Delivery Specialist – Markets Systems and Private Sector Development

Agriculture Transformation Office (ATO) Sierra Leone

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Job Reference: DMS/SL/02/2026

AGRA and its Work to Transform Agriculture

AGRA is an African-led institution that actively supports the drive towards inclusive agricultural transformation and sustainable food systems. We do this by empowering the continent’s 33 million smallholder farming households to transform their agriculture from a struggle to survive to profitable businesses. The continent’s farmers regularly face challenges, and we aspire to provide uniquely African solutions that respond to their agricultural and environmental challenges, leading to increased harvests for reduced hunger and more income aligned with the Kampala CAADP and national priorities.

Working in alignment with the development priorities of our focus countries, we enable farmers to access improved and high-yielding seeds, gain knowledge on sustainable farming, and linkages to profitable markets. In our work, we aspire to build the alliances, partnerships, and networks required to drive an inclusive agricultural transformation. We work with our partners to create an equitable youth-friendly environment that harnesses the youth dividend on the continent to drive growth and facilitate open employment opportunities for young women and men. We achieve our key objectives through a focus on the following four areas of intervention:

1. Policy and state capability – We support governments in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transformation.
2. Seed systems – We trigger higher productivity by increasing the availability and access to improved seeds by farmers allowing them to increase their harvests for food security and better incomes.
3. Sustainable farming – We support farmers in building resilient farming systems for sustained high yields through interventions such as mechanization and irrigation.
4. Inclusive markets and trade – We work to increase the linkages between farmers, and other market actors for a positive, sustained cycle of commercialization and reinvestment.
5. Youth, Gender, and Inclusiveness – We enable women and youth to contribute to and benefit from agriculture for their economic empowerment.

Implementing Our New Strategy Through People

People are the heartbeat of our organization and remain the true drivers of our delivery, impact, and success.

We work with incredible people and partners who have roots in farming communities across the African continent combined with an inclusive, diverse, and talented workforce from over 24 nationalities. nationalities. Our commitment to a call to action goes beyond ourselves as we arise to catalyze African Food Systems; transformation by being Deeply collaborative, Executing Excellently, Sincerely Constructive, and Increasingly Entrepreneurial, aligned with our values of (I-RISE; Integrity, Respect, Innovation, Stewardship, and Equity).

We are looking for people who are passionate about Africa to join our innovative, growing, and multidisciplinary team. Together, we can accelerate Africa’s food system’s transformation, thereby improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Want to join us?

Background

The Government of Sierra Leone has launched the Feed Salone Strategy (2023–2028) to accelerate and ensure food systems transformation, food security, and inclusive economic growth, targeting an annual growth rate of 10% for the agriculture sector within the next five years. The strategy focuses on boosting productivity in high- impact value chains, leveraging the comparative advantages of targeted districts, and enhancing resilience through climate-smart practices. The Feed Salone Strategy focuses on six strategic pillars: mechanization and irrigation, seed and input systems, aggregation and marketing, agricultural finance, AgTech and climate-smart agriculture, and the empowerment of women and youth.

To drive its effective implementation, the Sierra Leone Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS), in collaboration with AGRA and its partners, seeks to hire a qualified Country Program and Procurement Support who will support the Agriculture Transformation Office (ATO) in program management and administrative work under the guidance of the ATO Director.

The Position Overview

Delivery Specialist – Markets Systems and Private Sector Development– Sierra Leone Job Reference: DMS/SL/02/2026

The Delivery Specialist – Market Systems and Private Sector Development will play a central role in identifying market systems and policy constraints that affect delivery of flagship programs under the Feed Salone Strategy related to value addition, agro-processing, logistics and storage systems, market access, enterprise development, digital ecosystems, and access to finance. Working under the guidance of the Director, the Delivery Specialist will collaborate closely with focal persons in ministries, agencies, private-sector partners, and development organizations to coordinate, track, and accelerate implementation. The role ensures that delivery systems are institutionalized across implementing ministries, agencies, and private-sector actors, and that evidence-based problem solving becomes integral to catalyze and facilitate policy reforms and attract private sector investment to effectively deliver the Feed Salone Strategy.

