Program Director, Uganda GROWTH program

At , we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better life. For over 50 years, we have given smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs the skills, connections, and confidence to lift themselves out of poverty. We leverage the power of markets and the private sector to create sustainable economic growth to benefit people and the planet. Our unique mix of business solutions, deep knowledge of local contexts, and data-driven insights is helping to fight poverty across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

TechnoServe staff are local–95% are from the countries in which they work. We put a high premium on collaboration and entrepreneurship. We hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards of integrity and transparency. And we focus on delivering lasting impact for our mission.

Program Overview :

Building on the successes of TechnoServe’s Horticulture Market Acceleration Program (HortiMAP), Growing Resilience and Opportunities for Wealth Through Horticulture (GROWTH) will deepen farmer ownership and drive lasting transformation in Uganda’s horticulture sector.

Over five years, GROWTH will support 200,000 smallholder farmers to engage in profitable and resilient horticulture markets. The program will increase and stabilize farmer incomes, reduce post-harvest losses, enhance food security, and create thousands of new jobs across value chains. At a systems level, it will expand access to affordable finance, strengthen compliance with food safety standards, and improve market linkages across domestic and regional trade. GROWTH is rooted in a farmer-led approach that leverages participatory planning, so that farmers and their organizations will define their priorities, shaping interventions that reflect local needs.

GROWTH aligns with the Dutch Embassy’s Multi-Annual Country Strategy 2023–2026, contributing to food and nutrition security, sustainable land use, private sector growth, and climate adaptation. It also supports the Netherlands’ broader ambition to connect aid and trade, facilitating partnerships between Dutch and Ugandan enterprises in areas such as irrigation, seed systems, and cold chain solutions. GROWTH will be a EUR 13 million investment over five years.

TechnoServe seeks a Project Director to provide overall technical and administrative leadership and expertise over the program.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities :

• Leading overall implementation and management of the anticipated program, from inception to close-out
• Providing strategic guidance, leadership, management, and general technical oversight of the program
• Serving as the primary liaison with EKN, the Ugandan government, and all other counterparts, implementing partners, and stakeholders involved with the program
• Brokering relationships between market actors, including : SHFs, Producer Organizations, buyers, exporters, and financial institutions
• Recruiting, leading, managing, and supervising implementation teams comprising long- and short-term team members and consortium partners
• Continuously developing operational efficiencies and driving innovations in delivery, ensuring that the program meets established objectives and targets and delivers Value for Money
• Serving as spokesperson for the program and presenting its work regionally / globally
• Supervise and mentor the Senior Management Team (SMT), including Finance & Operations, Horticulture Production, Horticulture Marketing, Access to Finance, Social Dynamics, and Participatory Planning Managers
• Ensure cross-cutting priorities (climate resilience, inclusion, governance, food safety) are fully integrated into program components
• Identifying and communicating critical program learnings
• Identifying issues and risks related to implementation in a timely manner, suggesting appropriate program adjustments

Basic Qualifications :

Preferred Qualifications :

Additional qualifications that would make a candidate more desirable. We seek candidates who bring experience with :

Required Languages :

Fluency in English required. Understanding of Luganda, Swahili, and other native languages is an advantage.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities :

Supervisory Responsibilities :

Typically, 4 to 5 senior level staff including tech specialists, financial directors and M&E staff. Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams is desired.

Candidates must have the relevant work authorization in Uganda at the point of application. TechnoServe will not provide sponsorship for this position. This position is subject to donor approval. The position will be based in Jinja, Uganda.

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV / AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.