Job Title: Value Chain Manager (Open to Uganda Nationals Only)
Location: Mbale, Uganda
Reports to: Project Coordinator

Application Deadline: 30th September 2026

Direct Reports: NTFP Value Chain Consultants (technical oversight)

Program Background

The Green Resilient Enterprise for Empowered NTFP Development Project (GREEN Project) is a 28-month initiative implemented under the ReForEst Uganda Programme with funding from Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the European Union. The project seeks to enhance livelihoods, jobs and ecological resilience through sustainable Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) enterprises while contributing to forest conservation, restoration and climate resilience across 16 districts in Eastern Uganda and Napak District in Karamoja. The project focuses on five priority NTFP value chains: bamboo, honey/apiculture, shea, cashew, and wild mango. Through a Green Entrepreneurship Platform (GEP), incubation services, acceleration support, cottage industry, access to finance and market linkages, the project will strengthen 140 enterprises, 50 producer groups and support 10,000 households along these NTFP value chains. 

Job summary

The Value Chain Manager will provide technical leadership and quality assurance across the GREEN Project’s five priority Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) value chains: bamboo, honey/apiculture, shea, cashew and wild mango. Reporting to the Project Coordinator, the Value Chain Manager will oversee a pool of NTFP Value Chain consultants providing on-demand technical assistance to producer groups, entrepreneurs, enterprises, field-based partners, cottage-industry hosts and incubation/acceleration participants. The role will ensure that support is technically sound, market-led and commercially practical across production, sustainable harvesting, post-harvest handling, processing, product development, quality assurance, value addition, packaging, standards, marketing and market linkages, while strengthening the connection between enterprise growth, forest conservation, restoration and climate resilience.

To be successful in this role, you will need:

Essential 

• • Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural Economics, Food Science and Technology, Post-Harvest Technology, Agricultural Engineering, Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Value Chain Development or a related technical field with a Post Graduate Qualification.
  • Minimum of 5 years of progressively professional experience in agricultural, forestry, NTFP or market-led value-chain development in Uganda with at least 2 years of management experience and external engagement.
  • Direct technical experience in one or more of the GREEN Project priority value chains - bamboo, honey/apiculture, shea, cashew and wild mango - with strong working knowledge across several of the remaining value chains.
  • Strong knowledge of production, harvesting, aggregation, post-harvest handling, storage, processing, product development and value addition.
  • Deep understanding of commercial processing and value-addition systems, including selection and use of appropriate technologies and machinery, processing efficiency, product quality, food safety or product safety, packaging, by-product utilisation and operational sustainability.
  • Strong knowledge of market systems and value-chain development, including market analysis, buyer requirements, pricing and competitiveness, business-to-business linkages, market segmentation, product positioning and strategies for moving producers and enterprises into higher-value markets.
  • Experience managing or coordinating multidisciplinary technical experts or consultants, including development of scopes of work, assignment of technical assistance, quality assurance of deliverables and follow-up with clients or project participants.
  • Experience providing technical support to MSMEs, cooperatives, producer organisations and/or processors and translating technical diagnostics into practical enterprise improvement actions.
  • Experience with standards, quality assurance and certification processes relevant to agricultural or natural products; familiarity with UNBS and Ugandan regulatory and quality systems is strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated ability to assess processing technologies and productive equipment, develop or review technical specifications, and support installation, commissioning, operator training, maintenance planning and safe use.
  • Strong understanding of sustainable natural-resource management, climate resilience, agroforestry and/or forest-compatible livelihoods, with the ability to balance commercial value-chain growth with sustainable harvesting and conservation objectives.
  • Excellent analytical, technical writing, facilitation, coaching, negotiation and stakeholder-engagement skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with producers, entrepreneurs, engineers, researchers, government officials, private-sector buyers and senior management.
  • Willingness to travel frequently across the 16 project districts, including field locations in Eastern Uganda and Napak.

The key responsibilities of the role will be:

Technical Leadership

• Oversees the pool of NTFP Value Chain consultants and coordinates on-demand specialist support to NTFP actors across field-based activities, incubation, acceleration and cottage-industry interventions, ensuring clear scopes of work, high-quality deliverables and practical follow-through.
• Provides technical guidance across the full value chain, including production and sustainable harvesting, aggregation, post-harvest handling, storage, processing, machinery and equipment, quality control, product development, value addition, packaging, certification, branding, marketing, buyer requirements and domestic, regional and export market linkages.
• Manages the technical work plan for value-chain activities in close coordination with the Project Coordinator, ensuring timely sequencing of assessments, consultant inputs, field-based services, cottage-industry support, incubation and acceleration technical assistance, and market-linkage activities.

