Team Leader – Rural Development & Agri-Food Sector (Uzbekistan)
About the job
This assignment forms part of a major EU-funded technical assistance project (EUR 7.5 million) supporting the Government of Uzbekistan in implementing its Agri-Food Development Strategy 2020–2030. The project aims to assist Uzbekistan’s transition from a planned to a market-based agri-food system by creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment, strengthening key institutional capacities, and fostering inclusive, climate-smart, and market-oriented rural economies. The focus is on improving rural livelihoods, expanding opportunities for smallholder farmers and vulnerable groups (women, youth, people with disabilities), and enhancing food security and social inclusion.
Key project components include:
• Policy support and institutional capacity building (Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and others)
• Food safety, water management, and land planning
• Agricultural extension services and digital innovation
• Support for farmer organizations, cooperatives, and rural MSMEs
• Gender equality, youth empowerment, and decent work agenda
• Evidence-based policy monitoring, evaluation, and stakeholder dialogue
Key project components include:
• Policy support and institutional capacity building (Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and others)
• Food safety, water management, and land planning
• Agricultural extension services and digital innovation
• Support for farmer organizations, cooperatives, and rural MSMEs
• Gender equality, youth empowerment, and decent work agenda
• Evidence-based policy monitoring, evaluation, and stakeholder dialogue
What you will do
As Team Leader, you will serve as the primary liaison with the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and other key stakeholders. You will lead and coordinate the project team, ensuring effective planning, implementation, monitoring, and reporting of all project activities. Your responsibilities include:
- Providing strategic and technical leadership across all project components
- Facilitating policy dialogue and stakeholder engagement, including with government agencies, farmer organizations, and rural communities
- Overseeing capacity building for government institutions and local stakeholders
- Ensuring strong focus on social inclusion, gender equality, climate adaptation, and digital innovation
- Managing project staff, workplans, and budgets, and ensuring compliance with EU requirements
- Leading regular communication, coordination, and reporting with the EU Delegation and national counterparts
- Promoting knowledge sharing and EU best practices in rural development and agri-food sector reform
Your qualifications
- At least 15 years of professional experience in rural development, agri-food sector, or related fields
- Minimum 10 years in managing international technical assistance projects, ideally EU or major donor funded
- Demonstrated leadership in projects targeting rural livelihoods, poverty reduction, and empowerment of smallholder farmers and vulnerable rural populations, preferably in transition economies and Central Asia
- Proven track record in designing and implementing strategies to increase farm income, expand rural opportunities, and enhance food security, with a strong focus on inclusivity (women, youth, people with disabilities)
- Experience supporting development and implementation of agri-food policies and strategies that foster inclusive, climate-smart, and market-oriented rural economies
- Extensive experience in capacity building for government and local stakeholders, including farmer organizations, cooperatives, and rural MSMEs
- Direct involvement in EU budget support or sector reform contracts, with experience in monitoring, reporting, and policy dialogue
- Strong leadership, team management, and intercultural communication skills, particularly in the context of Uzbekistan
- Good Russian language skills (required); Uzbek language skills an asset
- Previous role as Team Leader or Key Expert in large-scale rural/agri-food projects (>EUR 5 million) (desirable)
- Familiarity with digital innovation, climate adaptation, and sustainable land management (desirable)
- Strong engagement with public-private and civil society dialogue platforms (desirable)
Offer details
Last modified
1 week
Languages
English
Russian
Duration
Expected start: June 2026 | Duration: 48 month
The project
Client
EU
Sector
Agriculture
Climate, Natural Resources & Environment
Economic Development and Finance
Empowering Communities
Social development
Countries
Uzbekistan
Start & Duration
Expected start: June 2026 | Duration: 48 month