National Programme Officer – Dairy Sector Portfolio

The National Programme Officer (NPO) will work under the supervision of the Project Manager (Team Leader), with support from the Deputy Team Leader (ITC), and in close collaboration with the rest of the project team. They will also contribute to coordinating and quality checking the work of international and local consultants hired to support the implementation of project interventions, or as indicated by the Team Leader.

• With the project team and support from ILO and ITC specialists, design market systems development interventions based on findings of market systems assessments in the dairy sector, consulting with constituents, market actors, and partners.

• Support, coordinate, and monitor the implementation of market systems development interventions through partnerships with the private and public sector to address systemic constraints in the dairy sector and create employment and income opportunities.

• Engage regularly with national and local stakeholders, including public and private sector actors, through liaison and field visits.

• Collaborate with other team members to ensure complementarity and balanced workload between interventions and staff.

• Develop and guide intervention business models and scale-up strategies to support mainstreaming and replication of piloted market systems interventions.

• Support results measurement, monitoring, and evaluation officers in developing, updating, and operationalising the Monitoring and Results Measurement (MRM) system, including business models, results chains, measurement plans, and data tools.

• Support the knowledge and communications officer by providing technical inputs for communication and learning products, leading field visits, and facilitating meetings.

• Prepare inputs for reports and presentations to inform project management, donors, and stakeholders about progress and results.

• Serve as the primary technical resource and advisor on dairy internally and externally.

• Facilitate the organisation of workshops, trainings, and events, and adapt ILO training materials to local contexts.

• Ensure that gender perspectives and women’s economic empowerment are central to all project activities.

• Invest in personal upskilling on market systems development and trade/export promotion through internal and external learning opportunities.

• Perform any other duties as requested by the team leader and deputy team leader.

• First Level University degree (Bachelor’s or equivalent) in agriculture, business, economics, international development, or another relevant technical field.

• Minimum of three years of experience in the dairy sector and/or the private, public, and development sectors.

• Experience with market systems development or private sector development programmes is an advantage.

• Experience on trade-related initiatives, especially export promotion, is an advantage.

• Experience in multi-stakeholder activities with the public and private sector will be an advantage.

• Excellent command of English (written and spoken).

• Technical knowledge of the dairy sector in Uganda, including governance, regulation, actors, investments, and trade promotion.

• Good understanding of context and challenges related to the dairy sector.

• Knowledge of the market systems development approach.

• Knowledge of trade and export promotion.

• Strong research and analytical skills with innovative problem-solving ability.

• Political awareness and understanding of socio-economic factors.

• Flexibility and adaptability to project developments.

• Strong drafting and communication skills.

• Teamwork and excellent interpersonal skills.

• Ability to interpret and work within ILO rules, regulations, and procedures.

• Effective stakeholder management.

• Ability to manage competing priorities.

• Multicultural and gender-sensitive work attitude.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and ability to adapt to new software and systems.