Director - KOMAZA KENYA VACANCIES

Director

Wanted: Experienced manager to be Director of fast-growing social enterprise in Kenya

Industry: Forestry & Wood Productions/Social Business/International Development/Start-Up/Non-profit
Employer: KOMAZA
Position: Director
Commitment: Long-term commitment (i.e. 5 years minimum)
Location: Kilifi, Kenya
Comp/Benefits: Competitive with international businesses/NGOs
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Start Date: As soon as available (preferably by Aug 2011)

Overview

KOMAZA is an award-winning non-profit social enterprise working to end rural poverty by developing economic opportunities for smallholder farmers living in Africa’s infertile and drought-prone regions.

Founded in 2006 and based in Kenya, our innovative grassroots model dramatically boosts household income for rural families by equipping them with resources, knowledge and market linkages to produce high-value climate-appropriate crops on their previously degraded land.

The Role

The Director will develop and lead all business functions in Kenya required for rapid growth, reporting directly to our COO and working closely with our founder/CEO, both of whom will be based primarily in San Francisco, USA (traveling to Kenya for 25-50% of the year). This is a big opportunity for a dynamic, entrepreneurial candidate. Responsibilities will include:

Management of all Kenya Operations

KOMAZA Kenya headquarters is currently located in Kilifi town, one hour north of Mombasa. Ganze town, our first area of operation is a 45 minute drive inland. Over the next few years we aim to scale throughout Coast Province. The Director will be responsible for high-level leadership and management of Kenya operations, including:

Program Direction and Leadership: Work with founder/CEO, COO and other corporate leadership to develop long-term, annual, and quarterly goals; building on the KOMAZA social impact and business model, develop a vision for growing the country program and a plan for achieving the vision; take the leadership role in inspiring collective goals, executing plans, providing direction to Kenya country staff, ensuring accountability, and leading in change management
People and Project Management: Directly supervise 4 managers in planning, organizing, staffing, and directing activities; manage an overall office staff of currently 25 employees; lead organization re-design efforts as organization grows quickly; coordinate major projects and activities in a comprehensive organizational work plan
Finance: Direct short-term and long-term budgeting; provide oversight to management team on financial planning and reporting; oversee monthly/quarterly/annual financial management (budget currently USD 1m and growing quickly)
Partnership Development: Liaise with local and Nairobi government officials and other NGOs and businesses to build relationships that will facilitate the quality and scaling of our operations

Operational Branch Development and Replication

KOMAZA’s operations (silviculture to primary processing) are delivered through Branches, each led by a Field Director, comprising 200 field staff and serving 10,000 families across 250km2. The Director must lead the development and monitoring of all operational systems for a Branch, and then replicate this unit across Coast Province and then other drylands in Kenya. The Director will be responsible for supervising the development of all aspects of Branch operations, including:

Branch HR: Hiring, training, and monitoring performance of our field extension network. Facilitators in each village, Field Officers managing Facilitators, and Field Managers overseeing large areas of operation
Social Marketing: Communicating with local opinion leaders (chiefs, village elders), educating farmers about the opportunity to partner with KOMAZA to grow trees for income, and recruiting farmers into KOMAZA's program
Silviculture: Nursery operations; family land preparation, planting, and maintenance
Wood Harvesting & Processing: Felling, hauling, primary processing, wood treatment, etc.
Wood Product Sales: Oversee sales agents based in towns, cities, and international distributors
Monitoring & Evaluation: Develop strong systems to track key operational performance indicators and to measure program outputs ($ to farmers) and social outcomes
Branch Office Systems: Branch-level financial control, procurement, logistics, administration, HR, IT, etc.

Qualifications

Education and Relevant Work Experience:
8-12+ years of business/organizational management experience required; 5+ years in forestry, agriculture or production preferred
University degree; business management concentration or MBA preferred
Entrepreneurial: Self-motivated; holds self to high level of personal accountability; comfortable with ambiguity and interested in a work environment that is creative and flexible while also data-driven
Leadership Skills: Proven ability to enlist the aid and support of others to achieve shared goals; keen to build a winning team and lead a fast-paced, rapidly-growing program
Financial Management: Experience owning P&L results: revenue/sales growth and expense/margin control
Technology: Internet & MS Office fluency required; demonstrated passion for technology integration (project management software, bar coding for chain of custody, GIS mapping, etc.)
People Management: Experience supervising both senior and junior staff, motivating staff, managing team morale, incentivizing performance, and managing disciplinary issues; experience hiring and firing all levels of staff – from frontline workers to senior managers
Project Management: Strong background managing complex projects; high competency creating, managing, and executing project plans; passion for systems and process-improvement projects to scale high-quality operations with strong attention to building key performance indicators into systems
Training & Mentorship: Interest and passion for professional development and training of all levels of staff
Communication: Excellent writing/verbal, interpersonal, public speaking, and presentation skills
Willingness to Travel: Some travel will be required within Kenya; also possibly occasional international travel
Preferred
Organizational Growth: Proven ability to build and substantially grow an organization; start-up experience is even better; organization redesign experience also a plus
Experience in Farm Extension: Experience building farmer extension networks, consolidating produce from smallholders and moving it through entire value chain
Forestry and Wood Processing: Growing, harvesting & processing trees for high-margin wood products

More / LessHow to apply

Please apply online at www.komaza.org/recruiting/