. Additionally, they must be able to actively contribute to promoting inclusive and sustainable business practices on renowned knowledge platforms, showcasing the project’s impact and lessons learned.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Market Systems Analysis and Design:
- Lead the design of market systems interventions, based on identified analysis of market constraints, opportunities, and needs.
- Utilize systems thinking to design sustainable and scalable solutions that address root causes of market inefficiencies and barriers to economic participation.
- Provide analysis of the equitable opportunities within the aquaculture value chain for smallholder and subsistence farmer households, commercial and market-oriented farmers, women, and youth.
- Assess, identify, and support the development of last-mile delivery systems for fish seed and other agri-inputs with private sector actors that are effective in reaching smallholder farmers.
2. Stakeholder Engagement:
- Work with the project team to lead stakeholder engagement workshops to provide input into the design and development of relevant program activities and partnership mechanisms.
- Work with the project team to engage regional partners and influencers to establish and shape business models, facilitate multi-stakeholder initiatives, and scale up innovations, collaborating closely with donors and HQ teams to ensure successful integration of program activities and track progress toward goals.
- Establish and maintain robust relationships with the private sector to develop a strong pipeline of potential private sector partners for co-investment initiatives.
- Collaborate with local MSMEs and NGOs using a localization approach to enhance their capacities in expanding access to aquaculture inputs and technologies for farmers.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders across public and private sectors, including government agencies, businesses, development partners, and local NGOs.
- Facilitate collaboration between stakeholders to support market-based solutions that increase economic opportunities for marginalized groups.
- Work closely with private sector actors to promote market-driven models that ensure sustainability beyond the project's lifecycle.
- Monitor and evaluate stakeholder engagement activities to assess their effectiveness and adapt strategies to ensure maximum impact and alignment with project objectives
3. Program Leadership and Implementation:
- Together with the team, develop and lead a detailed implementation plan (DIP) for implementation of the project's market system and private sector engagement strategy.
- Identify innovative opportunities with private sector actors, and market system actors in the aquaculture sector, and co-create solutions (e.g. grants, MoUs, and other partnership mechanisms) with them, leveraging their resources, technologies and expertise, in order to achieve the Activity’s objectives and goals.
- Work with project beneficiaries including large firms and MSMEs to develop and implement competitive and innovative business models to increase the competitiveness of the aquaculture sector, including strategies for increasing access to capital and access to upgraded technologies.
- Work with the private sector and market actors to develop PDs and intervention budgets to implement various interventions in collaboration with private sector partners.
- Lead and manage the implementation of market systems development programs, ensuring that all activities align with program goals, timelines, and budgets.
- Provide technical leadership in designing, piloting, and scaling market system interventions.
- Work with the MEL team to evaluate the impact and sustainability of inclusive aquaculture business models.
- Continually monitored contextual factors and risks that would impact implementation. Assist project management and leadership team on corrective measures and adaptive approaches through management decision-making.
- Capacity Building:
- Build the capacity of local partners, including businesses, community organizations, and government agencies, to design and implement market systems interventions.
- Train and motivate field teams, and consortium partners to assess end markets and understand constraints for market actors along selected value chains, ensuring targeted interventions and effective implementation.
- Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion:
- Ensure that market systems interventions are designed with a focus on promoting gender equality, social inclusion, youth inclusion, and equitable access to economic opportunities.
- Promote inclusive economic growth that specifically targets marginalized groups such as women, youth, smallholder farmers, and other vulnerable populations.
- Collaborate closely with the project’s Senior Gender and Youth Inclusion Specialist to work with stakeholders, including public and private sector actors and MSMEs, to design innovative and sustainable gender- and youth-inclusive models within the core business model to increase gender and youth participation and empowerment.
- Knowledge Management and Learning:
- Identify and stay current with DevWorks’ knowledge management strategy and approach – internally and more broadly in the aquaculture ecosystem- to share and access knowledge for the broader team in an effective and easily consumable manner. In addition, work with team members to review and refine the overall KM strategy.
- Collaborate with various tiers of stakeholders and private partners to find creative ways to publish and disseminate lessons learned.
- Assist in developing different knowledge products such as impact stories, infographics, case studies, newsletters, reports, blog stories, etc.
- Work closely with the core communications and knowledge management team to manage and curate social media opportunities.
- Work closely with core communications and knowledge management team to develop impact and resilience series to publish in social and international knowledge platforms (such as Agrilink).
- Lead the collection of data and evidence from market systems interventions to assess impact and ensure learning and knowledge sharing.
- Document case studies, lessons learned, and best practices for internal and external dissemination.
- Provide weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, and annual updates to Innovision's Country Director.
- Provide strategic support on CLA to the Activity MEL and communications teams.
- Policy and Advocacy:
- Work with the project team to support policy dialogue and advocacy initiatives to promote reforms that enhance market systems and create more inclusive economic opportunities in Bangladesh.
- Work with the project team to advise government stakeholders on market systems development policies and programs that enhance competitiveness and economic growth.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Education: Master's degree in Agricultural Economics, Business Administration, or a related field.
Experience:
- Proven experience in designing and managing large-scale development projects focused on market systems, value chains, or economic development.
- Demonstrated experience in facilitating collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including businesses, government agencies, and civil society organizations.
- Minimum 8-10 years of experience working with the private sector to develop public-private partnerships, leverage resources, and promote private-sector-driven growth in Bangladesh.
- Knowledge/contact with private sector enterprises in the aquaculture sector in Bangladesh.
- Experience providing advisory, mentoring, and capacity-building services to SMEs and/or anchor firms.
- Familiarity with access to finance constraints for SMEs and anchor firms and ability to advise on solutions.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders, including government officials, private sector actors, financial institutions, project staff, and/or donor agencies.
Skills:
- Deep understanding of market systems development approaches, including systems thinking, inclusive business models, and market facilitation.
- Strong analytical skills and experience conducting market assessments, value chain analysis, and systems mapping.
- Proven track record of managing donor-funded projects, including monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
- Knowledge of the economic and social dynamics of Bangladesh, particularly in sectors like agriculture, finance, and employment.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills in English and Bangla.
Other:
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a multi-cultural and dynamic environment.
- Familiarity with key development partners and donors working in Bangladesh (e.g., USAID, DFID, ADB, World Bank).
KEY COMPETENCIES:
- Strong leadership and project management skills.
- Ability to work across multiple sectors and levels of the market system.
- High-level problem-solving skills with a focus on innovative, sustainable solutions.
- Strong relationship management skills and the ability to influence and collaborate with diverse stakeholders.
- Strong understanding of gender, social inclusion, and the ability to mainstream these considerations into market systems work.
COMPENSATION & OTHER BENEFITS:
Negotiable depending on qualifications and experience in related fields. |
