One Acre Fund is seeking to recruit an Innovations Lead, Kenya

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 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, the farmers we serve 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

The Innovation Lab leads the design and field testing of new products and programs to help One Acre Fund Kenya reach more clients and provide more impactful services. The team is looking for leaders who will join as a Finance Innovations Associate, a Digital Extension Associate, and a Tree Team Associate and manage a pipeline of different trials as seen below:

  • The Finance Innovations Associate will manage a pipeline of trials with the goal of improving repayment and farmer experience.
  • The Digital Extension Associate will test how we can best use and iterate digital channels (SMS chatbot, Interactive Voice Response, Mobile App) and behavior change communication to promote impactful agricultural practices and behavior change outcomes.
  • The Tree Team Associate will manage several high priority trials and research projects that will be instrumental to the tree team distributing millions of tree seedlings to farmers over the coming years.

RESPONSIBILITIES FOR FINANCE INNOVATIONS ASSOCIATE

  •  You will use a combination of industry research, sandbox testing, and regular feedback from our farmers to identify programmatic or operational changes that increase repayment or improve our farmers’ experiences with our lending services.
  • You will own project management for the trials you have identified, from design and iteration through implementation and monitoring, with the aim of testing 1-2 of your strongest hypotheses per quarter and making a recommendation on our loan offerings 2-3x per year.
  • You will drive results through stakeholders across the organization.
  • You will directly manage 1-3 direct reports and be responsible for their professional growth.
  • Qualitative skills are essential. Experience in project or trial management; finance; or fintech would be an advantage for this role.

RESPONSIBILITIES FOR DIGITAL EXTENSION ASSOCIATE

  • You will oversee all phases of the digital extensions innovation process, from design to execution to evaluation and use data to drive continuous improvements.
  • You will drive the strategy around improvements of our digital channels through leading research work, developing data-driven recommendations based on farmer feedback and ensuring constant iteration of the channels.
  • You will manage complex innovations aimed at improving customer experience and program sustainability.
  • You will be required to coordinate across multiple teams effectively and to articulate the portfolios’ vision and expectations to various stakeholders to ensure smooth project operations and achieve the desired outcome.
  • You will directly manage 1-3 direct reports and invest in their professional growth.
  • You will report to the Senior Innovations Associate.
  • Experience in handling customer-facing digital channels and tools in the capacity of a digital Account Manager/ Supervisor would be an advantage for this role.

RESPONSIBILITIES FOR TREE TEAM ASSOCIATE

  • You will manage several high priority trials or research projects (such as exploring tree saturation, seedling survival, or partnerships) to support the Tree Program to maximize impact for farmers.
  • You will set a clear burden of proof for trials, measure outcomes against that burden of proof, and make recommendations for whether the trial should be implemented at scale.
  • You will clearly document all stages of the trial planning process, to allow other staff to understand the work and the findings from every trial.
  • There will be potential to support general operations of the Tree Program with a team that is growing quickly.
  • You will need to collaborate effectively across multiple departments, generate creative solutions to challenges, and lead complex projects.
  • You will directly manage one or more direct reports and invest in their professional growth.
  • You will report to the Tree Team Lead.
  • Agroforestry experience would be an advantage for this role.

CAREER GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

We have a 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 the Innovations Lab team specifically, you will have:

  • At least 3 years of experience in an analytical role or project management role.
  • You take a structured approach which is practical rather than theoretical.
  • A customer-centered design approach while managing operationally complex work.
  • Bachelor’s Degree.
  • English required in all locations. Other notable and useful languages are Swahili or regional languages within Kenya.

START DATE

As soon as possible.

JOB LOCATION

Kakamega, Kenya

BENEFITS

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

ELIGIBILITY

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

15th February 2022

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 (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), 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.

For application: https://oneacrefund.org/work-with-us/job-openings/g/?gh_jid=3446841

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