Product Manager at One Acre Fund

One Acre, founded in 2006, supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms more productive. We provide quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural trainings to improve harvests. We measure our success by our ability to make farmers more prosperous: On average, farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund. We serve more than 800,000 farm families in Eastern and Southern Africa, with more than 7,500 full-time staff, and we aim to serve 1 million farm families by 2020.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Product Manager

Location: Kigali, Rwanda
Preferred Start Date: As soon as possible

Job Descriptions

• The Product Manager will lead the research and development of technology solutions to improve our impact and operating efficiency. As an example, we are increasingly interested in harnessing the power of mobile technology to better and more efficiently serve our farm families.
• With a distributed team of several thousand staff, and more than 800,000 clients, mobile technology not only has the potential to help drive more impact to huge numbers of rural farm families, but to make our operations more efficient and data-driven.
• In order to innovate on how technology can improve service delivery, we need an exceptional individual to lead on this work stream and build a strong support team. Example technology applications might include:

Field staff performance:

• Management / enhancement – One Acre Fund has thousands of field staff. Governments have tens of thousands of extension agents serving farmers. We want to explore how we can harness mobile technology to drive improved performance of field staff in multiple countries through a variety of tools/applications
• Mobile payments – In some markets, One Acre Fund already allows farmers to make payments from a “mobile wallet” over the mobile phone network. There is a huge opportunity to scale this work across our organization, and also to explore other mobile money innovations that enable all farm families to save and pay for impactful products
• Distribution and collection of data – Most farmers have very little access to simple information that has the potential to significantly increase farm profitability (weather, prices, agronomic techniques, etc.). Mobile technology could allow us to more rapidly and efficiently disseminate that information to farmers across the region. We are also interested in streamlining data collection from the field to help us solve problems, make decisions, and improve overall impact and customer experience
• Rapid prototyping and adaptation of existing field tools – As our field teams think of new potential technology applications, we need someone who can coordinate rapid prototyping and field testing of existing solutions, before more thorough roll-out
• The Product Manager does not need be a software developer, but they should have a solid understanding of the agile software development process. We are seeking someone with a passion for leveraging technology to do good in the world, and the ability to lead/coordinate across teams and geographies.

The role will involve the following responsibilities:

• Lead and coordinate technology trials and work streams – coordinate technology field trials across countries and departments; serve as liaison between the teams designing and executing trials, and the developers building software and/or prototypes to support the trials; gather requirements from the field program teams; communicate technical challenges/opportunities to a broad audience
• Coordinate with software team – Work closely with the software team to help design and prioritize products and features, based on business unit requirements
• Build capacity and network – build relationships with external service providers, and help to identify the best off the shelf products and services to support trials
• Lead and facilitate cross functional stakeholder working groups – Manage and escalate risks, build consensus around requirements
• Process design – build and manage systems and protocols for the deployment of scalable software solutions across the organization, including processes to manage hardware in a challenging, low-connectivity environment

Qualifications

• We are seeking an exceptional professional with 3+ years of work experience managing technology project management, product management and / or business analysis.
• Ideally a demonstrated passion for our mission. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:
  • Strong work experiences. Examples include demanding professional work experience in a software engineering environment, or successful project management experience. Experience in the developing world is strongly preferred, but not required
  • Strong communication skills. This role will require coordinating across multiple departments in multiple countries to push projects forward. Candidates must be capable of communicating complex ideas to a broad audience, managing issues up to management and facilitating cooperation across teams and individuals
  • Experience with agile software development and mobile technologies, particularly in developing countries
  • Solid understanding of user-centred design
  • Top-performing academic background
  • Demonstrated leadership experience at work, or outside of work, enthusiasm for learning, and openness to feedback
  • Ability to build teams and collaborate with colleagues from diverse backgrounds
  • Language: English required

Compensation

• Commensurate with experience.

Benefits:

• Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Sponsor International Candidates:

• Yes. African country nationals / East Africans are strongly encouraged to apply.

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.

Application Closing Date
27th April, 2020.