About One Acre Fund
Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.
About the Role
The Field Operations Department supports the implementation of the One Acre Fund program in the field through a cascading team structure that reaches thousands of field agents. These agents work closely with farmers and deliver Tubura’s core services, including training, credit management, and organizing product distribution at the hill level.
As a Field Operations Associate within this department, you will have the opportunity to learn from large-scale field operations while contributing to continuous program improvement. The role includes two main components: operational management and innovation at scale.
Operations management
• The FOP Associate will focus on delivering services to farmers. He/She begins as generalists, with overall responsibility for executing our program within a given region of operation in Burundi. Over time, He/she can continue to grow as a general leader, potentially managing Field Operations for an entire country. He/She may also choose to specialize, for example in designing and rolling out training programs.
• Program associates also build the infrastructure necessary to sustain and scale the program. These teams proactively remove barriers to scale across a wide range of areas, processing millions of payments made by farmers, communicating with farmers through tens of millions of SMS messages, recruiting hundreds of new staff each year, and physically transporting more than 20,000 tons of agricultural inputs to various delivery sites. Program Associates also drive continuous improvements to accelerate growth, for example by implementing mobile money system integration at the country level.
Innovation at scale
• Associates identify innovative agricultural, nutrition and environmental products to help increase farmers ‘ incomes. The ideas they develop may eventually support thousands of households. The team will design pilot trials, implement them with thousands of households, analyse the data, and continuously refine the product offerings provided to farmers.
• Associates also work to improve our core operational model. By running trials with tens of thousands of farmers, they analyze targeted questions such as: does shifting from group liability loans to individual liability loans improve repayment rates and member satisfaction? They may also explore more radical ideas to determine whether there are more effective ways to deliver high-quality services to farmers. They test different program variations with the goal of improving our adaptability, impact, and financial sustainability.
Responsibilities
• Understand and solve problems: observe field operations, meet with field staff supervisors, conduct surveys, carry out desk research, analyze key performance indicators (KPIs), and more. Then design simple and sustainable solutions to complex challenges.
• Plan and execute large-scale projects: define clear objectives, develop project timelines, design work plans, create field tools and talking points, build incentive systems, engage stakeholders, and monitor and supervise project execution in the field.
• Strengthen the team: recruit staff using One Acre Fund’s unique “experiential recruitment” system, mentor key deputies, and progressively delegate responsibilities as your team grows stronger.
• Collaborate with other teams: work closely with other One Acre Fund teams in the field to deliver a smooth and positive customer experience for members in the simplest and most effective way possible.
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
Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:
• Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Public Administration, Management, Agriculture, or a related field. A Master’s degree is preferred.
• Strong proficiency in standard Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) is highly preferred.
• Experience launching and managing projects in areas such as economics, business/market research, general research, administrative management, project management, or related fields, including data management and analysis, is preferred.
• Demonstrated leadership experience, whether in a professional or extracurricular context.
• Willingness to commit to living in a rural area. This is a long-term career-track role.
• At least two years of professional work experience.
• Language requirements: English (required), French (strongly recommended), English and Kirundi are preferred.
Preferred Start Date
As soon as possible
Job Location
Muramvya, Burundi
Benefits
Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits
Eligibility
One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.
Apply : https://oneacrefund.org/vacancies/burundi-fop-associate