Impact Ventures Lead at One Acre Fund

One Acre, founded in 2006, supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms more productive. We provide quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural trainings to improve harvests. We measure our success by our ability to make farmers more prosperous: On average, farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund. We serve more than 800,000 farm families in Eastern and Southern Africa, with more than 7,500 full-time staff, and we aim to serve 1 million farm families by 2020.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Impact Ventures Lead

Location: Minna, Niger
Duration: Full-time.
Preferred Start Date: As soon as possible.
Sponsor International Candidates: Yes, Nigerian candidates are encouraged to apply.

Job Description

• One Acre Fund’s Impact Ventures Department aims to build ultra-scalable new channels and business models that can grow to serve more than half a million farmers in just a few years. We have a diverse portfolio of investments, from large government partnerships, to short-term behavior change campaigns, to rural retail shops, to tree seedling nurseries. What they share is a commitment to impact millions of farm families while maintaining operations that are cost-neutral or highly financially efficient, in order to reach as many people as possible.
• We are seeking an exceptional individual to launch a new Impact Ventures program in Nigeria. Strong candidates would be setting up and managing an initial trial with the future expectation of scaling to become the lead for a region-wide / nation-wide venture in Nigeria.

Specific Responsibilities
But are not limited to:

• The Pilot Lead is responsible for the overall launch and leadership of the new pilot program and guiding its growth through:
• Management and leadership of the pilot field team to achieve those vision and goals
• Higher-level strategy development and detailed field execution
• Collaborating with other Global and Nigeria One Acre Fund teams
• The role is multi-faceted and suited to those who enjoy working under pressure with high levels of responsibility and building a program from the start.

Examples of the type of Tasks Required of the Role Are:
Project Management:

• Building out a detailed trial project plan including execution calendar
• Working with the Finance Department to build a financial model for the trial permutations
• Developing trial deliverables that support field execution in order to meet the trial objectives:
• Field facing strategies and tools (e.g. Key performance indicator tracker)
• Management tools (e.g. dashboards/reporting tools, meeting/training calendar)
• Team management tools (e.g. multi-year organization chart, Professional Development Curriculum)

Strategy:

• High-level trial design – Lead discussions on what questions to test through the trial, how to test it, and how the learning will impact longer-term program design. Some key components for discussion include marketing strategy / tactics, pricing, and distribution of the product/service.
• Trial monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plan and execution – work with the M&E team to design trials and data collection plans to effectively evaluate impact at trial conclusion
• 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:

• Spend significant time with the field teams in the field talking to our potential smallholder farmer clients in order to understand real-time challenges
• Set up initial structures to support the pilot season - distribution plan, recruiting a team, ensuring government approval, sourcing agricultural inputs and other support vendors
• Identify opportunities to improve operations and program performance, through weekly tracking of Key Performance Indicators, and identifying / executing on process improvements
• Collaborate and manage relationships with key partners to execute the trial including external stakeholders such as seed companies, local distribution partners, government officials, etc.
• Plan and manage budgets – monitor current budgets and forecast budgets for expansion and other programme innovations.

Team Management:

• Build and manage a team – hire, develop and lead a team to effectively execute operations
• 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.

Pilot Growth:

• Based on a successful pilot year, there is a possibility for the person in this role to continue to build and grow this into a larger multi-year programme in subsequent years.

Career Growth And Development:

• We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications
Specific qualifications include, but are not limited to:

• 4 to 6+ years of professional work experience in Nigeria with experience in mentorship and leadership of teams; entrepreneurial experience preferred (e.g. starting a new program or business unit, launching a new initiatives across a large field team, etc.)
• University degree required in Business Administration, International Development, Logistics or Supply Chain Management, Human Resource Management, or related fields.
• Functional flexibility – an entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to hit the ground running and start adding value quickly. Proven ability of creative problem-solving, successful implementation and execution of strategy based on field data and programmatic evidence.
• Geographic flexibility – at least in the first 12-18 months, the ability to relocate/travel will be important as One Acre Fund. This includes willingness to live outside capital cities, close to our customers, as this is where most of the work will be based.
• Fluency in English + Hausa required, knowledge of other languages spoken in Nigeria preferred
• High proficiency with computer skills particularly Microsoft Office
• Friendly personality, professional and proactive work attitude
• Humility; a willingness to get your shoes muddy and work productively with people from all walks of life; Ability to tackle any task, large or small, with professionalism and enthusiasm.

Compensation

• Commensurate with experience

Benefit

• Health insurance, paid time off.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.