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
The Commercialization and Agriculture Department’s (CAG) purpose is to bridge the existing gaps between smallholder farmers and large-scale offtakers. The department aims to increase farmer incomes by piloting multiple market access programs, and subsequently scaling those with promising results.
The Horticulture Systems and Venture Building Associate reports to the Market Access Associate and layers the ground work, and operationalizing our initiatives in cold-chain development and horticultural certification. The CAG department is poised to invest in developing cold-chain logistics and infrastructure for the movement and storage of our horticultural products. You will develop strategic and investment options of cold-chain logistics from farm-gate to sea-freight, and subsequently implement the selected strategy. Such strategies should consider internal needs of the department and potential third party revenues. Furthermore, you will be responsible for researching, developing, piloting and scaling our systems of horticultural certification initiatives, including the hiring and development of our internal certification team.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Cold-chain strategy development
- Develop cold room business model options
- Develop models for scale for internal and external use
- Conduct market analysis
- Develop business model
- Make strategic recommendations on best approach
- Packhouse business development
- Assure alignment with required certifications and quality criteria
- Conduct market analysis
- Develop business model for packhouse revenue
- Farm-gate to sea-freight logistics
- Establish farm-level and district-level cooling needs at scale
- Research creative solutions to farm and district level cooling
- Research options for container shipments by sea ports
- Develop whole cold-chain value model
Certification Development
- Put together complete requirements for certifications (Global GAP, Organic, Fair Trade, SMETA, HACCP, etc)
- Design quality and risk management systems
- Understand requirements
- Develop centralized processes for cold room storage and packhouse
- Develop processes for farmers
- Integrate systems to available software and internalize to OAF
- Research best available tools for building systems at scale
- Build workflows for field level execution
- Hire and train internal auditing team
- If required, partner with external consultant to support in audit team development
- Training
- Create and conduct HQ level training
- Create and conduct ToT farm level training
- Research and hire certification bodies for external audits
- Develop and run certification trials
- Create work plans and budgets for scale
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:
- At least 4 years experience in postharvest cold chain operations
- Experience in project management: from design, to milestone tracking
- Understanding of global food standards in supply chains
- At least 2 years of people and project management experience focused on strategy or trial execution. Someone able to full own projects, and really guide projects forward independently
- Strong business acumen, able to develop business plans, financial models and conducting market analysis
- Ability to conduct research via multiple sources including third party outreach and a keen sense for detail
- Logical thinker and comfortable with analysis. We require someone who can consider multiple complex factors in making decisions
- Experienced team leader, can train and developing small teams.
- Experience or qualifications in food quality and safety.
- A background in agriculture
- Fluency in English is required. Fluency in Kinyarwanda is not required, but an added advantage.
PREFERRED START DATE
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, start dates can vary significantly by role. We are adapting rapidly to Covid-19 and most of our team is now working remotely. Given the changing environment, we will appreciate your flexibility in confirming a start date.
JOB LOCATION
Kigali, Rwanda
BENEFITS
Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits
ELIGIBILITY
One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
27 July 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.
