USAID looks for Аgrіcultural Export Specialist

USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) was designed to foster Ukrainian economic resilience in the face of Russia`s invasions. ERA supports displaced businesses and persons, and the newly liberated areas of Ukraine, to rebuild their lives and livelihoods and capitalize on entrepreneurial opportunities; and local institutions to rebuild a resilient post-war economy. Also, ERA is now one of the implementers of a U.S. government interagency Agricultural Resilience Initiative (AGRI) to bolster Ukrainian agricultural production and exports and to help alleviate the global food security crisis exacerbated by Putin`s brutal war on Ukraine, and USAID`s Economic Stability and Recovery Initiative (ESRI), focusing on keeping and creating jobs and helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) survive and grow.

ERA`s objective is to improve Ukraine`s economic resilience in response to Russia`s aggression, including the expanded invasion that began on February 24, 2022, which has disrupted critical market linkages, catalyzed the economic decline of previously dominant industries, and caused massive population disruption. ERA`s focus is to support Ukrainians forced to flee eastern Ukraine.

The activity aims to improve Ukraine`s economic resilience, specifically those Ukrainians impacted by Russia`s expanded invasion, by accomplishing the following objectives:

1) provide assistance to stabilize the economy of Ukraine;

2) support the sustainable development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); and

3) build confidence in the future of the Ukrainian economy.

About the job

The main objective of the role is to assist ERA in advancing the exports of Ukrainian Agricultural commodities, including grain crops, under the AGRI Initiative. The Agricultural Export Specialist will address gaps in the ERA’s AGRI objectives in Ukraine related to improving the efficient and cost-effective export logistics of Ukrainian agricultural products in existing, new, and expanding markets. 

The Agricultural Export Specialist is expected to be versatile and multitask on various Requests for Proposals (RFPs) simultaneously, be a self-starter, and have a broad and thorough understanding of the agricultural export market from Ukraine, together with a foundation of the required technical engineering solutions needed to deliver increases in physical export capacity. The Agricultural Export Specialist will report to AGRI Director and is based in Kyiv or Lviv, or Odesa.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Help advance multiple procurements for transshipment equipment and export logistics solutions; 
• Together with the AGRI Team, provide technical know-how and develop specifications and RFPs for solutions developed, requested, and suggested by the donor and beneficiaries;
• Work with target beneficiaries to develop solutions that can be executed in a timely and efficient manner and conform to pre-defined metrics for cost-value and incremental tonnage increases; 
• Assist the AGRI Director and AGRI Team in organizing events and meetings which advance collaborative approaches towards improving export cargo efficiency, harmonizing Border Control Point (BCP) efficiency, and creating cross-border supply chain harmonization;
• Assess the potential to expand the export channels where required for key agricultural commodities in new or existing target geographies/markets;
• Work closely with the Procurement Team and AGRI management to ensure thorough due diligence, justification analysis, required document gathering, and technical verification is applied diligently and expeditiously to all RFPs.

About you

• BA or Specialist degree or equivalent in Logistics, Management, or Economics.
• 3-5 years of experience in the agricultural logistics sector;
• Technical knowledge of agricultural supply chain;
• Broad understanding of agricultural equipment for logistics;
• Must have English and Ukrainian language proficiency, verbal and written.
• Demonstrated excellent interpersonal, managerial, organizational, and detail-orientation skills.
• Ability to work on own initiative/proactive attitude and have strong skills in teamwork.
• Ability to respond effectively to time-sensitive demands and inquiries.
• Proficiency in using Microsoft Office suite and other relevant software.
• Experience in work in international NGOs and donor-funded projects would be preferable.

WE OFFER

Contract length: 12-month employment agreement with a possibility of extension.

Benefits: all benefits envisaged by the Labor Code of Ukraine, corporate medical insurance for employees and immediate family members.

Start date: September 2023

Application process

All applicants must send a cover letter and updated CV (no longer than four pages) in English to [email protected]

Closing date for applications: August 31, 2023.

For further information about DAI GLOBAL LLC, please consult our website era-ukraine.org.ua.