Harvest Foreman

Harvest Foreman

Who we are

Komaza is revolutionizing African forestry by unlocking the potential for small farmers to serve booming wood markets. With roots in San Francisco and headquarters in coastal Kenya, we have planted over 2 million trees with more than 6,000 farmers, making us Kenya’s largest commercial tree planter. By leveraging farmers’ contribution of land and labor, Komaza can access effectively limitless land and establish a hectare of trees for far less than big plantations – a powerful disruption to the traditional forestry model. We have been recognized with numerous awards and investments, including Forbes, Ashoka, Mulago Foundation, and Novastar Ventures.

About the team

In the Komaza Harvest team, we understand great logistics are all about great people. We work closely with our extensive network of farmers, communities and contractors to keep our harvest schedule running on time. Come rain or ravines, when challenges arise, we apply ingenuity and perseverance to work our way through any obstacle.

About this role

As a Harvest Foreman for Komaza, you will join a fast-growing organization that is redefining forestry in Africa. By managing your team and resources effectively, you will be a key member of our operations team and driver of quality and continuous improvement for our farmers. This role is fast-paced and challenging, requiring a hard work, multi-tasking, scrappiness and excellent communications skills.

What you will do

• Lead by example: you must understand and fully participate in all aspects of the harvesting process, doing whatever it takes to get the job done
• Support operations across the entire harvesting and processing value chain: inventory, felling, transport, storage and processing
• Build a harvesting work plan for all upcoming harvest activities to ensure precise timing and resource scheduling for you and your team
• Coordinate and motivate in-field harvesting team of 8+ people, including Chainsaw Operator, Harvest Data Clerk, Extractors and Casuals
• Quality Control: Closely manage concurrent activities on a single farm at a given time. Ensure work is being performed according to company procedure and to the quality standards required
• Continuous Improvement: Be able to identify and suggest solutions to inefficiency in the harvest process in order to constantly increase productivity
• Maintain company communication via phone and email, attend meetings punctually and as a participant

What you have

• 5 years’ relevant work experience, ideally 2 years supervising a field-based team.
• Proven experiencing managing a field-based team of at least 8 people, including daily work planning, coordination of tasks, efficient & responsible resource management, and performance management
• Form 4 leavers certificate
• Passion for Komaza’s mission to lift rural farmers out of poverty through the rapid scaling of our microforestry model
• Strong familiarity with the communities where we plant; you have lived or worked in rural low-income communities
• Supreme organisational, critical thinking, and communications skills with impeccable spoken and written English

You’re also

• Flexible and scrappy with the drive to do whatever necessary to get the job done
• Self-directed and intellectually curious - you know how and when to seek feedback in the pursuit of continuous improvement
• Growth-obsessed with a strong desire for personal development
• A collaborative problem solver who seeks the opinions of other teammates and departments in the development of creative and sustainable systems

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 will be based at our headquarters in Kilifi, Kenya, but will require essentially daily travel into the field to oversee harvest operations. The role offers competitive salary and benefits with potential for further career growth.
Deadline for submissions of applications is the 15th February 2017

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply, please follow this LINK