CARE International works around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty, and achieve social justice. We seek a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live with dignity and security. We put women and girls at the centre because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities.

Project Yield is a partnership between CARE, AGRA and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) that moves women smallholder farmers and agripreneurs from informal savings groups into commercial finance. It starts with a pilot in Zambia in Year 1 and scales to Malawi, Rwanda and Nigeria in Years 2 to 4. Women are drawn from existing CARE Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) and Farmer Field and Business School (FFBS) groups and move through three stages: (1) identification and assessment through a two-stage gate; (2) a nine-month VALUE4HER enterprise development cycle covering skills, formalization and market linkages; and (3) a capital readiness assessment, followed by placement with financial service providers (FSPs) under an AGF partial credit guarantee.

CARE Zambia, an International Non-Governmental relief and development organization with various projects in Eastern, North-western, Luapula, Lusaka, and Southern provinces of Zambia, is looking for an experienced, innovative and motivated individual to fill the following position;

Job Title: Development Coordinator

Reports to: Chief of Party – Project Yield

Location: Choma

Type of Contract: Fixed Term

Job Summary

The Development Coordinator is a full-time member of the CARE Zambia country team and is accountable for the direct, day-to-day implementation of Project Yield in Zambia The position holder owns delivery of the pilot cohort from identification through to loan placement, supervises the Community-Based Trainers (CBTs), oversees the work of the country-level Business Development Services (BDS) provider, and manages the relationships with government, regulators, FSPs and buyers that the pathway depends on. The Development coordinator is the operational counterpart to the AGRA and AGF country focal points.

The position will work under the technical guidance of the Chief of Party and will serve as the primary operational focal point for project implementation within assigned geographic areas.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Cohort Delivery: Stage 1 and Stage 2 Implementation (25%)

• Lead pre-launch mobilization activities, including adaptation of the Group Health Checklist and Entrepreneur Readiness Scorecard to the Zambia VSLA and FFBS context.
• Support scoping and engagement of Business Development Service (BDS) providers and Financial Service Provider (FSP) partners.
• Oversee Stage 1 implementation, including application of assessment tools, quality assurance of CBT scoring, and onboarding of eligible women entrepreneurs into the cohort.
• Manage cohort workplans, activity schedules, and budgets in collaboration with CARE shared services.
• Monitor participant retention, support re-entry processes where appropriate, and address operational challenges.
• Coordinate and oversee the Month 9 Capital Readiness Assessment.

2. Supervision of CBTs, Local Partners and Oversight of the BDS Providers (20%)

• Recruit, supervise, mentor, and appraise Community-Based Trainers (CBTs) and allocate caseloads across cohort intakes.
• Coordinate and monitor field facilitators and local partners delivering project activities.
• Co-develop implementation schedules with the BDS provider and monitor performance against contractual deliverables.
• Monitor the quality of training, coaching, mentorship, and business support services provided to participants.
• Organize peer learning and mentoring opportunities through graduates of previous cohorts.
• Strengthen the capacity of local partners, community structures, and CBTs to sustain project outcomes.
• Ensure safeguarding, accountability, inclusion, and gender-responsive approaches are integrated throughout implementation.
• Escalate performance or delivery concerns to the Chief of Party (CoP) as required.

3. Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination (15%)

• Maintain strong working relationships with relevant district and provincial government departments, including Agriculture, Community Development, Cooperatives, SMEs, and Local Government.
• Coordinate stakeholder forums, technical working groups, and project review meetings at district and provincial levels.
• Facilitate engagement with regulatory agencies during documentation and business formalization clinics.
• Represent the project in district and provincial development platforms, agricultural shows, business forums, value chain meetings, and other relevant networks.
• Strengthen collaboration with traditional leaders, producer organizations, savings groups, women's entrepreneur networks, and other community stakeholders.

