Zambia Field Operations Associate at One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms vastly 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 are growing quickly. We currently 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.

JOB DESCRIPTION

As a member of the Field Operations leadership team, your responsibilities will include:

Strategy & Implementation

• You will lead part of the team to directly implement the Zambia core program, including key activities such as marketing and farmer enrollment (sales), input delivery, farmer training, and credit collection.


• You will measure progress against goals, regularly report on progress, and hold the team accountable for prioritizing and delivering results in key strategic areas, such as program impact, efficiency, and density (inward growth).
  
  You will help to lead the team through change, guide the team in troubleshooting challenges and provide strategic focus and direction.


• You are detailed-oriented and will continuously find new ways to streamline documentation processing and knowledge management for an operation that is rapidly growing.


• Together with country leadership, you will help set and steer the course for One Acre Fund Zambia’s 5 to15-year vision.
  
  You will support the annual goal setting and planning processes for the Field Operations Division. Helping to ensure annual plans align with the long-term vision and targets.


• You will be the gatekeeper of the Field Calendar and ensure excellent execution throughout the season.

Transformation & Innovation

• You will be tasked with recommending efficiency plays to senior leadership and identifying areas for cost savings and program improvements.


• Crafting new business models to transform Zambia Field Operations into a leaner, more efficient, and less complex model.


• You will develop key initiatives that will enable One Acre Fund to generate higher impact/farmer at reduced cost and thus unlock future outward growth for the program.


• You will be creating and supporting ideas that will help One Acre Fund reach its goal of serving hundreds of thousands of farmers in the coming years. Among other things, this will entail providing regular feedback on trial ideas and practical support to our innovations teams as they work to integrate new products and new program design ideas into our core operations.

Lead People

• You will be in one of the leadership positions for our largest department, including a 100+ field team, and around 5 HQ staff.


• You’ll establish and cultivate strong relationships to ensure that all staff on the Field Operations team can maximize their career performance and job satisfaction as part of the One Acre Fund family.


• You’ll epitomize One Acre Fund’s value of being a family of leaders by developing and maintaining processes ensuring that everyone – from those directly reporting to you to the newest Field Officer in our program – is continually mentored, challenged, and supported by the organization.

On a day-to-day basis, your role will involve a mix of activities, similar to the below:

• Understanding and solving problems: observing field operations, meeting with leaders of our field staff, running surveys, conducting desk research, analyzing KPIs, etc. Then creating simple and lasting solutions to complex problems.


• Planning and executing large projects: identifying clear goals, creating project calendars, designing workflows, creating field tools and talking points, designing incentive systems and understanding stakeholders, following up and monitoring project execution in the field, etc.


• Building teams: hiring staff using One Acre Fund’s unique “experiential hiring” system, mentoring key deputies, and steadily handing off responsibility to your team as you build it.


• Communicating with other teams: working in coordination with One Acre Fund’s other teams on the ground to execute a smooth customer experience in the simplest way possible.

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

We are seeking a talented professional with solid experience in leading large teams and executing at scale. Most importantly, the successful candidate will have solid strategic thinking skills, as well as enjoy problem-solving and working in a fast-paced and high-stakes environment. In addition, a solid track record for developing talent and fostering professional growth in others is strongly desired. Other criteria include:

• Mission-driven individual that can align 100% with OAF’s values in putting farmers first.


• 3+ years of professional experience – ideally with experience implementing operational efficiency measures.


• Minimum 2 years direct management experience with strong examples of people development.


• Strong leadership experience and ability to lead a team in setting a vision, annual strategy and goals and hold everyone accountable to it.


• Experience with microfinance or field-based sales team preferred.


• Language: English required.


• Excellent judgment in sensitive people issues, management skills, creative problem solving.

PREFERRED START DATE

As soon as possible

COMPENSATION

Commensurate with experience.

BENEFITS

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

SPONSOR INTERNATIONAL CANDIDATES

Yes. Zambian candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here. 

.