Senior Associate, Nutritious Foods Financing - SYS-1287

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is seeking a Senior Associate, Nutritious Foods Financing to lead technical assistance within sub-Sahara Africa to SMEs for Nutritious Foods Financing Facility(N3F) and to co-lead to GAIN’s work on innovative financing and coordination of activities under the same component in Nourishing Food Pathways work stream. This role will be offered on a sixteen(16) month fixed term contract, subject to availability of funding and will be based in either Kigali, Rwanda or Kampala, Uganda.

• Identifying the key technical assessment needs of SMEs operating in the food value chain that are in the potential pipeline for the N3F Fund, working together with the investment officers at our partner asset investment management company.
• Developing technical assistance support packages tailored to individual SMEs and group training according to common needs in the portfolio
• Monitor and coordinate the implementation of project workplans and ensuring that all assignments deliver maximum value for money
• Reviewing and refining procedures, monitoring mechanisms, and feedback forms for the provision of Technical Assistance to SMEs
• Working closely with GAIN’s Knowledge Leadership and our partner’ MEL groups to ensure monitoring, evaluation and learning take place
• Managing the NFP activities focused on innovative finance and nutrition investing, including consultancy collaborations, exploring the nexus between nutrition and gender, and mapping of the nutrition investment landscape
• Representing GAIN at national and regional technical meetings and workshops and assisting in the coordinating and organisation of national and international events, technical meetings, and workshops.
• Maintaining up-to-date market knowledge/intelligence, geographic and sector mappings on the food and agriculture financing and (social) (impact) investing landscape and sharing the same within the GAIN team and more broadly, including identifying key partners to influence and support in communication pieces (blogs, reports, articles).

About you

The ideal candidate should have experience working with SMEs to provide technical assistance. Experience in a technical assistance facility / accelerator / incubator is highly preferred preferably within the sub-Sahara region. Experience relating to impact investment, development finance will be a key asset.

The postholder should have demonstrated experience and a deep understanding of what makes an SME scale their operations, grow, and succeed.

You should possess excellent communication skills and ability to work in multicultural and multi-lingual environments as well as demonstrated excellence in report writing, research and analytical ability. You should be highly flexible and be willing to travel across challenging environments.

The starting annual gross salary on offer per location for this role is as listed below, depending on experience.

Uganda: UGX 63,781,560 - UGX 72,955,200

Rwanda: RWF 20,091,660 - RWF 22,921,476

GAIN has a fair and competitive salary structure that allows for annual progression subject to good performance. In addition, GAIN offers a total of 37 days holiday per year (including annual leave, public holidays and additional office closure days), an attractive pension scheme and competitive insurance cover including health, travel and life assurance. We are committed to the health of our staff, especially in these challenging times, and have developed a programme of wellbeing that includes flexible and hybrid working, additional leave allowances, wellbeing days, mindfulness coaching and access to independent and confidential counselling.

GAIN also has a strong commitment to professional development. We will support you to grow in your career through both formal and informal training, and are committed to providing opportunities through internal recruitment, secondments, and promotion. All of this is delivered in a supportive and collaborative environment.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with governments, businesses and civil society, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver healthier diets for all people, especially the most vulnerable.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, GAIN has offices in countries with high levels of malnutrition: Bangladesh, Benin, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. To support work in those countries, we have representative offices in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

At GAIN, we believe that everyone in the world should have access to nutritious, safe, and affordable food. Today, one in three people - drawn from nearly every country on the planet - are unable to consume enough nutritious food. We work to develop and deliver solutions to this daily challenge.

We provide a flexible working environment that includes a combination of home and office working opportunities through our global hybrid working policy. This encourages our staff to have a healthy work-life balance and increases staff motivation, enriches employee wellbeing, and improves performance and productivity.

All of our positions are based in one or more of GAIN’s designated offices as stated on our job advertisements. Successful candidates will be based in one of GAIN’s country offices and must have the existing right to live and work within a reasonably commutable distance of the relevant city / cities in which the role is advertised. Please note, that GAIN does not sponsor working visas and relocations. 

GAIN reserves the right to withdraw an offer of employment for candidates who are considered to ineligible under the above conditions during or after the recruitment process.

Applicants must have the right to work and be currently based in the advertised country location, to be eligible to apply for this position.

For more detailed information please see the attached job description. To apply, follow the "Apply Now" link.

This advert closes on 1st August 2025. Early applications are encouraged. GAIN reserves the right to close this advert early should we receive suitable candidates ahead of the closing date.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition is committed to equality of opportunity and creating an inclusive environment where diversity is valued.  We are keen to reflect the diversity of our society at every level within our organisation and therefore welcome applications from talented and committed people from all backgrounds, representing the diverse societies we operate in.

Our core values

GAIN is committed to equality of opportunity and to eliminating discrimination. All staff are expected to follow GAIN Values

Our commitment to safeguarding

GAIN is committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment where all staff, volunteers, and job applicants are treated with dignity and respect. We are also committed to safeguarding the communities we work with. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, exploitation and abuse of power or trust.

Safeguarding is integral to our recruitment practices, and we have robust procedures in place to prevent any form of harm, abuse, or discrimination. As part of our commitment to safeguarding, all successful candidates will undergo thorough background checks and vetting procedures, which can include references, criminal records and terrorist finance checks where applicable, in accordance with our Safeguarding Policy.

We provide comprehensive training and support to our staff and volunteers and associates to raise awareness of safeguarding issues and ensure they are equipped to recognise and respond to concerns effectively.

By applying for a position with GAIN, you agree to uphold our safeguarding principles and contribute to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for all individuals.