Farmer Partnerships Lead at Komaza Kenya

About the Team

Managing the Komaza-farmer partnership is key to the success of the entire Komaza model. Komaza provides free seedlings, training and expertise to farmers who in turn provide land, labour and security to the trees as they grow and mature. At the end of the relationship, the farmers receive fair payment for all trees harvested by Komaza who then processes these trees to gain a return on our investment. 

The Farmer Partnerships team, which is part of the Forestry Operations Division, plays a key role in managing these partnerships in close collaboration with key stakeholders across the value chain.

About This Role

The Farmer Partnerships team is a vital department within Komaza whose main focus is to manage and maintain the Komaza-farmer partnership. As Farmer Partnerships Manager, your primary function is to ensure that the farmer life cycle throughout the course of the partnership is a coherent, consistent and overwhelmingly positive experience. You will manage the growth and development of a brand new farmer call center and work with your staff in collaboration with other key stakeholders to ensure that farmer issues are rapidly and effectively addressed. You will also establish metrics that enable us to quantify the state of the Komaza-Farmer partnership through means such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and work with other stakeholders to improve on these. You will also identify and investigate challenges within the Komaza-Farmer partnership and work across teams to sort these out.

What you will do

• Manage a team of Farmer Partnerships Assistants, track their performance and KPIs and conduct regular training to upskill the team.
• Serve as hiring manager for, train, coach and mentor any new Farmer Partnership Assistants to serve our farmers in a way that results in an extraordinary experience.
• Set and maintain the highest standards for call center operations, including but not limited to training, performance management, issue resolution.
• Answer Assistants questions, guide them through difficult calls or issues, and handle issues directly that cannot be handled adequately by the Assistants.  Lead the escalation across departments for resolving any new or challenging issues.
• Spot check calls for quality assurance.
• In conjunction with the Operations Innovation and Data Science teams, implement expanded surveys to gather more information about the farmer experience at Komaza. This will help us establish a more holistic understanding of the Komaza-farmer partnership in addition to NPS. 
• In conjunction with relevant stakeholders, improve and maintain a Farmer Partnerships Metrics Dashboard that captures information about how the Call Center is performing with regards to issue resolution but also summarizes information garnered from farmer-facing surveys.
• Collaboratively set daily, weekly and monthly targets for Farmer Partnership Assistants that align with business objectives. Monitor performance of the Farmer Partnership Assistants and identify and implement approaches to continuously improve efficiency, productivity and farmer experience.
• Prepare and communicate reports on vital insights gathered from these surveys and the dashboard that will enable other departments to improve our products, field operations or other aspects that affect the farmer experience.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders on the resolution of farmer facing issues and work with them to resolve these in an efficient and effective manner.
• Personally lead collaboration and coordination of departments involved in resolving particularly complex FP issues.
• Work with the Field Operations and Government Relations departments to prevent and respond to tree thefts.

About you

We are looking for someone with proven success in project management with experience in data analytics and reporting.

This person should at least have a bachelor’s degree in a related field (master’s preferred) and have a background in a project management client-facing role (at least 5 years). Most importantly, the role requires someone that is passionate about improving the lives of smallholder farmers in Africa.

As the ideal candidate, some specific qualities you would bring to the table include:

Critical Thinker – you can easily and rapidly think through how data collected from farmers links to one another and also the policy implications when it comes to issue resolution (how changes/shifts to systems affect farmers and different teams).

Collaborative – you can effectively navigate sometimes differing opinions and thoughts and manage internal and external stakeholders to achieve success.

Balanced Values – you are the voice of farmers who enroll at Komaza and serve as the internal advocate for them but you also understand Komaza’s role in this partnership.

Data Savvy – you are a highly quantitative and a data-driven decision maker. You have a solid understanding of data collection, analysis and reporting procedures. You are also proficient in MS Office or or G-Suite (especially spreadsheets!)  and can quickly get to grips with customized CRM software.

Organizational Leadership – you have outstanding communication and interpersonal skills and are positive and patient. You also display excellent organizational and leadership skills with a problem-solving ability.

What We Expect

This is more than a technical role. It will challenge you to apply your quantitative and qualitative tech skills at a dynamic work environment! We offer a great opportunity to further your career.

What’s in it for you?

Great vision without great people is irrelevant, Jim Collins wisely stated. If you share Komaza’s vision and want to help make it a reality, apply today! We offer a competitive remuneration package and an opportunity to further your career. 

Komaza is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit and business need.