Nigeria Innovations Associate at One Acre Fund

One Acre Fund is a non-profit social enterprise that supplies financing and training to help smallholders grow their way out of hunger and build lasting pathways to prosperity.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Nigeria Innovations Associate

Location: Nigeria
Career Level: Global Professionals
Preferred Start Date: As soon as possible
Sponsor International Candidates: Yes

Job Description

• As an organization, we constantly seek to impact more farmers, and we are currently improving on, and scaling our Nigeria program.
• This role is part of a small team based in Minna that strives to put an end to poverty by transforming the lives of Nigerian farmers.
• The team purpose is to successfully establish the OAF model in Nigeria, starting small but scaling-up rapidly within the next few years.
• The Nigeria Innovations Associate will report to the Nigeria Pilot Lead.
• The Nigeria Innovations Associate supports the expansion of the OAF model in Nigeria.
• More specifically, this role supports all Innovations-related aspects of our field operations including: desk research, small scale farmer trials and market research, research station operation, execution at scale, and monitoring & evaluation.
• If successful, the program will be scaled to thousands of households and the Innovations Associate will play a key role in that scale-up process.

Roles and Responsibilities
On a day-to-day basis, the Nigeria Innovations Associate will cover a mix of activities:

• Field Operations: Oversee a marketing strategy to grow our pilot by 10x farmers in the next season.
• Develop and oversee our Research & Development function: Desk research on promising products and services for Nigerian farmers, launching a research station, hiring and training research team members
• Monitoring & Evaluation: Oversee a robust M&E process that helps us prove our impact each season.
• Team building and management: Hiring staff using One Acre Fund’s unique “experiential hiring” system, mentoring key deputies, and steadily handing off responsibilities to your team as you build it.
• Communicate and work with global stakeholders: In all the above, there are dedicated global support teams with systems and processes that need to be adhered to. You will work with them to ensure that the Nigeria pilot is compliant with these and to mobilise their assets as and when required.  

One Acre Fund has deep operational experience running rural field programs at a scale of 1,000+ full-time staff per country. Associates benefit from this past experience, quickly building their skill-set through immersion in our operating environment. At the same time, the main role of Innovations Associates is to accelerate growth and to constantly stretch and improve our operations. This presents an excellent career opportunity to both learn from One Acre Fund’s accumulated experience and constantly improve and enable 40%+ program growth per year.

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
We are seeking an exceptional professional with 2 years of work experience and ideally a demonstrated passion for our mission. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

• A willingness to live in Minna, close to our customers for at least two years - this is a long-term, career-track role.
• Work experience in a demanding professional environment, preferably in positions where frequent cross-department communication was required. Examples include a demanding professional work experience, or successful entrepreneurial experience, e.g. starting a field program in a developing country, leading a big conference, or starting a business
• At least 2 years of people or project management experience at work or outside of work
• Creativity and strong problem solving skills a must. You don’t take no for an answer and constantly look for alternative solutions to problems.
• Able to independently structure analyses related to agricultural research, data quality, monitoring and evaluation, familiarity with impact evaluation methodologies a plus.
• Strong communication skills with farmers, reports, peers and management
• Some experience in agricultural research or M&E preferred but not required
• Strong computer skills in at least Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint required. Experience in R or other statistical packages preferred.
• Humility. We are looking for passionate professionals who combine strong leadership skills with patience and a humble approach to service to join our growing family of leaders.
• Language. English is required, proficiency in any additional regional languages from Nigeria a plus

Compensation

• Commensurate with experience.

Benefits

• Health insurance, secure company housing, annual flights and other quality of life benefits

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note: Nigerian candidates strongly encouraged to apply.