Country: Senegal
Closing date: 31 Aug 2017
Location: Thies, Senegal
Language Requirement: Fluency in French and English required
Duration: minimum 3-year commitment
About myAgro
myAgro is an award-winning non-profit social enterprise based in West Africa. We have pioneered a mobile savings model that allows farmers to invest their own funds in high-quality seed, fertilizer, and agricultural training to increase their harvest and income by 50-100%. Our North Star is to help 1 million farmers increase their incomes by $1.50 per day by 2025 and lift themselves out of poverty. Learn more from myAgro’s founder and CEO here.
About the Senior VP Programs role
myAgro seeks a dynamic, experienced leader who can oversee our core field operations, managing their rapid growth and driving the team and organization to high impact, cost-efficient results. The Sr VP Operations will be a member of the Executive Team and will report directly to the CEO. This position will be responsible for continuing the expansion of myAgro’s work with farmers in Senegal and Mali. myAgro has proven the effectiveness of our model in these countries, and now it is time to drive dramatic scale.
The Sr VP Operations position will be responsible for designing and executing on the path to scale. S/he will oversee large teams of local and international staff, be responsible for executing to budget, but will also have the freedom to innovate and develop new approaches to increase efficiency and impact. S/he will be working with a group of seasoned, savvy country directors and will collaborate closely to ensure their success.
The ideal candidate will have an outstanding track record of managing large, diverse teams, achieving targets while remaining within budget, and being passionate about making a difference in the lives of farmers. The ideal candidate will have a long history of successful program implementation in agriculture in very resource poor environments.
Responsibilities:
Program implementation
- Develop annual operating plan to achieve myAgro’s goals for core operations in Mali and Senegal
- Set targets and milestones and measure and report performance against them
- Collaborate to set long-term strategy
- Identify approaches and processes to improve cost-effectiveness and impact of programs
- Work with program team to develop and evaluate new products and services to increase farmer participation, revenue and impact
- Manage M&E to continually improve myAgro’s model and impact
Financial management
- Own the budget for core operations in Mali and Senegal, and manage operations within budget
- Understand the key financial drivers of operations and key financial results required by stakeholders (farmers, donors, management, Board)
- Work with Finance to develop the budget and measure and report financial performance timely
- Ensure compliance with national and local financial management standards and tax and audit requirements
Organizational and team leadership
- Provide strong strategic leadership for the team
- Translate strategic goals into tactics to help staff understand their roles and responsibilities
- Manage team of 300 local and 30 international staff to deliver consistent, high-quality results
- Support the professional development and retention of the team
- Cultivate the values and culture of myAgro throughout the organization
- Assist with fundraising – preparing reports, hosting funder visits, and being a storyteller for the organization internally and externally
Required Experience:
- English and French proficiency required
- 10+ years of experience and increasing responsibility managing complex program operations in an international development context
- Extensive management experience and demonstrated ability to build highly-effective teams and manage to aggressive goals
- Extensive experience managing to a budget
- Graduate degree strongly preferred
Additionally, you should possess:
- Passion for myAgro and our mission - the needs and realities of the farmers we serve are our top priority
- Excellent interpersonal communication skills (both written and verbal)
- Organized and an efficient work style – able to consistently exceed expectations when dealing with farmers, team members, partners and donors
- Exceptional creative problem solving skills - work effectively in a challenging and resource-constrained environment.
- Comfortable making decisions in the face of ambiguity
- Comfort in a fast-paced, high demand environment in a developing country
- Flexibility, a sense of humor, an open mind, and a diligent work ethic are necessary for success
Benefits:
- Compensation is competitive with other early-stage social enterprises
- Global health benefits, including dental, vision and emergency insurance
- Generous paid time off, plus national holidays
- Periodic trips to Mali and partner locations
- Make a significant impact on the growth and direction of a growing social enterprise; and see the immediate impact of helping families move out of poverty!
This is a critical leadership position for myAgro’s future growth. Only the top 4% of candidates move through the full interview process, which takes 2-3 months including several interviews and may include a 1-week interview in West Africa to meet the team and farmers prior to selection.
How to apply:
For consideration, please submit your cover letter and resume here.
Other positions at myAgro can be found here.