Country Manager at KickStart International

KickStart International is a nonprofit social enterprise with a mission to move millions of people in Sub–Saharan Africa out of poverty quickly, cost-effectively, and sustainably. To do this, KickStart designs and distributes affordable irrigation pumps that enable farmers to access shallow ground and surface water and irrigate their fields year-round. They grow and sell food during the dry season when prices are highest, adapt to climate change, and build lasting financial security. To date, KickStart has distributed over 390,000 pumps to farmers and their families.  

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Country Manager

Location: Abuja (FCT)
Employment Type: Full-time
Department: Global Institutional Partnerships
Reports To: West Africa Regional Manager

Job Purpose

• Nigeria Country Manager position is responsible for developing, expanding, and reporting on KickStart’s program in Nigeria.
• She/he will be responsible for managing KickStart’s sales and marketing activities and the staff in Nigeria and will report to the West Africa Hub Manager.
• These activities support the primary goal of getting people out of poverty in Nigeria by promoting the sales and usage of our branded irrigation pumps through the private sector partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Perform the due diligence to understand the market potential and opportunities for the irrigation solutions products in all parts of Nigeria to inform segmenting areas of focus.
• Create the market development and sales plans for specific regions. Lead and manage the implementation of the plan to ensure growth in sales, social impacts, market share, and profitability in Nigeria. This will be done primarily through:
• Creating partnerships with International and local NGOs, UN organizations like FAO and World Food program, Government, Out-growers, and other stakeholders.
• Proper selection, appointment, development, and management of a distributorship network
• Manage, coach, and develop capacity of staff reporting to the position, and staff of the private sector distributors.
• Ensure timely and accurate reporting of the organization’s activities, finances, and social impacts.
• Ensure that Kickstart International activities are in sync with the legislative and statutory requirements of the country of operation.
• At all times conduct risk assessment and advise Kickstart International on the possible exposures and right mitigation in a timely manner to avoid litigations/unnecessary costs.
• Understand and articulate all the policies of Kickstart International to all stakeholders to ensure clarity and full compliance to the same.
• Ensure prudent management of Kickstart International resources as the custodian.
• Manage seamlessly the operational issues of the organization involving Sales staff travelling into and out of Nigeria, relationships between Kickstart Internal activities and Distributors’ needs.
• Targets are met at least possible cost and inconvenience to Kickstart International, Distributors and Customers acquiring the pumps.

Requirements

• 8-10 plus years of sales and partnerships experience in Nigeria with a demonstrable ability to drive revenue and show results. Experience in both private (NGO, Social Enterprise, for profit) and public sector in Agricultural field is highly preferred.
• Proven track record of building partnerships program from inception.
• Excellent understanding of the agricultural market in Nigeria preferred.
• Excellent business presentation skills
• People Management Experience – managing, mentoring, developing people and a high performing team.
• Financial management experience – develop and manage operating plans and budgets.
• Strong customer focus.
• Results/Performance Orientated– proven “self-starter” who is flexible and adaptable.
• o Able to work effectively in an unstructured and fast paced environment.
• o Able to work effectively with limited guidance and supervision.
• o Entrepreneurial spirit.
• Excellent personal communication & negotiation skills.
• Strong analytical abilities and detail oriented.
• Shares KickStart ‘s values and believe in its “Mission.”
• Fluency in English, Hausa and other local languages a must.
• Willingness to travel for up to 60% of the time every month.
• Bachelor’s degree in either Agriculture, Agronomy, Agribusiness, Economics, Sales and Marketing is required.

Application Closing Date
23rd August, 2024.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV and Cover letter to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of the email.