The Agrifood System Transformation for Youth Employment (ASTYE) program in Uganda is a transformative initiative designed to address systemic challenges hindering agricultural development and youth employment, particularly for young women. Funded by the Mastercard Foundation and implemented in partnership with DSG, AGRA, and GOAL, ASTYE aims to create dignified and fulfilling work opportunities for young people while strengthening Uganda’s agrifood ecosystem.

The Country Director holds the most senior leadership role for the program and is responsible for overall strategic direction, program performance, and in-country representation. The role oversees the design, setup, and execution of a complex, multi-component portfolio focused on agricultural transformation and rural development and serves as the primary interface with government, donors, and strategic partners. The Country Director works closely with senior leadership across DSG and partner organizations to translate program strategy into effective delivery, ensuring strong alignment between vision, execution, and measurable results.

Key Impact Areas

Strategic & Program Leadership

• Provide overall leadership for the program, including strategic planning, problem solving, and oversight of program setup, operating models, systems, and partnerships across a large-scale, multi-year portfolio.

Government & Stakeholder Leadership

• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with ministries, agencies, donors, private actors, and civil society partners.

• Serve as a senior in-country representative.

Portfolio & Project Oversight

• Oversee multiple projects and their managers.

• Ensure quality across design, execution, iteration, and scale.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Lead recruitment, performance management, culture building, and succession planning.

• Maintain high standards of integrity and safeguarding.

Donor Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure compliance with donor and government requirements, including procurement, reporting, and audit readiness.

Financial Stewardship

• Oversee budgets, financial controls, and procurement integrity across the portfolio.

Communication & Representation

• Represent the program in senior-level forums.

• Deliver high-quality presentations with credibility.

Results Management & Adaptive Delivery

• Provide executive oversight of portfolio performance.

• Ensure credible results measurement, governance, and donor-grade reporting.

• Use evidence and learning to guide decisions, adaptation, and scaling.

Impact Stewardship

• Drive senior partnerships and strategic choices that unlock structural bottlenecks in agriculture.

• Support complementary investments and delivery against defined outcomes and measurement standards.

Inclusion & Systems Orchestration

• Drive inclusive leadership practices.

• Coordinate multi-stakeholder systems across public, private, donor, and community actors.

Education & Professional Experience

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Economics, International Development, or a related field (required).

• Advanced degree such as a PhD in a relevant discipline (strongly preferred).

• 15+ years of senior leadership experience in development, rural transformation, or comparable large-scale programs.

• Senior-level government engagement and donor leadership experience.

• Proven program setup and portfolio leadership, including oversight of multi-program budgets exceeding USD 10 million.

• Experience establishing or scaling a country office or national program.

• Management consulting or equivalent transformation delivery experience.

• Systems-level experience in the agriculture sector with private sector and agribusiness orientation.

• Experience building farmer organizations and community-based delivery models.

• Fluency in local language and strong professional English proficiency.

Leadership & Technical Competencies

• Strategic planning and structured problem-solving capability in complex environments.

• Leadership of multi-pilot, cross-functional delivery teams at scale.

• Donor and government compliance leadership, including fiduciary oversight, safeguarding, and reporting.

• Strong financial stewardship, including budget oversight and resource allocation.

• Exceptional executive communication and presentation skills.

• Strong people leadership, including senior team management and talent development.

• High integrity, safeguarding, and risk-management mindset.

• Ability to orchestrate multi-stakeholder systems across public, private, and civil society actors.

• Inclusion-focused leadership with demonstrated impact on gender and youth outcomes.

• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) capability, including adaptive management.

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience with agricultural input systems, including fertilizer and mechanization.

• Experience in regulatory strengthening and public system enablement.

• Experience with agricultural data systems, including soil, water, and farmer profiling.

How to Apply

• If you are a senior leader motivated to drive large-scale agrifood system transformation and youth employment, submit a resume and cover letter outlining your leadership experience, strategic achievements, and motivation for the role to: talent@kipawa.io
• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Early submission is encouraged.

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