Company Profile

The Rural Enterprises Programme (REF) is part of the Government of Ghana's (GOG) effort to reduce poverty and improve living conditions in rural areas by improving infrastructure, technologies and skills needed for private sector development. The REP has been designed to upscale nationwide, the successful achievements of Rural Enterprises Project Phases I and II (REP-I & REF-II). 

REF has 4 main components, namely: 

1. Business Development Services;
2. Development of Agricultural Commodity Processing Infrastructure 
3. Creation of Enabling Business Environment and
4. Programme Coordination and Management.

REP is currently being implemented in 161 districts nationwide. The Programme is co-financed by the Government of Ghana (GOG), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and African Development Bank (AfDB). A Programme Coordination and Management Unit (PCMU) has been established in Kumasi to oversee the day-to-day activities of the REP.

A major concern of youth unemployment in Ghana is the rising proportion of graduate unemployment. This situation is partly due to the mismatch of skills acquired by the youth vis-a-vis what is required by the Job market and weak support systems for entrepreneurship and small-scale business development for self-employment. The ENABLE Youth initiative is intended to contribute to address this challenge through additional efforts by REP in the establishment and growth of viable agribusinesses. Such businesses will have the potential to create employment by offering a comprehensive and integrated package of training in agribusiness, financing, and ongoing coaching/mentoring, building partnership with the private sector, business and professional associations and training institutions. The ENABLE Youth initiative is well in line with Government Industrial Transformation Agenda and will contribute to strengthen the linkages between the agriculture, industry and services sectors of the economy.

Job Description

Reporting to: National Director

Scope Of assignment:

• The Operations Manager is a vital position in the programme which aims to promote rural MSEs.
• The Operations Manager maintains a good understanding of the recent developments and best practices in the field of rural enterprise promotion and growth.
• S/he works with the M&E Manager in developing the plan for business development and technology promotion & dissemination activities.
• The Operations Manager works with other team members of the PCMU (especially Rural finance Specialist) to expose the MSEs to the modern financial instruments and services offered by financial institutions and help them to use these instruments and services.
• S/he directly supervises the activities of Business Development and Technical Promotion Officers at the PCMU to ensure efficiency in service delivery.
• The Operations Manager works closely with the PCMU Business Development and Technology Promotion Officers to support Heads of BACs and RTFs in the districts and guides them in selecting the enterprises to be supported by the programme and extending the services to these enterprises.
• S/he guides the team members in the districts in the programme activities of business and technology promotion.
• The Operations Manager is responsible for achieving the programme outcomes and outputs in the field of MSE promotion, technology dissemination and youth engagement in agribusiness.

Key Responsibilities And Duties:
Under the supervision of the National Director, the Operations Manager will be responsible for coordinating and managing the enterprise development activities within the programme and for delivering the business development and technical skill training services to the rural entrepreneurs being supported by the programme as well as for ensuring the delivery of the expected programme outcomes working in close collaboration and coordination with other PCMU staff members, collaborating partners and other stakeholders. The responsibilities of the Operations Manager include (but nor limited to) the following:

Planning:

• Identify gap in BDS provision and technical skills training, facilitate development of a responsive and sustainable BDS and technical training delivery system
• Assist the Programme Management Team in planning of activities related to business incubation centres and Rural MSE development on periodic basis
• Develop and provide information package to the potential entrepreneurs and young graduate
• Coordinate with the BAC, RTF and business incubation centres in planning the business development and technology transfer activities under the programme and ensure programme activities as per the PIM and the Annual Plan
• Identify the Short term TA requirements for business development activities /identification of growth areas (value chains)

Project Implementation/execution:

• Help the BACs and RTFs to identify the Service Providers for BDS and technical skill training
• Develop the template for assessment of the capacity of the BACs and other local BDS providers,
• Work with the consultants on Business development and rural technology and pass on the learning from international experience in the execution of the programme activities
• In collaboration with other team members develop the inventory of rural businesses in the various programme districts
• Supervise the coordination of the activities of BACs, RTFs and incubation centres related to BDS, technical skill and management training
• Help the PCMU in identifying the potential sector/subsector/value chain as well as the market area/cluster for support under the programme, make necessary proposals and documents for discussion and decisions  
• Develop programme targeted at capacity building of the local service providers
• Develop documents and tool kits for BACs and other local BDS service providers
• Develop TOR and cost estimates for short term TAs in the area of enterprise promotion
• Support BACs and RTFs in collection of requests from interested graduate youth to be accorded support services under the programme
• Help the incubation centres in devising training curriculum and streamlining business plan selection process for business plans eligible for support under the programme
• Help the BAC and RTF teams in implementing the programme activities, identify opportunities and develop strategies to ensure that the programme deliverables are met

Monitoring and evaluation

• In coordination with M&E Manager, contribute to the development of the M&E system within the programme
• Feed in BDS and technical skills related data into the M&E database of the programme
• Contribute to the development of knowledge products related to BDS and technical skill training
• Help the KM specialist to develop knowledge products and information packages on innovations within the programme based on programme Implementation
• Use GIS system and software's in monitoring and planning of the BDS in the programme areas.

Training and Capacity Development

• Facilitate the programme partners in the development of their capacity to help rural enterprises and entrepreneurs and maintain their relationship with the rural enterprises
• Identify the particular skill needs of the BAC and RTF team members and develop the training and skill development programmes to meet their skill needs
• Organise trainings for the MSE service support to the District stakeholders
• Assist the local business associations and other stakeholders in upgrading their business support services

Information collection and management

• Collect the data On MSEs supported by the programme and feed that information to KM Officer and M&E Manager
• Ensure that learning from enterprise promotion is shared within the programme among the PCMU and the staff of BACs and RTFs.
• Any other assignment as directed by the National Director

Annual Performance Assessment

• The performance assessment of the Operational Manager will be based on the quality and timely completion of the tasks assigned and contributions to the Programme outputs and outcomes.
• Details on the indicators for performance assessment will be negotiated and agreed upon on a later stage once s/he signs contract with the Programme.
• The Programme reserves the right to terminate the contract if the performance of the Operational Manager is assessed as unsatisfactory.
• These Terms of Reference are subject to revision/update annually per requirement of the Programme based on planning trajectory, modification in programme design, or as recommended by Joint Reviews/Supervision Missions and lessons learned during the course of implementation.

Required Skills or Experience

• Master or higher degree in Business Administration, Management, Entrepreneurship Development Studies or other related social sciences. Engineering background may be an advantage.
• Seven years of professional experience in enterprise promotion, agribusiness development and technology dissemination.
• Knowledge of the entrepreneurial and regulatory environment of Ghana
• Proven result delivery ability in business promotion and development
• Experience of working in a multidisciplinary team
• Familiarity with GIS software or willingness to learn
• Ability to analyse and scrutinise business proposals to be supported by the programme
• Proven track record in leading multi stakeholders networks and experience in working with both government and non- government partners
• Ability to guide and develop capacities of team members, counterpart staff and other key stakeholders
• Experience in team building, communication and negotiation skill
• Full working knowledge of main MS Office software including MS project, Ms Power Point
• Fluency in spoken and written English is a must.

Desirable

• Experience of business promotion under a successful donor funded project