Program Director

Wanted
An exceptional professional with 4 – 8+ years of work experience, and a demonstrated long-term passion for international development to serve in a career-track position that combines both field and management experience in Africa.

Job Location
Rural Rwanda or Burundi (French required), or Rural Kenya (English required).

Duration
Minimum three year's commitment, full-time job.

Organization Description
Most of the world's poor are farmers, representing the largest and most uniform group of poor people in the world. One Acre Fund is a start–up non-profit in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi that is innovating a new way of helping farm families to achieve their full potential. Instead of giving handouts, One Acre invests in farmers to generate a permanent gain in farm income. We provide farmers with a "market bundle" that includes education, finance, seed and fertilizer, and market access. Our program is proven impactful – every year, we weigh thousands of harvests and measure more than 100% average gain in farm income per acre. We have laser–like focus on generating better lives for the people that we serve.

Job Description
As we grow, One Acre Fund is seeking to add one new country per year to our operations. We are seeking the kind of person that can be dropped into a country with significant support financially and logistically, and can create from scratch a high-quality company in a very short time.

We are seeking someone who can do the following things:

• Create a strategic vision: This position does not involve managing an existing operation – we are seeking an entrepreneur who can create an operation, growing it from roughly 5 existing staff to hundreds. This involves a lot of strategic flexibility and independence. We are also seeking someone who is based in the field (in rural areas) at first, in order to craft a vision that results in the best possible customer service to farmers.
• Hire and develop staff: Our program directors will have to hire a lot of people, and more importantly, invest the majority of their energy in developing managers and leaders underneath them.
• Engage staff and lead: Our program model requires high tailoring to specific contexts. The program director will have to make decisions together with their leadership team by engaging them, and then lead them to execute a common vision.
• External and internal relations: We are seeking someone who will be a strong communicator both externally and also internally, together with fellow leaders in the organization.

Career Growth and Development
One Acre Fund invests in building management and leadership skills. We provide constant, actionable feedback delivered through weekly mentorship and through regular 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.

This position would involve an initial 6-12 month training period in one of our existing countries of operation. Then the candidate would be posted to a new country, where we have roughly five existing staff. The mandate would be to grow that into a decent-sized company in a few years.

Qualifications
We are seeking exceptional professionals with 4 to 8+ years of work experience, and a demonstrated long-term passion for international development. They will serve in a career-track position that combines both field and management experience.

We are looking for truly extraordinary candidates that will help take our organization to the next levels of impact and scale. This is a competitive posting for a career-track role with minimum initial commitment of two years. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

• Strong work experiences. We are seeking an entrepreneur who has previously grown an operation from scratch to hundreds of staff, or tens of thousands of customers, etc, in a developing nation. And we want someone who wants to go back to scratch, and do it again, instead of managing a large existing operation.
• Likeability and humility. All of our country directors to date have grown up within our operation, learning directly from farmers in a start-up environment. We value humility and likeability, and wish to be joined by leaders that value the same.
• Top-performing undergraduate background (please include GPA and test scores on your resume).
• A willingness to commit to living in rural areas of East Africa for at least three years – this is a long-term, career-track role. The candidate should have at least one year demonstrated experience working in the developing world.
• Ability to cook/laugh – desirable.

Language
English required in Kenya, and French required in Rwanda and Burundi. French-speakers are particularly encouraged to apply.

Preferred Start Date
Flexible

Compensation
Starts modestly. 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 cover, immunizations, flight, room and board.

Career Development
Quarterly management consulting-style career reviews, and constant feedback. Your manager will invest significant time in your career development.

Sponsor International Candidates
Yes

How to apply

To Apply
Email cover letter and resume to jobs@oneacrefund.org (Subject line: Program Director + name of the site that referred you).