- AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY & AGRONOMY SPECIALIST
- Palladium
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- Palladium
- Job opportunity
- AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY & AGRONOMY SPECIALIST
- Palladium
- Lilongwe
- Full time
- Closed
- Free
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- Job Description
- About Palladium
Palladium is a global leader in the design, development, and delivery of positive impact by working with governments, businesses, and investors to solve social and economic challenges worldwide. The Growth Poles Project 2.0 is a five-year programme supporting inclusive, sustainable, and resilient wealth creation in Malawi through agriculture and natural resource management.
- Job Summary
Palladium is seeking a qualified Agricultural Productivity & Agronomy Specialist to provide technical leadership across its agricultural productivity portfolio. The successful candidate will support seed systems, soil health, input manufacturing, value chain agronomy, and partner capacity building while ensuring technical quality and evidence-based decision-making.
- Key Responsibilities
- Provide technical advisory support and quality assurance for partner agronomic workplans, trials, and seed production activities.
- Review partner proposals, technical strategies, and milestone frameworks.
- Assess seed production and multiplication plans for technical feasibility and compliance.
- Validate improved seed adoption claims across target value chains.
- Review soil health trials, product development, and certification processes.
- Provide technical advice on fertilizer, biostimulant, and agricultural input development.
- Support agronomic activities across row crops, tree crops, and spice value chains.
- Verify technical milestones before payment recommendations.
- Conduct field visits and prepare technical verification reports.
- Build partner capacity through coaching and technical guidance.
- Represent the project in technical forums and maintain relationships with government and research institutions.
- Prepare technical reports and contribute to donor reporting.
- Undertake significant field travel (at least 40%).
- Requirements
- Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Agronomy, Agriculture, Crop Science, Soil Science, or a related field.
- Master's Degree is strongly preferred.
- Minimum of 7–10 years of applied agronomy experience in Malawi or Southern Africa.
- Demonstrated expertise in at least two of the following:
Certified seed production.
Soil health trials.
Agricultural input development and quality assurance.
Value chain agronomy.
- Working knowledge of Malawi's Seed Act and Plant Variety Protection systems.
- Experience evaluating agronomic trial designs and technical evidence.
- Strong report writing and technical communication skills.
- Experience working with private sector agricultural enterprises, development programmes, or research institutions.
- Knowledge of market systems development approaches.
- Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills.
- Ability to work in Malawi.
- Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Chichewa or other local languages is an added advantage.