The ideal candidate will strengthen dialogue mechanisms, develop investment opportunities, prepare business cases, and surface constraints affecting private-sector participation. Additionally, he or she will maintain close collaboration with colleagues to ensure alignment and integration of activities and actions, and coordinate structured policy platforms with key stakeholders such as private sector stakeholders, relevant government institutions, development partners, associations, etc., to discuss policy gaps and bottlenecks that affect Feed Salone Strategy implementation, propose solutions, and track comments and action points.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Identify investment opportunities and design business/investment cases to attract private sector investment across priorities of the Feed Salone Strategy.
• Coordinate evidence-based policy gaps and constraints identification and diagnostics that affect private sector participation across value chains of priority projects within the Feed Salone Strategy.
• Facilitate the design and rollout of governance and coordination frameworks that strengthen collaboration among ministries, agencies, and private-sector actors involved in market, enterprise, and value-chain programs.
• Facilitate policy dialogue among stakeholders in collaboration with MAFS, development partners, the private sector, and other stakeholders.
• Identify and support market systems actors to foster private sector participation in priority flagship projects under the Feed Salone strategy.
• Strengthen linkages and coordinate the platform between market system actors and government institutions ensure alignment and synergy in implementation.
• Contribute to knowledge management by documenting lessons, success stories, and best practices that inform adaptive management and scaling.
• Coordinate and design compelling business cases and pitches to attract investment within the Feed Salone Strategic priority areas.
• Map anchors and other private sector actors in agrifood systems and support them in their journeys to realize their investment plans.
• Work closely with focal people in ministries, implementing agencies, development partners, and private-sector partners to facilitate coordination, implementation, and problem resolution.
• Support collaboration among programs promoting value addition, agro-processing, logistics, and storage systems, ensuring coherent implementation across institutions.
• Engage with financial institutions, agribusinesses, cooperatives, and development partners to strengthen partnerships and unlock investment in market systems.
• Facilitate coordination meetings and joint review sessions, ensuring that agreed actions are tracked and followed through.
• Provide coaching and supervision to Delivery Officers, strengthening analytical and facilitation capacity to improve reporting, tracking, and problem-solving.
• Promote teamwork, accountability, and continuous learning within the ATO and among cluster stakeholders to sustain a culture of delivery and performance.
• Map anchor and other private sector actors in agrifood systems.
• Identify investment opportunities, target and attract investors with compelling business cases, track progress, and ensure delivery of investments in collaboration with the government.
• Identify policy gaps and systemic constraints that affect private sector participation and implementation of the Feed Salone Strategy.
• Coordinate preparation of policy papers/documents, policy briefs for the Ministry, highlighting the policy rationale and impact, and submit for key decisions.
• Coordinate quarterly performance summaries and progress reports for ATO leadership, highlighting achievements, challenges, and key decisions.
• Maintain accurate and timely data collection, validation, and report on indicators related to markets, value chains, and enterprise growth.
• Ensure follow-up and issue resolution through structured reviews, tracking of agreed actions, and communication with responsible institutions.
• Contribute to strengthening evidence-based decision-making by ensuring data and insights are translated into actionable recommendations.

Key Qualifications and Experience Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics, management, Agribusiness, Commerce, Development Studies, or a related field from an accredited institution
• A master’s degree in a relevant discipline such as Agribusiness Management, Economics, Development Finance, or Public Policy will be an added advantage.
• Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience in market systems and policy development, agribusiness, value chain coordination, or trade facilitation within government, development partners, or the private sector.
• Proven experience supporting the private sector in the implementation of programs related to value addition, agro-processing, logistics and storage, enterprise development, or access to finance.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate multi-stakeholder coordination, including collaboration between ministries, private-sector partners, and financial institutions.
• Experience in results-based policy identification, diagnostics, and formulation in the agrifood system to foster market systems actors.
• Strong analytical, facilitation, and communication skills with the ability to synthesize data, identify bottlenecks, and develop actionable solutions.
• Must be familiar with MSME development and public–private partnership models in Tanzania or similar contexts.
• Ability to coordinate the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on market and enterprise indicators to inform evidence based decision-making and leadership reporting.
• Proven experience in effectively engaging with private-sector actors, cooperatives, and financial institutions to unlock investment, address constraints, and promote market system efficiency
• Proven experience in designing investment cases and attracting investors, identifying policy gaps, and providing evidence-based recommendations.
• Must demonstrate potential to anticipate risks and delivery challenges in value-chain programs, recommend adaptive measures, and ensure timely resolution for continued progress.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust, influence senior stakeholders, and represent the Government of Sierra Leone and ATO effectively in high-level national and international forums.

If you believe you are a fit for this position, please submit your application with a detailed CV (including your email and telephone contact information) to recruit@agra.org. Please quote the job reference number DMS/SL/02/2026 on the subject line of the application email.

Applications must be received on or before 20th February 2026. Due to the large volumes of applications we usually receive, we will only be able to contact those candidates who are shortlisted.

 For more information on the AGRA, visit www.agra.org.

AGRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer