Tupande Production Lead

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. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

Our Kenya program, founded in 2006, operates under the local brand Tupande. Close to 500 staff in our Kakamega headquarters support 1,747 field staff and serve more than 1 million farmers. In Nairobi, around 50 staff support global functions like procurement, recruitment, government relations, and communications.

About the Role

Seeking a systems-driven leader to scale crop value chains for 400k+ farmers. You’ll lead national operations, build SOP-driven playbooks, and manage technical teams to transform pilots into national-scale systems for massive farmer impact.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & National Scaling

• Set the long-term production strategy and vision for the five core cash crop value chains, evolving them from localized pilots to national programs.
• Define the "Production Playbook" for each crop, ensuring standardized protocols for input distribution, farmer training, and crop maintenance across all regions.
• Serve as a key member of the Asili (Tupande’s customer-facing team) leadership team, aligning production timelines with the Sourcing and Marketing/Processing departments.
• Work with technical agronomists to translate complex science into simple, high-impact training modules for thousands of field staff. Your goal is "zero-variance" execution across diverse geographic regions.

Scaling Training & Extension Systems

• Standardization at Scale: Work with technical agronomists to translate complex science into simple, high-impact training modules for thousands of field staff. Your goal is "zero-variance" execution across diverse geographic regions.
• Design and oversee the implementation of technical training materials (GAP - Good Agricultural Practices) for the field team to ensure farmers achieve maximum productivity.
• Technology Adoption: Oversee the integration of digital tools and mobile platforms to track field activities, monitor crop health, and provide real-time support to a massive, decentralized workforce.

Input Distribution & Supply Chain Oversight

• Logistical Excellence: Ensure the right seeds and inputs reach the right farmers at exactly the right time. You will manage the operational complexity of a multi-crop input distribution cycle, identifying and clearing bottlenecks before they impact the season.
• Vendor & Partner Management: Lead high-level operational relationships with seed producers and input suppliers to ensure volume and quality requirements are met for a national rollout.

Performance Management & Data-Driven Execution

• KPI Ownership: Define and track the "Health of Production" metrics (e.g., adoption rates, germination success, field officer efficiency).
• Continuous Improvement: Use field data to identify underperforming regions and deploy operational interventions or process fixes to get them back on track.

People Management

• Manage 5 Production Coordinators, who in turn manage Production Supervisors
• This is a team of Technical Specialists; your role is to provide the operational strategy and leadership to ensure their expertise drives impact at scale.

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