4. Financial Inclusion and Business Support Facilitation (20%)

• Coordinate engagement with banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), VSLAs, and other financial service providers.
• Support the co-design and adaptation of women-responsive financial products with partner FSPs, ensuring alignment with seasonal cash flows, alternative collateral mechanisms, and group-based lending models.
• Facilitate business planning, enterprise formalization, and preparation of loan application packages.
• Support women entrepreneurs to access business development, mentorship, coaching, and advisory services.
• Assess participant readiness for commercial financing and facilitate referrals to partner financial institutions.
• Organize pitch sessions with FSPs and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF).
• Track financing applications through underwriting, approval, disbursement, and post-disbursement stages.
• Monitor loan performance and identify early warning signs of repayment stress for follow-up support.

5. Market Linkages and Private Sector Engagement (10%)

• Facilitate buyer-seller engagements, market days, business networking events, and investment forums.
• Support the establishment of market agreements and off-taker relationships.
• Strengthen linkages between women entrepreneurs, producer groups, input suppliers, aggregators, processors, and service providers.
• Coordinate participation in trade fairs, agricultural shows, and business exhibitions.
• Identify and promote opportunities for value addition, market expansion, and private-sector partnerships.

6. Monitoring, Reporting and Learning (10%)

• Work closely with the M&E Officer to collect, verify, and maintain high-quality project data.
• Track key indicators, including participant retention, progression through programme stages, financing applications, loans disbursed, business performance, and loan repayment.
• Ensure accurate and timely field-level data collection and reporting.
• Prepare monthly activity reports, success stories, case studies, lessons learned, and other implementation updates.
• Contribute to quarterly, annual, donor, and project performance reports as required by the Program Manager and Chief of Party.
• Support learning, reflection, and adaptive management processes to improve programme effectiveness.

• Lead pre-launch mobilization activities, including adaptation of the Group Health Checklist and Entrepreneur Readiness Scorecard to the Zambia VSLA and FFBS context.
• Support scoping and engagement of Business Development Service (BDS) providers and Financial Service Provider (FSP) partners.
• Oversee Stage 1 implementation, including application of assessment tools, quality assurance of CBT scoring, and onboarding of eligible women entrepreneurs into the cohort.
• Manage cohort workplans, activity schedules, and budgets in collaboration with CARE shared services.
• Monitor participant retention, support re-entry processes where appropriate, and address operational challenges.
• Coordinate and oversee the Month 9 Capital Readiness Assessment.
• Recruit, supervise, mentor, and appraise Community-Based Trainers (CBTs) and allocate caseloads across cohort intakes.
• Coordinate and monitor field facilitators and local partners delivering project activities.
• Co-develop implementation schedules with the BDS provider and monitor performance against contractual deliverables.
• Monitor the quality of training, coaching, mentorship, and business support services provided to participants.
• Organize peer learning and mentoring opportunities through graduates of previous cohorts.
• Strengthen the capacity of local partners, community structures, and CBTs to sustain project outcomes.
• Ensure safeguarding, accountability, inclusion, and gender-responsive approaches are integrated throughout implementation.
• Escalate performance or delivery concerns to the Chief of Party (CoP) as required.
• Maintain strong working relationships with relevant district and provincial government departments, including Agriculture, Community Development, Cooperatives, SMEs, and Local Government.
• Coordinate stakeholder forums, technical working groups, and project review meetings at district and provincial levels.
• Facilitate engagement with regulatory agencies during documentation and business formalization clinics.
• Represent the project in district and provincial development platforms, agricultural shows, business forums, value chain meetings, and other relevant networks.
• Strengthen collaboration with traditional leaders, producer organizations, savings groups, women's entrepreneur networks, and other community stakeholders.
• Coordinate engagement with banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), VSLAs, and other financial service providers.
• Support the co-design and adaptation of women-responsive financial products with partner FSPs, ensuring alignment with seasonal cash flows, alternative collateral mechanisms, and group-based lending models.
• Facilitate business planning, enterprise formalization, and preparation of loan application packages.
• Support women entrepreneurs to access business development, mentorship, coaching, and advisory services.
• Assess participant readiness for commercial financing and facilitate referrals to partner financial institutions.
• Organize pitch sessions with FSPs and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF).
• Track financing applications through underwriting, approval, disbursement, and post-disbursement stages.
• Monitor loan performance and identify early warning signs of repayment stress for follow-up support.
• Facilitate buyer-seller engagements, market days, business networking events, and investment forums.
• Support the establishment of market agreements and off-taker relationships.
• Strengthen linkages between women entrepreneurs, producer groups, input suppliers, aggregators, processors, and service providers.
• Coordinate participation in trade fairs, agricultural shows, and business exhibitions.
• Identify and promote opportunities for value addition, market expansion, and private-sector partnerships.
• Work closely with the M&E Officer to collect, verify, and maintain high-quality project data.
• Track key indicators, including participant retention, progression through programme stages, financing applications, loans disbursed, business performance, and loan repayment.
• Ensure accurate and timely field-level data collection and reporting.
• Prepare monthly activity reports, success stories, case studies, lessons learned, and other implementation updates.
• Contribute to quarterly, annual, donor, and project performance reports as required by the Program Manager and Chief of Party.
• Support learning, reflection, and adaptive management processes to improve programme effectiveness.

