Director – REAP Consortium

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit for the role of a Director of the Rural Employment through Animal Feed production (REAP) program to lead an integrated consortium under ILRI’s overall leadership, maintaining partner accountability, donor confidence, and alignment with approved objectives, budgets, and commitments.  The Director will be accountable to lead program strategy, delivery, results, and stewardship of resources across seven program countries: Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, Morocco, and Egypt.

ILRI is an international organisation working for better lives and better planet through livestock. ILRI’s mission emphasises the interconnections between people, animals, and the environment, aiming to improve the lives of more than 300 million people in low- and middle-income countries through livestock science that supports equitable and resilient livestock systems, ultimately contributing to food systems transformation with climate and environmental benefits. This mission is delivered through two core strategic objectives: co-designing and deploying sustainable, science-based livestock solutions, and leveraging science to inform and influence policy and investment decisions.

ILRI is a member of the CGIAR, a global research alliance that works to transform food, land and water systems in a climate crisis and is the only CGIAR centre dedicated to addressing multiple development challenges through sustainable livestock solutions.

About the position: REAP is a five-year multi-country initiative intended to advance education and relieve poverty by enabling 1,000,000 financially disadvantaged young women and men, aged 18 to 35 years, to access new work opportunities in sustainable feed and livestock value chains across the seven countries. The Program will equip young people with technical, entrepreneurial, financial; digital and workplace capabilities linked to real economic opportunities and enable financially disadvantaged young people to access work, finance, productive assets, markets and income-generating opportunities that improve household resilience and wellbeing. Among its participants, the Program shall target 70% young women and at least 5% youth with disabilities and 20,000 refugees and displaced young people.

The programme will support youth-led and youth-inclusive enterprises to enter, stabilise and grow in feed and livestock markets; strengthen market systems, services, and commercial relationships; and improve policy, finance, innovation, extension, and other enabling systems required for youth-led enterprises to succeed and generate additional employment opportunities. Across these areas, it applies gender-transformative and inclusive approaches to address restrictive gender and social norms, reduce barriers to young women’s participation, and strengthen their agency, voice, leadership and access to resources and opportunities. Safeguarding measures are embedded throughout the programme to protect young people from harm and support their safe participation.

Led by ILRI, the consortium includes ICARDA, IITA, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and icipe, working with downstream delivery partners, enterprise-support organisations, financial institutions, government and private sector actors. The Director draws on partners’ expertise in feed and livestock systems, enterprise development, market systems, inclusive finance, digital innovation, policy, and gender and social inclusion to guide country delivery and achieve measurable youth work outcomes, adapting implementation in response to evidence.

Key Responsibilities

2.1 Strategic leadership and program delivery

• Lead REAP as an integrated program across countries and partners, accountable for delivery against its approved theory of change, results framework, targets, budgets, timelines and partnership commitments.
• Oversee annual and multi-year workplans, ensuring that country plans are realistic, sequenced and adequately resourced, and that milestones and partner commitments are actively managed.
• Ensure that country coordination, staffing and delivery arrangements are fit for program scale, and resolve significant implementation constraints.

2.2 Results, Learning and Adaptive Management

• Hold overall accountability for credible program results and provide the authority and institutional support needed to implement the approved MEL Plan, ensuring robust measurement systems, data quality assurance, evaluation and learning processes.
• Ensure credible measurement of youth in work, progression towards dignified and fulfilling work, enterprise performance, market development, inclusion and systems-level outcomes.
• Use country, partner and workstream evidence to guide strategic reviews, cross-country learning and timely changes to delivery models, staffing, partner roles, intervention packages and resource use, including identifying ineffective approaches early and adapting, replacing or discontinuing them.
• Implement adjustments within delegated authority and obtain the required governance or donor approvals before making changes beyond that authority. Ensure all changes remain aligned with approved program objectives and commitments.

2.3 Adaptive management and programme evolution

• Ensure that implementation evidence is used to actively guide REAP’s delivery model, staffing arrangements, partner structures and intervention packages.
• Lead timely adaptation where evidence shows that country delivery arrangements, partner roles, workstream structures, intervention packages or resource allocations need to change.
• Distinguish between adaptations that can be made within approved programme parameters and changes requiring donor or governance approval.
• Ensure that adaptation strengthens delivery while maintaining alignment with REAP’s strategic objectives, results framework and donor commitments.

2.4 Donor engagement, governance and representation

• Serve as the senior day-to-day program contact with Mastercard Foundation in coordination with ILRI senior leadership while maintaining transparent communication and delivering credible reports on time.
• Lead programme reviews, management and governance discussions, presenting progress, risks, learning and decisions clearly, and ensuring effective accountability and escalation.
• Represent REAP and strengthen collaboration with related programs and projects, governments, private sector actors, financial institutions, youth and producer organizations, and other stakeholders in line with ILRI’s institutional representation arrangements.

