ABOUT ONE ACRE FUND

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies 1 million smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms vastly more productive. Our 8,000+ team is drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. With operations across six core countries in Africa, we make farmers more prosperous by providing quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural training to improve harvests. On average, our farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund.

To learn more about our work, take a look at our Why Work Here blog for more information.

ABOUT THE ROLE

One Acre Fund has been promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, including agroforestry and soil health projects, for many years. In the last 3 years alone we’ve supported farmers to plant more than 40 million trees. We see these practices as essential to long-term farm sustainability and prosperity – indeed, they are central to our core mission of increasing farmer prosperity.

We are now looking to merge this CSA work with payments for ecosystem services, and in particular with sales of carbon emissions reductions. We believe that this intersection represents a huge opportunity for increasing smallholder profitability and resilience, as well as contributing to climate change mitigation.

We are looking for an entrepreneur with experience in the fields of Agroforestry and Carbon Emissions Reductions (CER) to pilot this work. Specifically, we are looking for someone to guide field teams in the design and implementation of our first CER pilots, to develop monitoring and verification processes, and to manage carbon project development and certification.

You will be in the Global Impact division and will report to the Global Impact Director.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Agroforestry CER Program Development. Develop and pilot a context-appropriate agroforestry product for smallholder farmers that generates additional income for farmers through carbon sales and creates opportunity for additional benefits.
  • Design the program in collaboration with smallholder farmers to ensure its appropriateness for their specific needs.
  • Use detailed cost-benefit assessments to understand the financial and environmental benefits of the project.
  • Directly manage (or co-manage) implementation of all facets of the pilot, in close collaboration with field teams.
  • Ensure smooth execution of all project stages including sourcing, logistics, participant enrollment, planting, and maintenance.
  • Conduct outstanding monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of the project to meet the highest global standards for CER certification.
  • Assess pilot effectiveness and improve the program for the next season, anticipating larger scale.
• Partnership Support. Support One Acre Fund’s work with partners in carbon sales and financing, carbon project development, MRV, contract theory, and agroforestry program design.

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

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

Technical background and experience

• 3+ years of experience implementing agroforestry carbon projects.
• 3+ years of experience in one of our countries of operation.
• Skills related to Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification of carbon projects.
• An advanced degree in Agroforestry, Ecology, or a related field a plus.
• Experience developing carbon projects with certification standards a plus.

Participatory Design

• An understanding of the smallholder farmer context in East and Southern Africa.
• Experience with qualitative research or participatory design.
• Experience understanding the complex motivations and capacities that affect decisions among different people and groups.

Project Implementation

• A demonstrated ability to manage complex projects with multiple concurrent workstreams.
• Flexibility and experience troubleshooting problems in the field.
• Leadership experience and an enthusiasm for learning and growth.

Communication

• Strong verbal and written communication across multiple audiences – from non-technically-trained colleagues to external experts.
• Fluent English required. Working knowledge of Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Chichewa, Amharic, or French preferred.

Other

• A genuine passion for continually, sustainably, improving farmer livelihoods.
• Willingness to travel within the region up to 30% of the time or to rotate location every 6-12 months.

PREFERRED START DATE

As soon as possible

JOB LOCATION

Kigali, Rwanda (flexible, depending on candidate work authorizations)

BENEFITS

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

ELIGIBILITY

One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.

APPLICATION DEADLINE:8 June 2021

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 ([email protected]), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.