Tupande Impact Strategy and Operations Associate

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.

About The Role: Tupande Impact Strategy and Operations Associate

We are seeking exceptional candidates with 3-5 years work experience. The ideal candidate will have a background in managing complex projects and coordinating across multiple teams in a fast-growing organization, and a propensity for innovation. We are looking for passionate professionals who combine strong leadership skills with patience and a humble approach to service.

Responsibilities

• Lead specific functional areas, taking full responsibility for the strategy, execution, and final results; from problem definition through delivery, including planning, execution, and stakeholder coordination.
• Tackle complex, cross-functional priorities that require you to quickly learn new operational contexts, build new skills, and apply your expertise to develop end-to-end solutions.
• Translate strategy into action by driving implementation plans, tracking progress, and removing bottlenecks.
• Own end-to-end project delivery by defining scope and success metrics, building and managing workplans and timelines, coordinating cross-functional stakeholders, tracking risks and dependencies, and ensuring on-time, high-quality execution through disciplined follow-through and clear communication.
• Analyse data and operational realities to diagnose issues, generate options, and recommend decisions.
• Communicate clearly and influence decisions through strong writing, structured thinking, and practical recommendations.
• Use AI tools responsibly to accelerate analysis, synthesis, and drafting, while maintaining ownership of judgment and final outputs.

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

For this Tupande Impact Strategy and Operations Associate role specifically, you will have:

• Exceptional project management and stakeholder engagement skills; prior experience in strategy and operations and/or management consulting, international development or private-sector experience (3+ years preferred) is an added advantage.
• You thrive in fast-evolving environments with limited playbooks, and you’re comfortable designing systems, processes, and partnerships from the ground up.
• You learn new value chains quickly, from agronomy and markets to finance, procurement, logistics, and data, and can connect these pieces into coherent operating models.
• You move fluidly between strategic thinking and hands-on field execution, shifting from high-level planning to solving practical challenges on the ground.
• You work well with stakeholders: you understand different teams’ motivations and can align diverse groups toward shared goals.
• You manage ambiguity with ease, balancing multiple priorities such as field pilots, cross-team coordination (Agronomy, Logistics, Sourcing, Finance), and ensuring timely delivery across many moving parts.
• You are comfortable with frequent travel across Kenya for field research, supplier engagement, and pilot oversight.
• You use data and sound business judgment to guide decisions and shape recommendations.
• At a minimum, a Bachelor’s degree is required for this position. Post-graduate degree preferred.
• Language: English required, Swahili a plus.

Job Location

Nairobi, Kenya

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits.

Contract Duration

Up to End March 2027

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya.

Application Deadline

012 May 2026. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.

Key skills/competency

• Strategy Development
• Operations Management
• Project Delivery
• Stakeholder Coordination
• Data Analysis
• Problem Solving
• Process Improvement
• Cross-functional Leadership
• Communication Skills
• AI Tools