KOMAZA is an
award-winning social enterprise working to end rural poverty through
economic opportunities for smallholder farmers living in Africa’s arid
and semi-arid regions.
KOMAZA is inviting applications for the following opportunities based in Kilifi, Kenya:
Director of Operations
Director of Operations
Overview
Industry: Social Business / International Development / Start-Up
Industry: Social Business / International Development / Start-Up
Employer: KOMAZA
Position: Director of Operations
Department: Operations
Location: Kilifi County, Kenya
Reports to: Country Director, Kenya
Supervises: Field Directors, Field Managers, Field Extension Network
Comp/Benefits: Competitive, commensurate with experience
Application Deadline: Open until filled
Start Date: As soon as available
About KOMAZA
KOMAZA is a young social enterprise which works to lift rural families out of poverty by increasing income and generating permanent wealth through agro-forestry social business.
About KOMAZA
KOMAZA is a young social enterprise which works to lift rural families out of poverty by increasing income and generating permanent wealth through agro-forestry social business.
Rural African families
living on dry, semi-arid land are among the poorest, hardest-to-serve
people on Earth. Low, erratic rainfall coupled with degraded, infertile
land presents near-insurmountable challenges to families who try to
survive as subsistence farmers. But in these dry lands of seemingly
insoluble problems, there is a wealth of opportunity. An opportunity to
turn unproductive land into income-generating farms would break the
vicious cycle of poverty and enable vast opportunities for prosperity.
KOMAZA has realized this
solution in the form of intensive agro-forestry. We provide farmers with
appropriate farm inputs and tools on credit, on-farm training and
support, and complete vertically-integrated value capture services so
that our rural families can transform their barren, infertile land into
highly-profitable cash-crop farms. By increasing family income and
wealth, we work to get families permanently out of extreme poverty and
on the road to continued prosperity.
To build a truly scalable
organization, we structure our not-for-profit intervention as a
profitable social business. Upon selling our farmers’ products, we
recover our costs and a profit from each farmer we work with. By
achieving per-farm profitability, KOMAZA is a self-sustaining, permanent
partner for development with the communities we serve.
Furthermore, by
reinvesting program-generated profits in program expansion, KOMAZA will
become self-scaling—effectively creating a profitable end to rural
poverty.
Since launching full-time
operations in 2008, KOMAZA has successfully planted with over 4,000
families in Kenya’s Kilifi county and has established two
industry-leading experimental farms to further refine the agricultural
best-practices for our semi-arid farmers.
These activities have
demonstrated the viability of crop production in semi-arid environments
while helping us develop the experience and systems necessary to scale
our model to serve thousands of farmers.
We are now working to expand to 12,000 farmers by 2013 as proof of scaling for our delivery model.
Director of Operations
Job Objective
Take responsibility for the overall development / design, direction, coordination, implementation, execution, control and completion of the strategic operations expansion and implementation plans ensuring consistency with KOMAZA strategy, commitments and goals.
Job Objective
Take responsibility for the overall development / design, direction, coordination, implementation, execution, control and completion of the strategic operations expansion and implementation plans ensuring consistency with KOMAZA strategy, commitments and goals.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee and manage all field operations, from head office planning and organization to farmer recruitment and tree planting
- Manage all staff in Operations department including all Field Extension Network staff, Operations Associates, KOMAZA farms and nurseries and any other staff involved in field operations activities
- Oversee use and maintenance of all KOMAZA field operations facilities and equipment including farms, storage and vehicles
- Conduct regular reviews of all field operations systems and processes to ensure that they are meeting expectations for scalability
- Monitor all operations systems and processes and make continuous improvements to make them more effective, efficient and scalable
- Adapt and develop systems always with an eye toward scalability and serving tens of thousands of farmers and beyond
- Build support systems (procurement, bookkeeping, admin, etc) for Rural Cells to operate semi-autonomously from headquarters
- Engage team members with mentorship and support; develop a "hands-on" culture that permeates from office to farmer
- Coach teams in personal accountability, giving and receiving feedback, root cause analysis, problem solving, decision making, trade-off analysis, interpersonal communications and external interactions
- Working with senior management, make recommendations for and aid in the development of operational strategy
- Make regular reports to Country Director and senior management on operational outcomes and developments
Qualifications & Experience
The candidate should possess the following qualifications and experience:
- Graduate level qualifications with good certifications and qualifications in Operations planning and management or equivalent. Masters level education is a distinct advantage
- Knowledge of practical aspects of operations management in forestry or agriculture sector
- Direct work experience working with farmers in dry land areas within a social enterprise setting
- At-least five years proven experience in operations management, people management, strategic planning, risk and change management
- Proficient in relevant software
Competencies
- Critical thinking and problem solving skills
- Good planning and organizing skills
- Capable at decision-making and implementing their decisions
- Good communication skills
- Able at influencing and leading diverse teams of both employees and farmers
- A proactive team member who understands and appreciates team work
- The person should be competent at conflict management
- Adaptability to diversity in the work environment
- Stress tolerance
To Apply
To apply please send your CV and cover letter to recruiting@komaza.org.
To apply please send your CV and cover letter to recruiting@komaza.org.
Application deadline: Monday 17th October 2012
KOMAZA Director of Operations
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