Forestry Associate at Komaza Kenya

About The Team

Komaza is different from a traditional forestry company. Rather than planting tens of thousands of hectares in one place and managing those trees through technical specialist staff, we plant trees in partnership with geographically dispersed small holder farmers. All aspects of our forestry – from our nursery, to our forestry practices and trainings, to enumeration and data, to harvest, to the tools we use – draw on best practices from traditional forestry but must work for a small scale farmer. The Forestry Innovation team takes the lead on projects as diverse as tree species selection, measuring growth, forestry training for farmers, and the selection or design of farmer-appropriate forestry tools.

About This Role

As Komaza rapidly scales and expands geographically, we will need to develop new forestry methodologies and operational strategies to empower small-holder farmers to grow the best trees as efficiently as possible. As Forestry Associate, you will be at the forefront of our technical partnerships and working closely with our internal Field Operations department to innovate, trial and implement new forestry methods as a pioneer of the disruptive microforestry model.

What You Will Do

• Research forestry products and tools appropriate for small-holder farmers, design pilots to trial them with small-holder farmers, and implement successful solutions at scale
• Lead our engagement with external researchers and experts to understand existing best practices in forestry including site selection, species R&D, nursery operations, planting, growth, enumeration, and harvesting
• Document best practices, and create and lead trainings to integrate best practices into microforestry model and decentralized field operations
• Monitor, evaluate, and improve Komaza’s existing forestry practices across the value chain

What You Have

• Master’s degree; one of your two degrees is in a biological sciences, with a strong preference for forestry
• Passion for Komaza’s mission to lift rural farmers out of poverty through the rapid scaling of our microforestry model
• Strong organisational, critical thinking, and communications skills with impeccable spoken and written English

How You Work

• Define challenges and design solutions by questioning assumptions and seeking early-stage feedback
• Build new systems through design-thinking lens and with a lean (“MVP”) approach
• Manage projects using plans, budgets, RACI matrices and scenario BVAs
• Leverage MS Office, GSuite, Asana & Google calendar to optimize productivity

You’re Also

• Enthusiastic
• Flexible and self-motivated with the drive to do whatever necessary to get the job done
• Willing and eager to learn and master new technical and professional skills
• Self-directed and intellectually curious – you know how and when to seek feedback in the pursuit of continuous improvement
• Proactive at identifying and communicating challenges and proposed solutions to successfully accomplish work

What We Expect

You are a good fit for Komaza if you want to make a meaningful commitment to this role for a minimum of 2 years. This role is based at our headquarters in Kilifi, Kenya. The role offers competitive salary and benefits with potential for further career growth.