Senior Consultant: Africa Food Systems at IIRR – Nairobi

IIRR is one of the world’s leading rural development non-governmental organizations. Founded in 1960, IIRR has impacted more than 62 million rural lives across five continents. Its programs strengthen the health, education, and environmental conditions of rural communities and prioritize sustainable, community-led solutions that empower people to improve their lives and livelihoods. IIRR maintains offices in Africa, Asia, and North America.

About the Role
IIRR is seeking a senior leader to drive the design and advancement of a large-scale, Africa-focused initiative aimed at strengthening farmer-led food systems.

This is a strategic role focused on architecture, alignment, and institutional partnerships.
The Consultant will lead structured engagement with senior technical, policy, and investment stakeholders to translate ambitious concepts into credible, implementable models.

Purpose of the Role
To lead the strategic design, partner alignment, and institutional positioning of a large food systems initiative. The role requires strong judgment and the ability to navigate complex institutional environments with credibility and diplomacy.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Architecture & Alignment

• Lead the structured co-design and alignment process with institutional partners.
• Integrate multiple workstreams (eg. farmer organization, SME development, market systems) into a coherent strategic model.
• Ensure alignment with existing sector frameworks and avoid duplication.
• Translate technical feedback into clear, decision-ready revisions.

Partnership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as the primary senior counterpart to development finance institutions, impact investors, and technical partners.
• Coordinate inputs from external advisors, fund managers, and sector specialists.
• Maintain disciplined, unified messaging on behalf of IIRR.
• Prepare concise leadership-ready briefs and strategic notes.

Market Interface

• Engage with potential financing partners to test market realism and instrument design.
• Ensure proposed models reflect SME realities, structural constraints, and risk considerations.
• Support sequencing from concept to pilot design.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• 12–18+ years of progressive leadership experience.
• Deep background in African agriculture, agribusiness, food systems, and/or rural market development.
• Demonstrated experience working with development finance institutions (e.g., AfDB, World Bank, IFAD, or similar).
• Proven ability to navigate multi-stakeholder environments involving policy actors, private sector firms, and financing institutions.
• Experience in SME development, value chain programming, or anchor firm models.
• Strong systems-thinking capability; able to integrate institutional, market, and financial dimensions.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated credibility in senior-level institutional settings.

Highly Desirable

• Exposure to blended finance or agricultural investment structures.
• Experience designing or advising on market-linked agriculture programs.
• Familiarity with warehouse/collateral systems, SME finance constraints, or risk mitigation mechanisms.
• Background in large-scale partnership design
• Experience within a respected agricultural NGO, DFI, or agribusiness investment organization.

Personal Attributes

• Strategic thinker with disciplined execution mindset.
• Politically astute and institutionally sensitive.
• Able to manage ambiguity and drive clarity.
• Calm under scrutiny.
• High integrity and discretion.

Location & Travel

• Nairobi strongly preferred.
• Frequent travel within Africa required.

Compensation
Competitive and commensurate with experience.

Application Process

Qualified candidates should submit the following:

• CV (maximum of 4 pages)
• A one page cover letter outlining relevant experience leading complex multi institutional initiatives and indicating preference for part time or full time placement
• Contact information for three professional references

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

No calls, please. If you have not received a response from us within two weeks of submitting your application, please assume that your application was not successful on this occasion.

For more opportunities, please visit our careers page at https://iirr.org/careers/.