Ethiopia Government Relations Analyst

Organization Description

Most of the world's poor are farmers, representing the largest and most uniform group of poor people in the world. One Acre Fund is a start-up NGO in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi that is innovating a new way of helping farm families to achieve their full potential. Instead of giving handouts, One Acre invests in farmers to generate a permanent gain in farm income. We provide farmers with a "market bundle" that includes education, finance, seed and fertilizer, and market access. Our program is proven impactful – every year, we weigh thousands of harvests and measure more than 100% average gain in farm income per acre. We have laser-like focus on generating better lives for the people that we serve.

We are growing quickly. In six years, we have grown to serve 130,000 farm families with more than 1,000 full-time field staff. In three more years, we will at least triple in size, while adding several new countries. Our approach has won widespread validation, winning grants from the highly competitive Echoing Green and Skoll Foundations, and the global Financial Times/ IFC award for "basic needs financing" in 2010 and 2011. Website: www.oneacrefund.org

Job Description

We have begun early pilot activity in Ethiopia. What is immediately clear is that our program is directly relevant to the 8+ million farm households of the Ethiopian highlands, and that there is very high demand for our program. We are in a position to permanently and significantly improve crop yields.

With Ethiopia's regulatory environment, it is also clear that positive government partnerships will be important, and is probably our number one determinant of success.

We are seeking an exceptional professional with 2+ years work experience, and a demonstrated long-term career interest in international development. We are looking for someone who will report mainly to our Ethiopia trial manager (who primarily lives in Bahir Dar). This person will lead One Acre Fund's policy work in Addis:

• Relationship management: This position will be responsible for making new government contacts, and helping to maintain a network of existing contacts among approximately 20 government managers.
• Innovative partnerships: Together with our trial manager, this role will be broadly responsible for finding a way to implement our desired program, in a way that fits the Ethiopian regulatory environment. This could include a very broad range of activities from appropriate legal registrations to potentially setting up innovative partnerships with existing cooperatives, farms, companies, and other NGOs.
• Country-level and regional policy agenda research: The Ethiopia government relations analyst will conduct research to support the creation of a well-informed policy agenda for our organization for Ethiopia.
• Business development: This position may help with general business development. This will include targeted networking with other NGOs that are relevant to our work.
• One Acre Fund increasingly is gaining traction with well-respected policy organizations. For example, we have recently had significant mentions in pieces by WorldWatch Institute and in Foreign Affairs. This position will be responsible for research supporting the promulgation of our work among well-regarded publishers.
• Communications: This position will provide some on-the-ground and writing support for communications work, such as gathering and writing of farmer profiles, writing of six-month reports, etc.

Qualifications

We are looking for somebody truly extraordinary for this role. This is not a stint in Africa – this is an extremely competitive posting for a career-track role. Only 3% of applicants make it to a phone screen. Therefore, please only respond if you fit these criteria:

• Demonstrated experience and interest in international development work, including ideally a minimum of one full year of living in a developing nation.
• Strong work experiences. Examples include a high-level professional work experience, or some kind of successful entrepreneurial experience (e.g. starting a field program in a developing country, leading a conference, starting a business, solid Peace Corps accomplishments)
• Relationship-building and communications skills. Our organization is not necessarily looking for a slick salesman. We want a likeable person who is able to strike an appropriate balance between humility and confidence, speak intelligently about our program, and systematically manage relationships
• Top-performing undergraduate background (include GPA and test scores on your resume)
• No ego or drama. We are all stable people who are fun to be around. We are looking for others that combine strong leadership skills with a humble approach to service

Location: Addis Ababa

Preferred Start Date: Flexible

Compensation: Starts modestly. However, this is a career-track role eventually paying a real and livable salary for a long-term placement in developing nations.

Benefits: Health cover, immunizations, flight, room and board. 2 annual home flights provided.

Career development: Quarterly management consulting-style career reviews, and significant investment in career development. Your manager will invest significant time in your career development.

Sponsor International Candidates: Yes

To Apply

Email cover letter and resume to jobs@oneacrefund.org (Subject line: "Ethiopia Government Relations Analyst").