• Project management
• Supervision
• Mentoring
• Stakeholder engagement
• Financial inclusion
• Business development
• Market linkages
• Monitoring and reporting
• Adaptation of tools
• Quality assurance
• Budget management
• Participant retention
• Capacity building
• Safeguarding
• Inclusion
• Gender-responsive approaches
• Relationship management
• Coordination
• Facilitation
• Data collection
• Report writing
• Learning and reflection

• Experienced, innovative and motivated individual
• Experience in direct, day-to-day implementation of projects
• Experience in supervising Community-Based Trainers (CBTs)
• Experience in overseeing Business Development Services (BDS) providers
• Experience in managing relationships with government, regulators, FSPs and buyers
• Experience working under technical guidance of a Chief of Party
• Experience in adapting tools to local context
• Experience in scoping and engagement of BDS and FSP partners
• Experience in applying assessment tools
• Experience in managing workplans, activity schedules, and budgets
• Experience in monitoring participant retention
• Experience in coordinating and overseeing capital readiness assessments
• Experience in recruiting, supervising, mentoring, and appraising staff
• Experience in coordinating and monitoring field facilitators and local partners
• Experience in co-developing implementation schedules and monitoring performance
• Experience in monitoring quality of training, coaching, mentorship, and business support services
• Experience in organizing peer learning and mentoring opportunities
• Experience in strengthening capacity of local partners, community structures, and CBTs
• Experience in ensuring safeguarding, accountability, inclusion, and gender-responsive approaches
• Experience in escalating performance or delivery concerns
• Experience in maintaining strong working relationships with government departments
• Experience in coordinating stakeholder forums, technical working groups, and project review meetings
• Experience in facilitating engagement with regulatory agencies
• Experience in representing projects in development platforms, agricultural shows, business forums, value chain meetings, and other relevant networks
• Experience in strengthening collaboration with traditional leaders, producer organizations, savings groups, women's entrepreneur networks, and other community stakeholders
• Experience in coordinating engagement with banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), VSLAs, and other financial service providers
• Experience in supporting co-design and adaptation of women-responsive financial products
• Experience in facilitating business planning, enterprise formalization, and preparation of loan application packages
• Experience in supporting women entrepreneurs to access business development, mentorship, coaching, and advisory services
• Experience in assessing participant readiness for commercial financing
• Experience in organizing pitch sessions with FSPs and AGF
• Experience in tracking financing applications
• Experience in monitoring loan performance
• Experience in facilitating buyer-seller engagements, market days, business networking events, and investment forums
• Experience in supporting the establishment of market agreements and off-taker relationships
• Experience in strengthening linkages between women entrepreneurs, producer groups, input suppliers, aggregators, processors, and service providers
• Experience in coordinating participation in trade fairs, agricultural shows, and business exhibitions
• Experience in identifying and promoting opportunities for value addition, market expansion, and private-sector partnerships
• Experience in working closely with M&E Officers
• Experience in collecting, verifying, and maintaining high-quality project data
• Experience in tracking key indicators
• Experience in ensuring accurate and timely field-level data collection and reporting
• Experience in preparing monthly activity reports, success stories, case studies, lessons learned, and other implementation updates
• Experience in contributing to quarterly, annual, donor, and project performance reports
• Experience in supporting learning, reflection, and adaptive management processes