Description
Rapid organization growth
translates into great career opportunities for our staff. We invest heavily in
careers – we want to develop our next group of country directors, R&D
directors, and partnership leaders. In their first year, our program associates
lead 3-5 internal consulting projects, such as:
- District partner: Most program associates are initially
partnered with a local field director. Program associates are immersed in
One Acre’s operations and learn from their local counterpart how to grow
an operation of 20+ staff, serving 5,000-20,000 farmers. They in turn also
transfer management and computer skills to their counterpart. By working
hand-in-hand with country national staff in a regular field operation, our
program associates get a feel for operations in the field. - New operation creation: A program associate in Kenya
created and manages the One Acre Fund Customer Engagement team, which is
tasked with fielding error claims from farmers, investigating claims, and
solving them fairly. Started in 2012 with one part-time employee, the
Customer Engagement team has grown rapidly to seven full-time staff
members. The team investigated and resolved more than 3,000 cases in 2013.
- Impact innovation: A program associate designed several
configurations of a harvest storage product and farmer training, and tried
it with a few hundred farmers. The most successful trial demonstrated an
increase in harvest profits by more than 10%. The following year, the
product was sold to 40,000 farmers. - Growth innovation: A staffer designed a new viral
marketing initiative. She identified our best and most enthusiastic
farmers, and turned them into volunteer “replication agents” who
are empowered to recruit new groups of farmers. Our staff person designed
the trial protocols, trained 10 field staff to test the idea, and observed
the trial in-field, resulting in 25% higher client enrollment. This
program was subsequently rolled out to 200 field sites and became the
foundation of our current farmer recruitment model.
As staff grow into a program
manager role, our strongest performers take leadership over a relatively
independent pilot, country, or department within the One Acre Fund network,
while earning a significant and sustainable salary increase. Examples includes:
- Government partnerships development: One Acre Fund
receives frequent requests from African governments to jointly implement
nationwide agricultural training, fertilizer distribution programs, and
credit programs. A program manager took the lead in setting up our newest
government partnership operation, initially to pilot one project. Within a
year, this operation had 50 staff and is likely to at least quadruple in
the coming two years, to hopefully 2-3 nationwide partnerships. - Department leadership opportunities: In their second
year of service, top performing program staffers are often given the
responsibility of running an internal One Acre Fund department like
“Scale Innovations.” This department runs dozens of
test-and-control trials with 10,000+ farmers that radically tweak our
program model, with the goal of significantly increasing our scalability. - New markets: One Acre Fund has ambitious plans to launch
one new country per year. In 2011, a program manager moved to Burundi to
direct field operations for an initial 400-farmer pilot. Three years
later, One Acre Fund’s Burundi operation serves 21,000 farmers with 110
staff.
Career Growth and
Development
One Acre Fund invests heavily 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, and a demonstrated
long-term passion for international development. Candidates who fit the
following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:
- Strong work experiences. Examples include a demanding
professional work experience, or successful entrepreneurial experience
(e.g. starting a field program in a developing country, leading a
conference, starting a business, solid Peace Corps accomplishments). - Leadership experience at work, or outside of work.
- Top-performing undergraduate background (include GPA and
test scores on your resume). - Humility. We are looking for passionate professionals
who combine strong leadership skills with good humor, patience, and a
humble approach to service to join our growing family of leaders. - 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. - Ability to cook / laugh – desirable.
- Language: English required in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi,
and Tanzania, and French required in Rwanda and Burundi. French and
Swahili-speakers are particularly encouraged to apply.
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 (http://myjotform.com/form/40471746260553).
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.