Innovation Project Manager at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Innovation Project Manager

Job ID: IITA/P&C/NRS2025-027
Location: Abuja
Employment Type: Contract
Duration: 2-year renewable contract

Duties
Innovation Coordination and deployment:

• Oversee the end-to-end set-up and deployment of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) and High-Quality Cassava Peel (HQCP)-based feed innovations in Delta and Ekiti States.
• Facilitate adaptive testing of business models, integrating circular economy principles, regenerative agriculture and gender-inclusive approaches.
• Manage innovation demonstration sites in collaboration with hub/spoke stakeholders.

Enterprise Development and Job Creation:

• Identify and support women and youth-led enterprises in adopting and commercializing BSF/HQCP innovations.
• Design enterprise support packages (technical assistance, market linkage, financing referrals) for feed entrepreneurs.
• Facilitate access to incubation, co-creation, and mentorship platforms.

Market Systems and Private Sector Engagement:

• Engage processors, aggregators, feed millers, and off-takers to stimulate demand and create viable value chain linkages.
• Facilitate the development of public-private partnerships to embed alternative feeds into the mainstream poultry feed market.
• Support development of contract farming or inclusive distribution.

Capacity Building and Inclusion:

• Collaborate with training partners to develop curriculum modules on feed innovation entrepreneurship.
• Promote climate-smart practices, environmental sustainability, and safe production guidelines.
• Ensure the participation of marginalized groups (women, youth, and persons with disabilities) in pilot interventions.

Monitoring, Learning and Scaling Readiness:

• Contribute to learning agenda development, outcome mapping, and innovation uptake
• Document lessons, case studies, and success stories to inform adaptive scaling pathways.
• Perform any other job-related tasks as may be assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Agribusiness, Economics, Business / Innovation Management, Rural Development, Environmental Management and other related courses.
• The ideal candidate must have a minimum of six (6) years’ experience including at least (4) years in managing agricultural innovation or enterprise development programs.
• The candidate must demonstrate experience in private sector engagement, agribusiness incubation, poultry or livestock feed systems, circular economy, and livelihoods programming.

Competencies
The ideal candidate must:

• Have deep understanding of inclusive business models, youth employment ecosystems, and SME development.
• Have strong project coordination and stakeholder facilitation skills.
• Possess excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Have the ability to work independently in complex, multi-partner environments.
• Be familiar with gender mainstreaming and climate-smart agricultural practices.
• Be experienced working with BSF or HQCP technologies or similar alternative feed innovations.
• Be familiar with tools and frameworks for scaling innovations.
• Have knowledge of Nigeria’s agricultural market dynamics.

Benefits
We offer highly competitive salary with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.

Application Closing Date
18th August, 2025.