Senior Market Linkage Officer

Job Description

Background:

Hand in Hand Afghanistan (HiH Af) is a not-for-profit organization based in Afghanistan. It started operations in 2007, following a request at the 2006 London Donor Conference. HiH Af is part of the international Hand in Hand (HiH) network of independent organizations, working together towards a shared vision to alleviate poverty through job creation. The overall Hand in Hand mission is to promote the economic and social empowerment of women, by supporting the creation of sustainable enterprises, improved livelihoods and jobs.

The Hand in Hand Afghanistan currently implementing projects in Balkh, Samangan, Jawzjan and Sar i Pul provinces of Afghanistan funded by DFID, EC and HIH-International through its main office in Kabul and regional office in Mazare Sharif – Balkh province.  –

Duties & Responsibilities:

The Senior Market Linkage Officer will be responsible for the overall improvement of the quality of the products made by Hand in Hand Afghanistan’s beneficiaries for better marketing purposes and will support and lead the market linkage team at the district level.

In particular the Market Linkage Officer will:

• Develop market linkage strategy for Hand in Hand Afghanistan’s market linkages component of its model.
• Review value chains of products of targeted entrepreneurs and seek proper market for them at district, provincial, regional levels.
• Develop quarterly and annual work plan for the organization’s market linkage and value addition component and identify potential partners for linkages.
• Support CIGs and Associations to establish market linkage with public and private sectors.
• Do market research to identify potential entrepreneurial activities to be undertaken by group members in different target districts.
• Carry out value chain analysis to determine appropriate interventions required for the selected sector/business.
• Develop training material for market linkage and value addition training for the members.
• Conduct market linkage and value chain improvement trainings for the entrepreneurs.
• Orient HiH Af field staff on the developed market linkage and value addition strategy.
• Develop branding and work towards standardization of the group members’ products.
• Provide regular feedback to entrepreneurs about the quality of their products and help them bring further improvements to the design, color, packing, etc. as per market demand.
• Organize knowledge management and sharing of experiences through cross fertilization visits among CIGs and SHGs.
• Facilitate formation of Associations among the CIGs and/or link them to active cooperatives in the area.
• Organize exhibition for the CIGs’ and SHGs’ products at the district, provincial and national levels.
• Work closely with the Capacity Development, M&E and field units.
• Monitor progress of the project from marketing prospective.
• Monitor the established linkages between the groups and buyers and ensure their sustainability.
• Prepare success stories and provide photographs and videos for publishing on HiH Af’s website and social network pages.
• Prepare and submit regular progress report on the activities performed.
• Any other related tasks assign by her/his supervisor.

Qualifications:

• Degree on Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is must, holding an MBA is preferred.
• Minimum of five (5) years of practical experience in marketing and value chain improvement.
• Specific marketing experience of Hand in Hand A-f products is a plus.
• Good communication skills and ability to speak read and write Dari/Pashto and English languages, speaking and understanding local languages will be an advantage.
• Good team member and committed to achieve organizational goals.
• Ability to travel to target districts
• Competency in using computer e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Internet and familiarity with Photoshop is an advantage.

Submission Guidelines:

Interested applicants should submit their application comprises of one page cover letter explaining your interest and suitability for the position along with updated CV.

The application should send via email to: rukai.amiry@handinhand.org.af  and cc info@handinhand.org.af, please note that, applications received after the closing date (Sep 17, 2015) will not be given in consideration. Only shortlisted candidates whose application meets the above criteria will be contacted for interview.

Note: Please clearly indicate the vacancy announcement number in subject line of your email.

CV without Hand in Hand Job Application form will not be considered.

Please click here to download the HiH Af job application form