• Develops and maintains a structured technical-assistance mechanism for receiving, prioritising and assigning requests to NTFP Value Chain consultants based on enterprise diagnostics, field partner needs, value-chain bottlenecks, seasonality and commercial opportunity.
• Provides technical quality assurance for consultant terms of reference, methodologies, training materials, technical reports, specifications and recommendations, ensuring that advice is practical, context appropriate and consistent with proven Ugandan and international good practice.
• Works closely with field-based partners to strengthen technical delivery to producer groups and enterprises, including improved production, harvesting, post-harvest management, aggregation, storage, processing and product quality, with specific attention to reducing losses and improving commercial performance.
• Works with the Project Coordinator, Logistics and Procurement function and technical consultants to define appropriate specifications for cottage-industry machinery, processing lines, laboratory/testing equipment and other productive assets; supports technical evaluation, installation, commissioning, operator training and safe, sustainable use.
• Ensures technical assistance strengthens compliance with applicable Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) requirements, Uganda National Qualifications Framework (UNQF) competencies and other relevant food safety, quality, environmental, occupational health and market standards.
• Ensures incubation and acceleration support incorporates the specialist technical inputs required by enterprises, including production efficiency, process improvement, product diversification, quality assurance, certification readiness, technology adoption and market requirements.
• Supports the design and delivery of technically credible market-linkage and business-to-business initiatives by identifying buyer specifications, product and volume requirements, quality gaps, pricing considerations, competitive positioning and the operational improvements required for enterprises to access higher-value markets.
• Promotes innovation and commercially viable value addition across the five NTFP value chains, including productive use of by-products and circular-economy opportunities, while assessing feasibility, safety, market demand, operating costs and sustainability before recommending scale-up.

• Identifies technical, market and operational risks affecting the five value chains - including seasonality, raw-material supply, post-harvest loss, equipment suitability, quality failures, market volatility and unsustainable resource use - and recommends practical mitigation measures to the Project Coordinator.
• Provides high-quality technical inputs to project work plans, donor reports, learning products, presentations, technical briefs and reviews, and ensures key technical lessons and emerging market opportunities are documented and used for adaptive management.

Partnership management

• Builds and maintains strong technical relationships with apex organisations, producer organisations, private-sector processors and buyers, government technical agencies, research institutions, standards bodies, and other actors across the five NTFP value chains.
• Coordinates closely with third-party field implementers, cottage-industry hosts and NTFP enterprises to ensure technical support is complementary, demand-driven and aligned with agreed milestones and enterprise needs.
• Facilitates technical collaboration with relevant government and sector institutions, including UNBS, MAAIF, MoWE, NARO/NaFORRI, NFA, UWA, district technical departments and other institutions relevant to production, processing, standards, conservation and enterprise development.

Team Management

• Identifies technical expertise requirements across the five value chains and supports recruitment and maintenance of a high-quality pool of NTFP Value Chain consultants with complementary expertise in production, post-harvest management, processing, value addition, quality, standards and markets.
• Provides technical supervision, induction, tasking, coaching and performance oversight to NTFP Value Chain consultants, reviewing outputs and ensuring timely, practical and consistent support to project participants and partners.
• Builds the technical capacity of GOAL staff, co-applicants, field-based partners, cottage-industry operators and other project actors through coaching, technical reviews, structured learning and dissemination of tested tools and resources.
• Promotes a collaborative, problem-solving and learning-oriented technical culture in which evidence from enterprises, markets and field implementation is used to continuously improve the quality and relevance of project support.

General Terms and Conditions

At GOAL we welcome people of all abilities and want to ensure that our hiring and interview process meets the needs of all applicants. If you require a reasonable accommodation to make your application or interview experience a great one, please just contact our Recruitment Team at [email protected]

GOAL Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion:
GOAL is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive environment for all employees. We foster an inclusive culture where all voices are heard and valued. We know that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be.

All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling GOAL’s commitment to equal employment opportunity and equal treatment. GOAL does not discriminate against any employee on the basis of sex, race, color, ethnic background, tribe, birth, creed or religion or social or economic standing, political opinion, disability.

Code of Conduct and Accountability within GOAL

GOAL is an equal opportunities employer and has values and behaviours framework which defines our code of conduct. Any candidate offered a job with GOAL will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability.

• Comply with GOAL’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, Code of Conduct, health and safety, data protection and confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.
• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.
• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a GOAL staff or partner.

Safeguarding

Children and vulnerable adults a must be safeguarded to the maximum extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, and any other harm. One of the ways that GOAL shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

GOAL 

Established in 1977, GOAL is an international humanitarian agency and works with the most vulnerable communities to help them respond to and overcome humanitarian crises, and to assist those facing poverty and exclusion achieve greater resilience and well-being. GOAL envisions a world beyond humanitarian crises where poverty no longer exists, where vulnerable communities exposed to shocks and stresses are resilient, where barriers to well-being are removed and where everyone has equal rights and opportunities. 

General Description of the Country Programme 

First operational in Uganda in 1979, the current GOAL Uganda country programme focuses on Health, (including WASH, Health Accountability and Nutrition); and a market-based systems approach to improving agricultural livelihoods and WASH. GOAL Uganda mainstreams gender, child protection, social behavior changes and resilience strategies across all programming. GOAL uses a mixture of direct implementation and partnerships with national and international civil society organizations, local government, the private sector and communities to give effect to our mission.  

GOAL Uganda has a skilled team of over 110 personnel and has a head office in Kampala and field offices in 7 locations across Northern, Southwestern and Eastern regions of Uganda.  GOAL Uganda’s donors include the Mastercard Foundation, charity: water, Irish Aid, The Kingdom of Netherland Embassy in Uganda (EKN) and other private donors.  

Interested applicants who meet the requirements should apply through the link with at least 3 professional referees (current or former Line Manager) from the last three employers and daytime contact number by 30th September 2026.