Waste to Value (Circular Economy) Manager

Job Title: Waste to Value (Circular Economy) Manager

Reports to: Program Director

Location: This position is based in Nigeria with regular travel to the ten project implementation states (specific base location TBD)

About TechnoServe

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of TechnoServe's work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of business and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.

The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing...when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better, they can access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off.

Job Summary

The Waste-to-Value (Circular Economy) Manager will lead the implementation of circular economy initiatives, focusing on transforming food processing waste into valuable products to create economic opportunities for young entrepreneurs, with particular attention to women and persons with disabilities (PWD). This role includes establishing waste-to-value hubs, negotiating supply agreements, promoting regenerative practices, and ensuring sustainability models align with climate-smart approaches.

The manager will collaborate with processors, communities, and partners to minimize food loss, maximize value addition, and foster inclusive business models in targeted value chains such as soybean, sesame, tomato, and ginger. This position requires deep expertise in circular economy principles, strong negotiation skills, and a demonstrated commitment to gender equity and disability inclusion. The ideal candidate will have proven experience establishing supply agreements, implementing waste valorization projects, and working with marginalized communities.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities

1. W2V Strategy Design & Partnership Development

• Strategic Rollout: Lead the design and implementation of gender-inclusive W2V strategies, prioritizing waste streams (e.g., black soldier fly production, composting, bio-fertilizers) with the highest market potential.
• Partner Attraction: Proactively identify and attract private sector partners, investors, and technology providers to the W2V ecosystem.
• Inclusion: Ensure the meaningful participation and leadership of youth, women, and persons with disabilities (PWDs) across all waste-to-value and circular economy initiatives.

2. Supply Agreement Negotiation

• Formalization: Negotiate and secure formal waste supply agreements with cooperative, medium, and large-scale processors to move from informal collection to structured supply chains.
• Incentive Structures: Create and pitch incentive structures that encourage processors to formalize waste supply relationships with project-supported entrepreneurs.

3. Inclusive Enterprise Support

• Barrier Reduction: Develop and pilot innovative approaches to reduce entry barriers for women and PWDs, focusing on pooled resources and local aggregation to minimize travel and intermediary exploitation.
• Financial Facilitation: Link W2V entrepreneurs with financial institutions, seed grants, and microcredit to support business formalization and growth.

4. Market Linkage & Offtake Development

• Offtake Brokering: Identify and secure purchase orders with industrial buyers (e.g., feed manufacturers, seasoning companies) to demonstrate the commercial viability of waste-derived products.
• Market Intelligence: Develop systems to help entrepreneurs understand industrial demand, pricing trends, and quality specifications.

5. Community Engagement & Safeguarding

• Social License: Work with traditional/religious leaders and community groups to build support for women’s economic empowerment and address cultural restrictions.
• Income Control: Ensure women maintain control over their earnings through direct mobile money payments and targeted safeguarding measures.
• Disability Inclusion: Collaborate with Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to identify and recruit PWDs for leadership roles within the W2V value chain.

Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science, Agribusiness, Circular Economy, or related field (7+ years experience) OR Master’s Degree (5+ years experience).

Experience:

• Proven track record in waste management, circular economy projects, or agricultural value chain development.
• Experience in negotiating commercial agreements and managing multi-stakeholder partnerships (Private Sector, Government, and Communities).
• Demonstrated commitment to economic empowerment for women and PWDs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in Nigeria's food processing sector, particularly with soybean, sesame, tomato, or ginger value chains
• Prior work with donor-funded programs focusing on youth, women, and PWD inclusion
• Knowledge of climate-smart technologies and regenerative business practices in agricultural contexts
• Experience with market systems development approaches and facilitative programming
• Familiarity with Nigeria's regulatory environment for waste management and food processing
• Track record of securing commercial offtake agreements for waste-derived products

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Technical: Strong expertise in circular economy principles and waste-to-value business models.
• Negotiation: Exceptional ability to broker deals between small-scale entrepreneurs and large industrial processors/buyers.
• Analysis: Ability to develop financially viable business plans and conduct Return on Investment (ROI) analyses.
• Language: English (Fluent); local languages (Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo) highly advantageous.

Required Languages

Excellent written and spoken English; familiarity with local languages (e.g., Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo) is a significant advantage

Travel

At least 50% of the time, including field visits to rural and peri-urban areas across the ten project implementation states

Supervisory Responsibilities

May supervise field officers, consultants, or other staff related to waste-to-value activities (specific structure to be determined based on project needs)

Closing Statements

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.

If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources at [email protected] or call +1 202 785 4515.