One Acre Fund Executive Projects Associate Job in Kenya

Wanted
Exceptional professional to work on projects that are of strategic importance to One Acre Fund as a whole.

Job Location
Rural Kenya (other countries possible).

Duration
Minimum 2 years commitment, full-time job.

Organization Description
Most of the world's poor are farmers, representing the largest and most uniform group of poor people in the world. One Acre Fund is a growing social enterprise in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania that is innovating a new way of helping farm families to achieve their full potential. Instead of giving handouts, One Acre Fund invests in farmers to generate a permanent gain in farm income. We provide farmers with a "service bundle" that includes education, finance, seed and fertilizer, and market facilitation. Our program is proven impactful – every year, we weigh thousands of harvests and measure 50-100% average gain in farm income per acre. We have laser-like focus on generating better lives for the people that we serve.

Job Description
We are seeking an exceptional professional to work on projects that are of strategic importance to One Acre Fund as a whole. The goal of this role is to work across One Acre Fund’s various departments and geographies to initiate and execute on projects that open up new operational or strategic opportunities for the organization. The role presents a unique chance to work on strategic priorities with the access and vantage point provided by working closely with One Acre Fund’s field teams.

The role will divide roughly evenly, into three parts:

• Long-running, cross-department or cross-country initiatives: As One Acre Fund grows, there are an increasing number of projects that do not fall cleanly into an existing department, and we need to execute cleanly across multiple silos. These projects would last at least several months, tackling questions of strategic importance to the organization.
  • Example: Investigate a new strategic idea of potentially incorporating family planning products into our product portfolio, and perform the initial field research and piloting to learn more. Conduct focus groups with farmers, do desk research to understand the policy landscape, then build the foundation for a One Acre Fund-provided service. Again, start in one country and then gradually expand across One Acre Fund network.
  • Example: Training modules for new managers at One Acre Fund. Coordinating with our leadership team, put together a dozen training modules and self-publish them into a booklet for our budding managers. Supplement interviews on management best practices from our field leadership with secondary research.
  • Example: Create a “remote field visit” department that allows management to have eyes on the field operation in remote places every day. Hire a team 3-10 videographers and develop a procedure for them to collect, package, and translate video on ground-level field operations to be used for One Acre Fund’s staff training and quality control. Start in one country and then gradually export this across all countries where One Acre Fund operates.
  • Example: US tech consulting. Working together with our People Operations team, One Acre Fund is working on a project to streamline the processing of over 10,000 applications per year. Scope out the necessary requirements (including lack of solid internet bandwidth in rural Africa), create a job description, recruit a software developer, and then manage the implementation of a new candidate processing system.
• One-off, fast analyses and tasks: These are analyses and tasks of one week or shorter duration, typically exploring a new strategic direction for the organization.
  • Example: Write an exploratory research memo on the current state of research on sorghum and millet in East Africa.
  • Example: Attend a particular microfinance or agriculture industry conference, perhaps in a speaking role – with the goal of networking and identifying new opportunities for the organization.
• Communication with key stakeholders: The last batch of work would be to communicate with key stakeholders of the organization, as opportunities arose. This would most often involve creating Powerpoint decks, conducting phone calls, and preparing financial statement summaries.
  • Example: Prepare a keynote presentation for One Acre Fund’s executive director to deliver at an industry conference.

Career Growth and Development
One Acre Fund invests in building management and leadership skills. Your manager will invest significant time in your career development. We provide constant, actionable feedback delivered through mentorship and through regular management consulting-style career reviews. We also have regular one-on-one meetings, where we listen to and discuss career goals, and work collaboratively to craft roles that each person can be passionate about.  Because of our rapid growth, we constantly have new high-level roles opening up and opportunities in many functions. This results in fast career growth for our staff.

Qualifications
We are seeking exceptional professionals with 2 to 5+ years of work experience. We are looking for truly extraordinary candidates that will help take our organization to the next levels of impact and scale. This is a competitive posting for a career–track role, with a two-year minimum. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

• Strong work experiences. We are looking for a former management consultant (or similar skill–set). Entrepreneurial and unstructured work experiences are also helpful.
• Strong verbal and written communicator.
• Leadership experiences at work, or outside of work.
• Top–performing undergraduate background (please include GPA and test scores on your resume).
• Humility and personal stability. We are looking for passionate professionals that combine strong leadership skills with good humor, patience, and a humble approach to service.
• A willingness to commit to living in rural areas of East Africa for at least two years – this is a long–term, career–track role. The ideal candidate will have at least one year demonstrated experience working in the developing world, although this is not a strict requirement.
• Professional/technical skills – very high levels of proficiency with PowerPoint, Excel and other software programs.
• Ability to cook/laugh – desirable.
• Language: English required.

Preferred Start Date
Flexible

Compensation
Starts modest. However, this is a career-track role with fast raises for performance, paying a meaningful salary for long-term placement in developing nations.

Benefits
Health insurance, immunizations, flight, room and board.

Sponsor International Candidates
Yes

To Apply
Complete this form. You will be prompted to submit your CV and cover letter. You may also be asked to submit work samples for some positions. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), please submit a copy of your Description of Service (DOS) in the appropriate section.

East Africans are strongly encouraged to apply.