Soil Scientist / Carbon Sequestration Research Manager

ABOUT ONE ACRE FUND

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms vastly more productive. We provide quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural trainings to improve harvests. We measure our success by our ability to make farmers more prosperous: On average, farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund.

We are growing quickly. We currently serve more than 800,000 farm families in Eastern and Southern Africa, with more than 7,500 full-time staff, and we aim to serve 1 million farm families by 2020.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Scaling adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices presents an opportunity for smallholders to address the existential livelihood threats posed by climate change. These practices simultaneously provide immediate economic benefits for smallholders and contribute to climate change mitigation through increased sequestration of carbon in soils. You will help One Acre Fund explore how we can a) maximize the carbon sequestration impact of One Acre Fund's work and b) connect smallholder farmers to global funding streams which reward them for the public good of carbon sequestration.

This role would report to the Global Impact Director.

Responsibilities of this role will include:

• Build an appropriate modeling and measurement strategy for soil-carbon sequestration among small-holder farmers that could be integrated into One Acre Fund's current program work;
• Assess the health and accessibility of global financing streams that support c-sequestration (carbon markets and philanthropy);
• Produce a strategy to incorporate additional climate-smart farming practices that increase carbon sequestration while providing short-medium term economic benefits to farmers into One Acre's Core training/product package;
• Present and promote strategy to organizational leadership and country teams;
• Oversee execution of intervention and measurement strategy.

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

Required:

• Advanced degree in soil science, environmental science, or a closely related field
• English Language required; French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi are a plus
• Creative and diligent approach to work; flexibility and humility

Preferred:

• 3+ years of experience in agriculture with an emphasis on soil carbon dynamics or GHG fluxes, ideally in a development setting with smallholder farmers
• Experience of soil carbon modeling, e.g. in CENTURY, APSIM, RothC, NDICEA
• Experience using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods at large scales, and producing systematic reviews and meta-analyses
• Working knowledge of trends in global carbon markets and certification requirements
• Experience leading collaborative work with multi-disciplinary teams

PREFERRED START DATE

January 2020 or as soon as possible thereafter

JOB LOCATION

Kigali, Rwanda

COMPENSATION

Commensurate with experience

DURATION

Full-time job

BENEFITS 

Health insurance, paid time off

SPONSOR INTERNATIONAL CANDIDATES

Yes. Nationals of countries in which we operate are especially encouraged to apply.

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.

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.