Seed Operations Lead at One Acre Fund

One Acre Fund, 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: Seed Operations Lead

Location: Ntagatare, Rwanda
Team: Research and Innovations
Location Type: Field
Career Level: Professionals
Duration: Full-time job.
Preferred Start Date: As soon as possible

Job Descriptions

We are looking for a operations manager with in-depth experience in process design, health and safety, and optimizing processes for efficiency.
Rwanda will reduce and eliminate seed imports soon and is therefore investing in domestic seed production. One Acre Fund is excited to scale domestic hybrid maize processing. Our facility will bring hybrid seed to over a million farmers and create tens of millions of dollars of impact by increased harvest for farm households.
The operations manager will bring a wealth of expertise in process efficiency optimization and safety assurance to bring our operation to international standards. You will achieve our growth targets, at speed, to provide even more high-quality seed for Rwandan farmers.

Reporting to the Seed Department Manager you will manage:
Plant and Worker Safety:

Ensure our plant is safe to operate, introducing international standards of health, safety and environment controls

Data Management:

Start a dedicated manufacturing data management system with full visibility of process inputs and outputs
Implement tight controls on inventory management ensuring no losses

Finances and Forecasting:

Manage monthly approval of seed processing Budget Vs Actual (BVA) spending
Perform monthly cash flow forecasts

Process Efficiency & Optimization:

Reduce per Kg cost of processing whilst maintaining the highest standards of seed quality
Increase plant throughput while ensuring safety, quality and cost effectiveness

Future proof our operations:

Ensure machine and infrastructure are fit for scale
Support strategy development for successful processing capacity increase

Oversight of the processing team:

Manage the seed processing specialist and seed quality control teams
Ensure sustainable working hours, pleasant working culture and safety of our processing team

Qualifications
This is a career–track role. We are looking for extraordinary professionals who will take One Acre Fund to the next levels of impact and scale. Candidates who fit the following criteria are encouraged to apply:

Education: Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in Business, Engineering or Science. Related masters degree is desirable (e.g. Operations Management, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing/Industrial Engineering, Process Engineering, etc.).

Minimum 4 years work experience in:

Managing large / complex operations or processing facilities
Health and Safety protocol enforcement
Design and optimization of physical manufacturing processes
Data and budget management

Professional / technical skills:

Analyze, summarize and communicate data. Excel skills particularly an asset (can maintain complex spreadsheets with advanced functions)
Manage a complex and demanding workload and still achieve excellent results
Leadership experience. Examples include startup experience or successful entrepreneurial experience (e.g. starting a program in a developing country, leading a conference, starting a business).
Fluency English is necessary , Kinyarwanda is a plus
Microsoft and Google Applications

Humility and Responsiveness to Feedback:

Give and receive direct feedback
Use feedback as a constructive tool to grow and improve professionally
Bring humility into all aspects of work and interactions with colleague

Compensation

Commensurate with experience

Benefits:

Health insurance, paid time off

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.

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