Ethiopia Country Director 102 views

About One Acre Fund

One Acre Fund works to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. In Ethiopia, we engage farmers in agroforestry and community-based seed multiplication.  In partnership with the Amhara National Regional State, these programs have planted more than 30 million trees, produced over 500 MT of improved teff seed and reached more than 150,000 farmers.  Now, we are in an exciting phase of work in which we are trialling novel approaches and preparing for scale-up in the coming years. We have over 8000 employees globally, and our growing Ethiopian headquarters are in Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, with small offices in Addis Ababa, Finote Selam and Motta.

About the Role

By 2030, we want to serve over 1 million farm families across Ethiopia on an annual basis and generate over $100m in annual impact. Over the next 10 years, we will plant over 250m trees and develop multiple high-impact and extremely scalable investments to improve the lives of farm families across the country.

To achieve such lofty long-term ambitions, we are seeking an exceptional leader to take over as Country Director for our operations in Ethiopia. The Country Director will directly manage all operations in the country, growing the team from about 100 full-time employees in 2021 to over 300 full-time employees in 2024. The Country Director will also be responsible for rapid growth in our existing programs and for developing new opportunities to generate more impact for farm families. Over time, we hope that our portfolio in the country continues to diversify into new sectors, from agroforestry to the seed sector to the carbon market, and much more.

You will report directly to a senior director in the organization and liaise with top leaders across the organization.

Responsibilities

Build Vision and Oversee Operations to Serve 1 Million Farm Families by 2030

• You will work with senior global leaders and leaders across the Ethiopia team to develop and refine a long-term vision for how we can effectively serve over 1 million farmers across the country by 2030.
• You will oversee all field programs and be responsible for hitting annual targets and revising our strategies and operations to produce strong impact and financial results.
• You will also manage an innovations portfolio. You will guide the innovations team (which will be directly managed by one of your deputies) to identify high potential opportunities, run high-quality trials, and determine which investments to scale up.
• You will also need to identify near-term and long-term risks which could affect our ability to achieve our goals. You will need to work with your deputies and other leaders to craft creative and thoughtful mitigation strategies.

Develop and Scale Operational Foundation to Achieve Impact and Scale Goals

• You will also manage the growth of our support departments (People, Tech, Logistics, Government Relations and Finance). You will oversee the development and deployment of new processes to lower costs and improve execution.
• You will lead new investments in Tech to maximize our ability to rapidly expand our programs, improve our data quality, and simplify operations for staff.
• You will prioritize investments in our team and our team culture. You will oversee the creation of new development programs, cultivate a productive and positive working environment, and invest in deepening team cohesion. Your goal should be to make our team one of the strongest in Ethiopia.

Develop a Strong Team of Leaders and Strengthen Relationships with Key Partners

• You will directly manage and develop a team of 3-6 strong deputies. Each of these deputies will oversee several large programs or departments. You will be responsible for investing in the growth and development of these key deputies as well as other rising leaders on the team.
• The people will likely triple in size in the next several years. You will need to invest a lot of time in building up our recruiting capacity to find great people to fill every role.
• You will also supervise our external relationships across the country. You will manage our Partnership Lead and work with leaders across the team to deepen our key strategic relationships and identify new relationships and partnerships to establish to help us achieve our goals.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and 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 be able 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:

Leadership Experience

• 10+ years of dynamic professional experience, ideally with considerable  exposure to rural development
• 7+ years experience managing staff
• Clear track record of producing strong results in a dynamic environment

Strong People Development, Management, and Communication Skills

• Track record of effectively managing and developing other leaders
• Great collaborator and team member who can engage with a wide range of people, from rural farmers to high-level executives
• Strong communication skills. You will be responsible for communicating with executives across One Acre Fund and with high-level leaders in other organizations

Results Oriented Leader with a Track Record of Success

• Track record of launching new investments or building successful partnerships
• Vision and ability to identify opportunities and the right partners to take advantage of those
• Results-oriented mindset and approach to generating impact

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

• Capacity to both develop high-level strategies and work with others to develop detailed operational plans
• Ability to drive towards results in a dynamic and fluid work context
• Comfort and experience using data to make decisions
• Experience working with budgets and financial models
• Ability to identify risks and develop thoughtful mitigation strategies

Other requirements

• University or advanced degree in relevant fields preferred
• Business English required
• Ability to travel to Bahir Dar and other areas outside of Addis up to 30% of the time.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Addis Ababa with 30% travel to Bahir Dar and Rural Kebeles.

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Eligibility

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

Application Deadline

26th August 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 ([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 extraordinary impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, colour, 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.