Position Title: Senior Business and Trade Policy Director
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
Unit: Agriculture, Resilience, and Water 
Reports To: Chief of Party

Feed the Future Nepal USAID Agricultural Transformation (USAID Agricultural Transformation) is a five-year Activity designed to catalyze transformation in Nepal’s agricultural sector to promote sustainable inclusive economic growth. USAID Agricultural Transformation is implemented by Winrock International in collaboration with five local and international organizations.

USAID Agricultural Transformation has the following objectives:

Objective 1: Agricultural productivity, competitiveness, and diversification increased.
Objective 2: Enabling the environment for private sector investment in agriculture and equitable access to market systems improved.
Objective 3: Climate and economic resilience of women, youth, and marginalized communities enhanced.
Objective 4: Capacity of national agricultural research institutions and extension systems strengthened.

Position Description:
The Senior Business and Trade Policy Director will provide overall technical leadership, strategy, and managerial direction to policy activities with a focus on affecting market system driven economic growth. The position requires to be able to explore partnership opportunities with national and international institutions and stakeholders including private sector actors and donor communities in Nepal. As the primary liaison with GON, the candidate will identify, liaise, and facilitate partnerships with a variety of public sector entities, including but not limited to Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MOALD) and Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MOICS), Ministry of Finance (MOF), and Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), ensuring that USAID Agricultural Transformation adheres to GON required processes, engaging GON representatives in USAID Agricultural Transformation activities, and spurring public-private engagement.    

Essential Responsibilities:  

• Lead work with high level counterparts from the private sector, a variety of senior GON officials, relevant donor communities and USAID to identify, assess, and prioritize system-level enabling environment barriers to agriculture competitiveness, diversification and resilience; provide strategic guidance to develop functional mechanisms for critical technical areas for transformation not limited to agri-finance, weather forecast systems, crop insurance, and large-scale food fortification. 
• Lead functional collaboration with wide range of stakeholders as indicated above and provide support for enabling environment issues that are high priority to USAID Agricultural Transformation stakeholders; support development of a road map with clear policy interventions leading to system strengthening and transformation.  
• Guide the identification of partners/stakeholders (national and international) at the firm, industry, government, and donor levels, and help design assessments that will need to be undertaken by USAID Agricultural Transformation.  
• Provide strategic guidance on developing effective coordination between key GON agencies and between GON agencies and the private sector in pursuit of specific issues including (but not limited to):
  a. Between MOALD and MOF (including the Foreign Investment Promotion Division) on foreign direction investment (FDI) and for gender-responsive budgeting in agriculture.
  b. Between MOALD, MOF and MOICS on trade and finance issues (e.g., customs, trade facilitation, and integrated financing).
  c. Between MOALD and the Investment Board Nepal (IBN) for investment in the agriculture sector.
  d. Between MOALD and NRB for more inclusive agri-lending.
  e. Between the MOALD, Nepal Insurance Authority and the Nepal Insurers’ Association for accessible, demand-driven crop insurance products. 
  f. Between NARC, targeted provincial and municipal governments and private sector actors (including digital service providers) for demand-driven research and extension. 
  g. Between MOALD, commodity associations, Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) business and finance associations (e.g., Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce & Industry, and Nepal Bankers’ Association) for policies that engage the private sector and encourage investment.  

• Provide guidance and support fostering strong relationships with GON counterparts at the municipal, provincial, and national levels. Work with GON to evaluate capacity gaps and identify areas where USAID Agricultural Transformation assistance is needed. Foster a participatory process and focus on the ability of GON to facilitate improvements in the agri-finance, agricultural planning and budgeting, demand-driven research and extension, logistics management, mechanization, crop insurance, and other key areas. 
• Assess the advocacy capacity of private sector industry associations and identify capacity building needs that will strengthen their capacity to inform government priorities and investments in the agriculture sector. 
• Facilitate donor coordination efforts related to policy, identifying areas where USAID Agricultural Transformation can leverage efforts of other donor programs and avoiding unnecessary duplication of efforts.  
• Collaborate closely with the Joint Sector Review Advisor (at both national and provincial levels). 
• Manage policy team.  
• Coordinate with USAID Agricultural Transformation’s technical team on priority policies and partnerships, and with the MEL team on data collection and analysis as it relates to policy activities.  
• Lead contribution to annual work plans, progress reports, and other key deliverables for all policy activities.  

Qualifications and Requirements:  

Education  

• Master’s Degree in relevant field, such as agri-business or agri-economics; PhD preferred but not required. 

Required Experience   

• At least 12 years of experience in public policy or related field with ability to provide strategic thinking related to policy and enabling environment to the USAID Agricultural Transformation team.  
• Experience working with GON, donor communities and the private sector partners to improve the enabling environment related to agriculture.  
• Ability to work with international institutions and be able develop partnerships to bring innovations related to system level changes. 
• Experience working with different GON agencies and at different levels (e.g., national, provincial and municipal).  
• Strong communication (both oral and written) and coordination skills.  
• Demonstrated cultural competence, organizational skills and experience working in diverse, multi-disciplinary teams and environments.  

Language: Fluent Nepali is required. Fluent/advanced English (including excellent report writing and English communication skills, with the ability to deliver high-quality reports/technical documents) is required.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA):
Winrock International seeks to cultivate an environment where all candidates relish equal employment opportunities devoid of discrimination, misconduct, fraud, and abuse. Our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and Localization guides our practices not just in hiring, but also in staff retention, growth, and policy implementation. This commitment signifies that we value diversity in all its forms including age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, and cultural background. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, recognizing the rich tapestry of the communities in which we live and work.

Disclaimer: Winrock does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (resume submission, interview, processing). Any canvassing during the application and recruitment process will result in disqualification.