2.5 Consortium and people leadership

• Coordinate consortium partners, country leads, workstream leads and downstream delivery organisations around shared priorities, with clear responsibilities, decision rights and direct or matrix accountability.
• Ensure effective communication and decision-making across the PMU and partner teams and that reporting relationships function effectively.
• Lead the recruitment, onboarding, performance management and professional development of senior programme staff, promoting collaboration, inclusion and timely problem-solving while upholding ILRI values.
• Set clear performance expectations and promote accountability, learning and high standards of professional conduct to build a high-performing senior team.
• Manage institutional differences and resolve partner performance issues through influence, negotiation and escalation, balancing partner mandates with program commitments and country needs.

2.6 Technical integration and enterprises outcomes

• Draw on workstream, ILRI and partner expertise to connect climate-smart feed and livestock innovations with enterprise creation and growth, market access and youth work outcomes.
• Integrate production, processing and supply systems with animal-source food markets, enterprise support, aggregation and offtake, inclusive finance, digital innovation, policy and extension.
• Ensure technically sound, commercially viable and scalable approaches that fit country conditions and support gender equality, disability inclusion, poverty reduction and progression towards dignified and fulfilling work.

2.7 Financial operation and risk oversight

• Oversee program budgeting, forecasting and expenditure to align resources with delivery priorities and value for money; follow agreed consortium and governance procedures for changes to partner allocations.
• Work with finance, procurement, human resources, grants, legal and operations teams to ensure that systems, partnership agreements, sub-grants and contracts support effective delivery and comply with applicable ILRI and donor requirements.
• Oversee mitigation and escalation of fiduciary, safeguarding, delivery, reputational, political, partnership and compliance risks.

2.8 Results, evidence, learning and adaptation

• Hold overall accountability for the credibility of REAP’s results and use of evidence in programme management.
• Supervise the programme MEL function and ensure that the MEL Lead has the authority and institutional support required to implement the approved MEL Plan.
• Ensure credible measurement of youth in work, progression toward dignified and fulfilling work, enterprise performance, market development, inclusion and relevant systems-level outcomes.
• Use evidence on partner performance, youth uptake, enterprise performance, market response, access to finance and country operating conditions to inform programme adaptation.
• Maintain clear accountability between the Director’s responsibility for programme performance and adaptive management and the MEL lead’s technical responsibility for measurement systems, data quality, evaluation and learning processes.

2.9 People leadership and organisational effectiveness

• Build and lead a high-performing, inclusive and delivery-focused senior programme team.
• Ensure that direct and matrixed reporting relationships are understood and function effectively.
• Ensure effective communication and decision-making between the PMU, country leads, workstream leads and consortium partners.
• Lead through influence where formal authority sits across multiple institutions and countries.
• Support professional development and performance management of senior programme personnel.
• Model ILRI values and high standards of professional conduct.

Requirements

• PhD in degree in agriculture, natural resource management, agribusiness, economics, development studies, market systems, business administration, public policy or another relevant field with senior technical and program leadership experience.
• Professional training in program management, organisational leadership, finance, risk management, market systems or related disciplines.
• At least 15 years of progressively senior experience in development, agriculture, food systems, market systems, youth employment, enterprise development, inclusive finance or related fields.
• Substantial experience leading large, complex donor-funded development programs, preferably across multiple countries and implementing partners, with senior accountability for strategy, implementation, large budgets, operational performance, risk and results.
• Demonstrated experience leading senior multidisciplinary and geographically dispersed teams and managing partnerships through influence, negotiation and shared accountability across institutions.
• Demonstrated experience working effectively with major institutional or foundation donors, governments, private sector actors, research institutions, financial institutions and delivery partners.
• Strong understanding of programme results frameworks, MEL, and implementation evidence to identify delivery weaknesses and adapt programme approaches, structures or partner arrangements
• Ability to connect agricultural innovations with enterprise development, viable markets and youth employment, drawing on specialist technical expertise.
• Significant experience working in Africa.
• Experience as a Program Director, Chief of Party, Country Director or equivalent senior role.
• Demonstrated experience in agribusiness or agricultural value-chain development, large-scale youth employment programs, and government engagement.
• Experience in inclusive finance, investment facilitation or access-to-growth-finance programming.
• Fluency in English. Working knowledge of French and/or Arabic would be an advantage.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly across REAP programme countries.

Post location:  Nairobi, Kenya or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Terms of Appointment: This position is at job level HG21, and it is open to both national and international applicants. The position is a 3-year contract, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and availability of funding. ILRI offers a competitive international salary and benefits package which includes pension, medical insurance, life insurance and allowances for: education, housing, security, relocation, and home leave.

Applications: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV expressing their interest in the position, what they can bring to the role, and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. The applications will be addressed to the Head of People and Culture by clicking Apply Now on or before 25 November 2026. The position title and reference number: REF: Director-REAP/10/2026 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the cover letter.

ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing, or training). ILRI also does not concern itself with information on applicants’ bank accounts.

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer.

More ILRI jobs

Subscribe by email to ILRI jobs alert