Strategic Partnerships Manager / Senior Associate (Fixed-Term)

Job Summary

One Acre Fund is hiring a Strategic Partnerships Manager / Senior Associate (Fixed-Term) in Kenya, Rwanda, or the US. Requiring 5–10+ years of experience in donor grant management and strategic partnerships, this role leads the stewardship, field coordination, and narrative reporting for high-value agricultural development grants. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until October 23, 2026.

Key Roles & Operational Responsibilities

1. High-Value Donor Relationship Stewardship

• Donor Point of Contact: Serve as the primary operational liaison between major external funders and internal country program leadership, facilitating regular communications, progress updates, and site visits.
• Impact Storytelling & Reporting: Synthesize field metrics, program data, and qualitative achievements into high-quality narrative and financial reports that demonstrate measurable impact to donor partners.
• Grant Administration: Oversee day-to-day grant mechanics, including tracking grant deliverables, monitoring budgets, managing invoices, and ensuring compliance with donor covenants.

2. Field Coordination & Thematic Execution

• Cross-Departmental Project Management: Partner with country-level program teams to align work plans, establish project milestones, track execution metrics, and address operational bottlenecks.
• Thematic Capacity Building: Translate donor commitments into field-level execution across priority thematic pillars, including conservation agriculture, gender and youth inclusion, and smallholder crop/climate insurance.
• Program Fluency & Field Engagement: Conduct direct field visits with smallholder farmers and field staff to build a deep operational understanding of One Acre Fund's agronomic, credit, and delivery models.

Foundational Capabilities & Prerequisites

Required Academic Background & Experience

• Educational Baseline: Bachelor’s degree in International Development, Public Policy, Business Administration, Economics, or a closely related field.
• Professional Track Record: 5 to 10+ years of professional experience managing donor relationships, strategic partnerships, high-value grants, or complex cross-functional projects in international development or management consulting.
• Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated success interfacing with major institutional foundations, bilateral/multilateral donors, and executive leadership.

Essential Competencies & Expertise

• Communication & Storytelling: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate complex field operations into compelling donor narratives.
• Data & Tool Proficiency: Comfort analyzing program datasets and tracking grant deliverables using Google Sheets and analytical tools.
• Work Authorization & Residency:
  • Nairobi, Kenya: Open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya.
  • Kigali, Rwanda: Open to international candidates (work permit supported), with preference for East African nationals (Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi).
  • United States: Open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Why Join One Acre Fund?

• Massive Scale & Impact: Directly support an organization serving 5.5 million farmers with a bold mandate to reach 10 million families by 2030.
• Professional Investment: Structured career development featuring bi-annual performance reviews, dedicated mentorship, weekly 1-on-1 check-ins, and clear leadership growth pathways.
• Competitive Package: Comprehensive health insurance, housing support/allowances, competitive compensation, and fixed-term contracts with high renewal rates based on performance.

Skills Required:

• Economics / Statistics
• Political / Science / Ir
• Sales / Marketing / Business / Management