JOB VACANSY AT ONE ACRE FUND……. ADOPTION SEED
SPECIALIST
Job
Description
One Acre
Fund is developing new business units to push innovation in retail, finance and
marketing in rural communities. One of these units is the Seed Adoption
Campaign, which aims to build access and demand for improved seed across
Tanzania.
Improved
seed can generate significant increases in yield and farm productivity, with
minimal behaviour change required. However, adoption of improved seed is lower
than 25% in many Sub-Saharan countries. Increasing adoption of improved seed in
Tanzania represents millions of dollars of potential impact for smallholder
farmers.
Seed-related
innovations are one of the organisation’s highest priority areas for generating
impact for farmers and the Seed Adoption Campaign will continue to grow rapidly
in both work scope and team size, serving over 150,000 farmers in the 2018-19
farming season. The goal for most innovations like this is to scale them to
reach huge populations of smallholder farmers, generating as much impact as
possible.
We are
seeking exceptional individuals to join this team. Strong candidates would be
managing region-wide and nationwide ventures to expand the Seed Adoption
Campaign, supporting farmers in new markets.
Strategy
High-level
strategy planning – develop, evaluate and prioritise innovations within the
trial to increase impact. While the existing programme is a strong model, the
team is always looking to further increase impact for farmers. The Seed Team
Program Associate will be responsible for developing and implementing
operational and marketing plan improvements and new product and program
innovations.
Trial
data analysis – work with the monitoring and evaluation team to design trials
and data collection plans to effectively evaluate impact through data analysis
Collaborate
with internal teams – Work with other departments and global research teams to
build programme solutions and innovations. Communicate updates and results to
key stakeholders.
Operations
Scout
new locations – develop assessment criteria to scout and find the best locations
to achieve high impact for smallholder farmers.
Coordinate
with internal and external partners – collaborate and manage relationships with
key partners. This includes people from other departments but also executives
from seed companies, local distribution partners, government officials, etc.
Plan and
manage budgets – monitor current budgets and forecast budgets for expansion and
other programme innovations.
Identify
and manage operational risks.
Identify
opportunities to improve operations and program performance, through weekly
tracking of Key Performance Indicators, identifying and executing on process
improvements, and highlighting opportunities to make the program run more
smoothly.
Team
Management
Build
and manage a team – hire, develop and lead a team to effectively execute
operations in the field.
Invest
heavily in the development of staff, including training, tailored development
plans, and support to team morale.
Design
and execute for massive scale, by building systems for performance management
of a large field team.
Career
Growth and Development
One Acre
Fund invests in building management and leadership skills. Your manager and a
global support team will commit 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.
Qualifications
We are
seeking 5+ years of work experience and a demonstrated passion for poverty
alleviation. Candidates who match the following criteria are strongly
encouraged to apply:
Strong
work experience. Examples include: a demanding professional work experience;
successful entrepreneurial experience.
Experience
developing innovative ideas and opportunities. We are seeking someone who is
able to contribute to operations and strategy development.
Leadership
experience at work or outside of work.
Relationship
building skills with public and private sector actors.
Humility.
We are looking for passionate professionals who combine strong leadership
skills with good humour, patience and a humble approach to serving smallholder
farmers.
Language:
English and Kiswahili required
No
agriculture-specific experience required
Preferred
Start Date
ASAP
Compensation
We offer
a modest starting salary that affords a high quality of life in our areas of
operation. This is a career-track role with performance-based raises and the
ability to expand responsibilities over time.
Note: We
are not able to sponsor a visa for this position.