About the Opportunity:

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.

DSG is seeking a highly experienced Program Manager in Input Systems to provide strategic direction and oversight for two critical workstreams within the ASTYE Uganda program: Supply Chain Optimization and Input Regulation Enhancement. The program manager will ensure technical rigor, coherence, and coordination across all activities related to input systems to increase input access, affordability, and quality for farmers in the implementation geography of ASTYE Uganda.

Join Our Team as a Program Manager – Input Systems!

To know more about our organization, visit our website www.devsovgroup.com

Ready To Lead Uganda’s ASTYE?

If you are an experienced program leader with deep expertise in agricultural input systems and supply chain delivery, and are motivated to strengthen regulatory frameworks and market systems in support of agrifood transformation, we invite you to apply.

Education & Professional Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field; Master’s degree highly preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of experience with deep knowledge of agricultural supply chains, input markets (seeds, fertilizers, agro-chemicals), and regulatory environments in developing countries.
• Prior experience working specifically within the agrifood sector or international development is highly desirable.

Leadership & Technical Competencies

• Proven expertise in standardization, quality assurance, enforcement, and commodity traceability systems.
• Experience providing technical assistance to local regulatory bodies on best practices, risk assessment, and compliance.
• Proven track record in strategic planning and the execution of high-priority workstreams, including team recruitment and deployment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to serve as a primary liaison between government departments, regulatory agencies (e.g., UNBS, MAAIF), and private sector partners.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.

To Succeed In This Role, You Bring:

In This Role, You Will Make An Impact By:

Technical Guidance and Support

• Manage comprehensive diagnostic studies to map and model supply chains, identifying bottlenecks for fertilizer and agro-chemicals.
• Oversee the development of optimized planning models to enhance supply-chain execution.
• Direct the implementation of recommendations to increase input access and affordability.
• Lead the development of business/investment cases with a specific design focus on ensuring over 80% participation from women and youth.
• Lead thorough institutional, technical, and human resource gap assessments within regulatory bodies.
• Direct the engineering and streamlining of SOPs for the registration and monitoring of agro-inputs.
• Oversee the design of mechanisms for transparent commodity traceability from production to end-use.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison with public departments and agencies like the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).

Capacity Building

• Provide advanced supply chain management expertise to equip women- and youth-led businesses.
• Conduct technical orientation and onboarding for external consultancies and service providers.

Capacity Building (cont’d)

• Facilitate the integration of optimized supply-chain models into existing agricultural networks.
• Conduct specialized trainings for regulatory staff on current best practices in quality assurance and compliance enforcement.
• Train regulatory personnel on the latest traceability tools, data management, and monitoring systems.
• Facilitate access to essential tools and resources by supporting the development of resource mobilization strategies for regulatory bodies.
• Provide strong leadership, mentorship, and professional development to the internal team of technical leads, coordinators, and analysts.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Contribute to DSG's knowledge management and learning agenda by documenting lessons learned, best practices, and emerging trends.
• Document lessons learned and best practices from ASTYE's interventions, contributing to the program's learning agenda and disseminating knowledge within DSG and to external stakeholders.
• Conduct research and analysis on emerging trends and innovations in input systems in the context of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and share findings with DSG program teams to inform program adaptation and innovation.

• Manage comprehensive diagnostic studies to map and model supply chains, identifying bottlenecks for fertilizer and agro-chemicals.
• Oversee the development of optimized planning models to enhance supply-chain execution.
• Direct the implementation of recommendations to increase input access and affordability.
• Lead the development of business/investment cases with a specific design focus on ensuring over 80% participation from women and youth.
• Lead thorough institutional, technical, and human resource gap assessments within regulatory bodies.
• Direct the engineering and streamlining of SOPs for the registration and monitoring of agro-inputs.
• Oversee the design of mechanisms for transparent commodity traceability from production to end-use.
• Serve as the primary technical liaison with public departments and agencies like the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
• Provide advanced supply chain management expertise to equip women- and youth-led businesses.
• Conduct technical orientation and onboarding for external consultancies and service providers.
• Facilitate the integration of optimized supply-chain models into existing agricultural networks.
• Conduct specialized trainings for regulatory staff on current best practices in quality assurance and compliance enforcement.
• Train regulatory personnel on the latest traceability tools, data management, and monitoring systems.
• Facilitate access to essential tools and resources by supporting the development of resource mobilization strategies for regulatory bodies.
• Provide strong leadership, mentorship, and professional development to the internal team of technical leads, coordinators, and analysts.
• Contribute to DSG's knowledge management and learning agenda by documenting lessons learned, best practices, and emerging trends.
• Document lessons learned and best practices from ASTYE's interventions, contributing to the program's learning agenda and disseminating knowledge within DSG and to external stakeholders.
• Conduct research and analysis on emerging trends and innovations in input systems in the context of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and share findings with DSG program teams to inform program adaptation and innovation.

• Proven expertise in standardization, quality assurance, enforcement, and commodity traceability systems.
• Experience providing technical assistance to local regulatory bodies on best practices, risk assessment, and compliance.
• Proven track record in strategic planning and the execution of high-priority workstreams, including team recruitment and deployment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to serve as a primary liaison between government departments, regulatory agencies (e.g., UNBS, MAAIF), and private sector partners.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.

• Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy, Agricultural Economics, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field; Master’s degree highly preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of experience with deep knowledge of agricultural supply chains, input markets (seeds, fertilizers, agro-chemicals), and regulatory environments in developing countries.
• Prior experience working specifically within the agrifood sector or international development is highly desirable.