PALLADIUM PROJECT VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Title: Agricultural Productivity & Agronomy Specialist

Project Name: Growth Poles Project 2.0

Duty Station: Lilongwe, Malawi

Department: Programs — Market Systems Development & Productivity

Reporting to: Senior Manager, Market Systems Development & Productivity

Hours of Work: 40 per week

Type: Full time

Job Description:

The Agricultural Productivity & Agronomy Specialist provides authoritative technical advisory support across GPP 2.0’s agricultural productivity portfolio, serving as the project’s resident agronomic intelligence. The Specialist reviews partner agronomy strategies, assesses the rigour of trials and seed systems, advises on soil health and input manufacturing partnerships, and verifies that technical milestones are grounded in sound agronomic evidence. The role works across seed production, soil health, input manufacturing, and value chain agronomy for row crops, tree crops, and spices, and reports directly to the Senior Manager, Market Systems Development & Productivity.

Success in this role is measured by:

• Technical Credibility — Partner agronomic strategies, trial designs, and seed system approaches reviewed by the Specialist are technically sound and withstand external scrutiny.
• Milestone Integrity — Technically-framed milestones — seed multiplication targets, trial results, soil amendment data — are validated with accuracy before payment recommendation.
• Capacity Building Impact — Partners receiving agronomic advisory support show progressively stronger trial design and more credible productivity reporting over time.
• Portfolio Intelligence — Senior management and the Deputy Team Lead consistently draw on the Specialist’s agronomic assessments to inform investment and milestone decisions.
• Strong Stakeholder Engagement — Productive working relationships with research institutions, regulatory bodies, and government that strengthen the portfolio’s technical standing.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide Technical Advisory and Quality Assurance — Review and provide written assessments of partner agronomic workplans, trial protocols, seed production plans, and soil amendment and product strategies.
• Support Partnership Development — Advise programme teams on the technical soundness of partner proposals, scopes of work, and milestone frameworks prior to approval or tranche release.
• Review Seed Systems — Assess partner seed production and multiplication plans for technical feasibility, quality assurance protocols, and compliance with Malawi’s seed certification framework.
• Validate Adoption Claims — Assess and track claims regarding improved seed adoption rates across target value chains and smallholder segments.
• Oversee Soil Health Trials, product development and certification — Review the design and implementation of soil health and fertility trials, evaluating statistical rigour and distinguishing credible evidence from commercial claims.
• Advise on Input Manufacturing — Review the agronomic basis of fertiliser, biostimulant, and other input products developed by partners, including regulatory compliance and quality assurance.
• Provide Value Chain Agronomy Support — Offer cross-cutting agronomic advisory across row crops, tree crops, and spice value chains, including farmer training materials and business case validation.
• Support Milestone Verification — Work with the Monitoring Evaluation and Learning team and Portfolio Performance & Partnerships Manager to provide agronomic validation of milestones prior to payment recommendation.
• Conduct Field Verification — Undertake field visits to partner sites, producing structured technical verification notes on trial plots, seed fields, and input applications.
• Build Partner Capacity — Identify agronomic capacity gaps and provide direct technical coaching to partner agronomists on trial design and evidence-based reporting.
• Serve as a Key Liaison for Agricultural Stakeholders — Represent GPP 2.0 in technical forums and maintain relationships with the Ministry of Agriculture, research institutions, and regulatory bodies.
• Produce Technical Reports — Draft clear, concise technical advisory notes and agronomic assessment reports for the Senior Manager, Deputy Team Lead, Team Lead, and Senior Management Team, and contribute agronomic content to quarterly and annual donor reporting.
• Significant field travel, at least 40%

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Agronomy, Agriculture, Crop Science, Soil Science, or a closely related field; Master’s degree strongly preferred
• Minimum 7-10 years of applied agronomy experience in Malawi or the southern African region, with direct field-level work in crop production, seed systems, or soil health
• Demonstrated expertise in at least two of: certified seed production; soil health trials; agricultural input development and QA; value chain agronomy
• Working knowledge of Malawi’s seed regulatory framework, including the Seed Act and Plant Variety Protection systems
• Experience assessing agronomic trial designs, distinguishing statistically sound evidence from commercially-motivated claims
• Proven ability to produce clear, well-structured technical advisory notes and verification reports for non-specialist audiences
• Experience working within or alongside private sector agricultural enterprises, development programmes, or research institutions
• Familiarity with market systems development approaches for promoting agricultural technologies
• Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills
• Ability to work in Malawi
• Fluency in English required; fluency in Chichewa and other local languages desired