Business Development - Sustainable Charcoal Project Manager
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
The Business Development team is responsible for managing special projects with Komaza’s key partners. We work with a broad network of Africa’s top operating partners and consultancies in the planning and execution of new strategic initiatives for the company. We thrive on both building alignment across this eclectic group of stakeholders and detailed execution of high-complexity projects.
About this role
Charcoal is the dominant cooking fuel in urban African households. Yet traditional methods of production is the leading cause of forest degradation on the continent. Komaza have a major opportunity to produce charcoal sustainably using the wood by products from our existing forestry operations. The Sustainable Charcoal Project Manager will manage the day-to-day operations of a sustainable charcoal production collaborative project between Komaza and The Nature Conservancy, funded by the Shell Foundation. The role of Sustainable Charcoal Project Manager is a highly variable position. The successful employee must be organized, detail-oriented, eager to learn, self-motivated, and able to produce high-quality work outputs.
What you will do
- Collaboratively develop project plan and budget for establishing charcoal processing site, designing experiments, building kiln operations team, selling charcoal, documentation and reporting
- Manage day-to-day operations for sustainable charcoal production using energy-efficient technology including best practice, statutory and legal adherence
- Hire and manage a small team of project associate(s) and laborers
- Design and execute production and market tests and research
- Establish sales channels to lower- and middle-class residential customers (at least 50% of sales), industrial buyers and other local markets
What you have
- Secondary school education required; Bachelors or Masters degree preferred
- Proven project management experience: planning, budgeting,implementation, reporting
- Ability, related experience and/or willingness to learn how to operate charcoal kilns (stationery & mobile)
- Strong familiarity with working in Kenya, specifically the rural communities where we plant trees and the urban areas where we will sell charcoal
- Supreme organisational, critical thinking, and communications skills with impeccable spoken and written English; Kiswahili skills strongly preferred
You’re also
- Flexible and determined 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 expectYou are a good fit for Komaza if you want to make a meaningful commitment to this role for the duration of the one-year project, with a possibly of project extension. This role will be primarily based at our current headquarters in Kilifi, Kenya for the foreseeable future. The role offers competitive salary and benefits with potential for further career growth.
The deadline for applications for this role is the 12th February 2017
HOW TO APPLY:
Please follow this LINK to apply for this role
