Posts
Post Title : Client
Development Officer (in charge of Student/ graduates)
Organisation: CURAD
Duration: One
year; renewable to further three years based on performance
Number of Positions:
One (1)
Country :Uganda
Background
Information:
The Consortium for enhancing University Responsiveness to
Agribusiness Development limited (CURAD) is a public-private partnership initiative promoted
by the Makerere University; the National Union of Coffee
Agribusinesses and Farm
Enterprises (NUCAFE); the Nati onal Agricultural Research
Organisati on (NARO); the
University of Copenhagen (UC) and NIRAS Internati onal.
CURAD is funded by the Universiti es, Business &
Research in Agricultural Innovati on
(UniBRAIN), an initi ati ve led by the Forum for Agricultural
Research in Africa (FARA) supported by the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Aff
airs (DANIDA).
CURAD has established an agribusiness incubati on centre
based at the Makerere University Agricultural Research Insti tute at Kabanyolo.
The key outputs of the incubator will be mainly young skilled entrepreneurs,
profi table enterprises and technological innovati ons and it is piloti ng with
the coff ee value chain.
The objective is to improve the effi ciency of marketi ng,
to improve the quality of the product and
to capture more value added products in coff ee in ways that
will increase returns to the producers and create jobs locally.
CURAD is looking for a Clients Development Offi cer for
bringing students/graduates into taking up entrepreneurship acti viti es in
agricultural value chains.
He/She will be
responsible for nurturing student/graduate start-up enterprises but at the same
time ensure financial sustainability of CURAD.
CURAD Mission
Statement
To produce young innovati ve and skilful agribusiness
incubatees through strategic
partnerships that support training, mentoring and business
development.
Duties and Responsibilities of the Clients Development
Officer in Charge of students/graduates.
The Client
Development Offi cer is expected to:
• Carry out customer development acti viti es by getti ng to
the student and rural and urban youth customer segments so that tailored
services and products can be made for them.
• Mobilise and engage the students/graduates for setti ng up
agricultural value chain enterprises including coff ee based SMEs.
• Contribute to disseminati ng the informati on of the acti
viti es and opportunities provided by CURAD amongst the youth by tapping into
educati onal institutions, youth communiti es and to wider public through
outreach acti viti es, youth community meeti ngs, print/electronic media.
• Facilitate in selecting, training and developing business
ideas into models and business plans for students/graduates and generally the
youths, arranging input service packages like extension services, marketi ng,
offi ce spaces,
• Facilitate and link incubated client students/graduates to
access financial support to implement their business plans.
• Organise and facilitate business plan competi ti ons,
which acti vity will enable start-up student enterprises to be competi ti ve
and att ract funding.
• Organize and facilitate youth entrepreneurial clubs and
clinics along specific value chains.
• Support the CURAD Managing Director to:
o Develop Monitoring & Evaluati on reports in line with
requirements of UniBRAIN and updati ng of UniBRAIN-MICS.
o Conduct stakeholder and client surveys for the incubator.
o Prepare monthly arti cles and quarterly departmental
reports on incubator activiti es concerning client - students.
o Prepare department annual report with data on job creati
on, revenue generated etc.
• Perform any other duti es assigned by the Managing
Director.
Desireable qualifications
General Skills
Bsc in Agriculture and or an MBA or Masters
Degree in Agribusiness or Agricultural Economics is an added
advantage
Professional Skills
• 1-2 years experience in managing farmer groups or similar
youth/community service activiti es.
• Strong ability to work and interact well with diverse
customer segments in different agricultural value chains.
• Handling training programs and ability to understand the
demands of the youths today.
Specific Professional
Skills
• Entrepreneurship management, revenue generation.
• Basic computer skills in MS Offi ce package.
• Good writt en and oral communicati on in
English and one of the local dialects in Uganda.
Other Conditions:
o Nature of assignment: Job will be off ered on a one year
contract which can be extended for a further three years based on incumbent
performance. A positive attitude and passionate approach for the job will be
very much appreciated.
o The Clients Development Offi cer will report to the
Managing Director.
Location: Job
will involve extensive travelling aimed at customer development to coordinate
with various actors in diff erent agricultural value chains.
Incubator will be
based at the Makerere University Agricultural Research Insti tute at Kabanyolo.
Remuneration
The Clients Development Offi cer (in charge of
Students/youths) will earn an attracti ve gross monthly remuneration based on
performance.
How to Apply:
Applicati on lett ers and CVs should be sent only by email
to the Secretary/Managing
Director CURAD P.O.BOX 1509, Kampala using email curad.curad@gmail.com and a copy
to skyamanywa@agric.mak.ac.ug by 6th September 2013.
