Country Scout , Gabarone, Central District, Botswana

As One Acre Fund expands, a key part of our long-term goal to reach at least 1.1M farm families this decade is to launch one new country per year. It is also important that we understand the landscape of potential countries as soon as possible – so that we know how we may need to change our program model to fit new areas.

We are seeking an exceptionally talented professional with very strong independent problem-solving skills, an ability to self-manage, and strong overall judgment. This person should also have strong networking ability, and general stability / ability to deal with traveling alone for a long stretch of time. The minimum commitment to this job is 2 years.

The New Country Scout will:

Spend 3-6 months training on the core One Acre Fund program model in Kenya or Rwanda.
Move to a new country, where they will either begin a pilot from scratch, or expand an existing pilot.
Core operating duties will include:
- Hiring and training 3-8 initial trial staff.
- Engaging local government officials and sensitizing them to our program.
- Handling initial recruitment of 100-300 farmers.
External networking will include:
- Purchase of seed, fertilizer, and other farm inputs from local vendors.
- Making contact with local horticultural support.
The new country scout wil also set up our initial office. This may include:
- Handling legal registration.
- Finding/hiring of office and housing.
- Initial equipment purchases.
- Creation of well-functioning finance and accounting operation with proper financial controls.
The end goal will be to validate the country as a possible area of operation for One Acre Fund. If scouting is successful, the organization will proceed to grow our core program there to a goal scale of 10,000+ farmers and 100+ staff within two additional years. This would be staffed either by an experienced manager from one of our existing countries, or possibly the new country scout can grow into this role.

Career Growth and Development One Acre Fund invests in building management and leadership skills. Your manager will invest significant time in your career development. We provide constant, actionable feedback delivered through mentorship and through regular management consulting-style career reviews. We also have regular one-on-one meetings, where we listen to and discuss career goals, and work collaboratively to craft roles that each person can be passionate about. Because of our rapid growth, we constantly have new high-level roles opening up and opportunities in many functions. This results in fast career growth for our staff.

Qualifications

We are seeking exceptional professionals with 2 to 5+ years of work experience, and a demonstrated long-term passion for international development. They will serve in a career-track position that combines both field and management experience.

We are looking for truly extraordinary candidates that will help take our organization to the next levels of impact and scale. This is a competitive posting for a career-track role with minimum initial commitment of two years. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

Strong work experiences. Examples include a demanding professional work experience, or successful entrepreneurial experience (e.g. starting a field program in a developing country, leading a conference, starting a business, solid Peace Corps accomplishments).
Leadership experience at work or outside of work.
Top-performing undergraduate background (please include GPA and test scores on your resume).
Humility and personal stability. We have a fantastic and likeable team. We are looking for passionate professionals that combine strong leadership skills with good humor, patience, and a humble approach to service.
A willingness to commit to living in rural areas of Africa or Asia for at least two years – this is a long-term, career-track role. The ideal candidate will have at least one year demonstrated experience working in the developing world, although this is not a strict requirement.
Language: English required, French highly desirable.

Preferred Start Date Flexible

Compensation Starts modest. However, this is a career-track role with fast raises for performance, paying a meaningful salary for long-term placement in developing nations.

Benefits

Health insurance, immunizations, flight, room and board.

Sponsor International Candidates

Yes