Program Rotation Associate at One Acre Fund

Job Location

Kakamega, Kenya; Rubengera, Rwanda; Muramvya, Burundi; Iringa, Tanzania; Jinja, Uganda; Iringa, Tanzania.

Duration

Minimum 3 years commitment, full-time job. We will be making a commitment to your development as a young professional, and expect in return a serious commitment to serving our farmers.

Job Description

One Acre Fund’s field-facing operations are the front lines of our mission, and a place where our work is evolving rapidly. Our Program Rotation Associate position is designed to grow exceptional early-career professionals into a group capable of addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing One Acre Fund (and the social impact space more broadly). This program will provide highly qualified candidates a chance to contribute to our field program from a variety of angles. Selected Program Rotation Associates will have the opportunity to rotate through a variety of field-based postings, followed by one longer posting:

• First 18 months: rotation between 3 different six-month long posts;
• Next 18 months: spent in a single role of particular importance to the organization and interest to the candidate;
• Afterward: opportunity to join one of our teams permanently.

Example rotations include:

• Field Operations: This team is the direct service provider to our farmers, with the primary objective of building the capacity of our local staff to provide financially sustainable impact, at scale, to all One Acre Fund farmers. A rotation with Field Operations could include managing an entire season’s worth of training materials for 100,000+ farmers, designing incentives to ensure high repayment, or serving as a liaison to our crop health teams which monitor in-field agricultural problems for our farmers.
• Business Operations: The objective of our Operations departments is to ensure that we are able to deliver on all of our promises to our clients. Operations encompasses mission-critical systems like finance, client data management, print, procurement and investigations. A rotation with Business Operations could include running bulk SMS service for 100,000+ farmers, creating a new customer service line and systems to support it, or ensuring that we can process farmer insurance claims fairly and rapidly.
• Logistics: The primary responsibility of our Logistics team is to ensure that we deliver life-changing inputs and materials to farmers on time and at high quality. A rotation with Logistics would likely include managing a season’s worth of deliveries to thousands of farmers, including planning, troubleshooting, procurement of trucks, liaising with warehouses, etc.
• Program Innovations: The Scale Innovations team aims to deepen One Acre Fund’s impact on every community we serve by increasing the percent of households who join our program, and by developing innovations that help our field staff serve farmers better. Example projects with the Scale Innovations team include running trials related to using tablet computers in field operations, a “junior OAF member” marketing trial, or reconfiguring the role of farmer group leaders in our operations.

Program Rotation Associates will work together with the organization to determine their country or countries of operation, individual rotations, and then their final full-time role. We see the Program Rotation Associate role as an opportunity to develop future leaders in international development, while meeting some of One Acre Fund’s most critical field-facing needs. Part of our commitment to this role is offering high-quality professional development and feedback opportunities as our Associates make their way through the various rotations.

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, 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, etc).
• 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 live outside of a capital city, close to our customers 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.
• Language: English required in Kenya, French a plus in Rwanda and Burundi. 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

East Africans strongly encouraged to apply.