The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Training Officer
Job ID: IITA/P&C/NRS2026-057
Location: Ibadan, Oyo
Duties
- Coordinate state-level training needs assessments and support adaptation of the program's technical, business and soft-skills curricula to the local context and value chains.
- Plan and schedule training cohorts, mobilizing and confirming venues, facilitators, mentors and participants in collaboration with the State Admin and Logistics Officer.
- Coordinate the identification, orientation and support of qualified local facilitators and mentors (experienced agribusiness professionals with a minimum of five years of relevant experience) to deliver training and ongoing coaching to participants.
- Oversee delivery of training at Youth Agribusiness Parks and other designated centers, ensuring sessions are practical, hands-on and of consistent quality across cohorts.
- Coordinate delivery of specialized, inclusive training for persons with disabilities using adapted tools and approaches, and for internally displaced youth using multilingual, context-specific methods, in line with program guidance.
- Support implementation of the Start Them Early Program (STEP) in secondary schools within the state, including coordination with school administrators and state education officials.
- Track participant attendance, progress and completion for each training cohort, and maintain accurate training records/data for the program's M&E system.
- Coordinate distribution of training materials and starter kits to participants upon completion of training, working with the State Admin and Logistics Officer.
- Support linkage of trained participants to mentorship, youth clusters/cooperatives, finance and market actors, and workforce placement opportunities, in coordination with relevant program teams.
- Collect participant feedback and training outcome data and use it to inform continuous improvement of training delivery in the state.
- Prepare periodic training reports (participation, completion rates, quality observations, challenges) for the State Field Coordinator and PMO.
- Ensure all training activities comply with IITA's safeguarding, gender-inclusion and health and safety standards.
- Perform other related duties as assigned by the supervisor.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Extension, Agribusiness, Education or a related field with a minimum of 3–5 years of experience in agricultural training, extension services, vocational training or youth capacity-building programs is required.
Competencies
The ideal candidate must have:
- Sound technical knowledge of at least one of the program's priority value chains (poultry, aquaculture, horticulture, rice, maize, cassava).
- Demonstrated experience designing or delivering adult-learning and hands-on/practical training, including for diverse groups (youth, women, persons with disabilities, displaced persons).
- Strong facilitation, coaching and mentoring skills.
- Good record keeping and reporting skills, with basic proficiency in Microsoft Office.
- Good understanding of the state's local context, communities and language(s).
- Willingness to travel frequently within the state/district, including to Youth Agribusiness Parks and rural training locations.
- Strong training coordination and facilitation skills.
- Knowledge of adult learning principles and capacity development approaches.
- Excellent presentation and communication skills.
- Strong organizational and event coordination abilities.
- Ability to manage multiple training activities simultaneously.
- Strong interpersonal and stakeholder engagement skills.
- Good report writing and documentation skills.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and digital learning platforms.