Business Development Senior Manager

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies 1 million smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms vastly more productive. Our 8,000+ team is drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. With operations across six core countries in Africa, we make farmers more prosperous by providing quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural training to improve harvests. On average, the farmers we serve harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund. 

To learn more about our work, take a look at our Why Work Here blog for more information.

About the Role

One Acre Fund is looking to grow our Business Development team with a new relationship manager who will report to our incoming President Andrew Youn and work with our writing, finance, and program teams to steward existing donor relationships and convert new donor relationships over time.

Responsibilities

• Grant stewardship. You will steward existing donor relationships managed by the President. At first you will partner with the President in this work, but over time you will steadily take on an independent stewardship portfolio.
• Grant origination. You will partner with the President to build a pipeline of high-value individual and institutional donors, with a primary focus on North American donors.
• Strategy and partnerships. Increasingly, One Acre Fund’s funding arrangements are strategic partnerships with the world’s major institutional funders, crafted around goals that align with One Acre Fund’s long-term strategy. You will help to design and implement these strategic funding agreements.
• Team development. Over time, you will hire and manage a team of business development professionals dedicated to the President’s fundraising portfolio.
• Spokesperson for farmers. One Acre Fund contributes to global discussions involving smallholders, including for example climate, gender, and the agricultural financing gap. You will be a spokesperson for our organization, presenting at high-value events across the country and globe.
• This is a business development role. However, because you will play a role in strategy, partnerships, and operating a small team, we do not necessarily need someone with prior fundraising experience. Instead, we are looking for someone with thoughtful business orientation, together with an abiding commitment to our values of humbly serving farmers.

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

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Minimum 8+ years of relevant professional experience – e.g. fundraising for a large NGO, leading complex field programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, or management consultant in a related field.
• Ability to travel. You will have 40-60 nights per year of travel, primarily domestic. The dates of travel are flexible.
• Genuine commitment to rural communities. You are passionate about providing opportunity to the hardest-working farmers on the planet.
• Language: English

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Any US East Coast major city

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of the United States of America

Application Deadline

31 August 2024

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.