ABOUT ONE ACRE FUND
Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies 1 million smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms vastly more productive. Our 8,000+ team is drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. With operations across six core countries in Africa, we make farmers more prosperous by providing quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural training to improve harvests. On average, the farmers we serve harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund.
To learn more about our work, take a look at our Why Work Here blog for more information.
ABOUT THE ROLE
One Acre Fund’s Global Impact Ventures Department aims to support country teams build new business models that can grow to serve more than half a million farmers in just a few years. We have supported the launch of a diverse portfolio of investments, from large government partnerships to rural retail shops, to tree seedling nurseries, to coffee extension training across many of our countries of operation. The department provides experience and bandwidth to nurture these new impact opportunities through the important early years.
We are seeking an entrepreneurial leader to help conceptualize and scale-up early-stage ventures in partnership with country + global teams and continue to build a pipeline of new opportunities across One Acre Fund operations. You will report to the Head of the Global Impact Ventures department.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Conceptualize and Launch New Businesses and Services (60% of your time): You will work with others to identify new opportunities. You will evaluate the leading opportunities, developing business cases with financial models to help us decide what to invest in. For the most compelling opportunities, you will collaborate with others to launch early-stage pilots. Recent examples of such pilots include:
- Uganda Coffee Pilot – launched a new Robusta coffee training program in 2020, the first coffee-focused program in the organization. In addition to training farmers on improved production practices, we are also exploring opportunities across the value chain to create impact.
- Nigeria Tractor Trial – we partnered with a technology platform and a local tractor fleet provider to increase access to tractor services
- Engage with Potential External Partners (10% of your time): Our organization is stronger through learning from others. You will engage with external organizations that may strengthen our current or future investments, apply those learning to our operations and overall program design, and share these insights with the broader organization.
- Replicate New Businesses and Services (30% of your time): Our organization operates in eight countries and a strong business idea can often be applicable across many of our countries of operation. You will leverage the learnings from the launch market to support other country teams build similar programs, ensuring we are incorporating all the learnings while adjusting to each unique local context.
CAREER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.
QUALIFICATIONS
Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:
- 8+ years of total professional work experience; of which 2+ years leading large teams and operations and 2+ years working in rural areas.
- Entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial leadership experience such as starting your own company, starting a new program/department, or launching new organization-wide programs.
- Ability to gather and synthesize different types of qualitative (e.g. farmer interviews) and quantitative (e.g. financial/impact modeling) information to guide major strategic and operational decisions
- Willingness to travel 30% of the time to rural areas pending Covid – One Acre Fund operations are predominantly based in rural areas, close to our customers.
- Fluency in English required, knowledge of other languages spoken in One Acre Fund countries is a plus
START DATE
As soon as possible
JOB LOCATION
Kigali, Rwanda or Nairobi, Kenya
BENEFITS
Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits
ELIGIBILITY
This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya or Rwanda
APPLICATION DEADLINE
1 February 2022
One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.
We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity, or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.
