Ethiopia Innovations and Growth Lead

The Innovations & Growth Lead will be an essential part of our leadership team in one of One Acre Fund's fastest-growing country programs and report directly to the Country Director. As an Innovations & Growth Lead, you will sit at the intersection of high-level strategy and "last-mile" delivery, shaping the strategy to plant 100 million trees and generate over $100M additional impact for 440,000 Ethiopian farmers by 2030. You will also pioneer the revenue models that will make our impact self-sustaining. You will lead a high-performing team of innovators and M&E specialists to turn a 5-year vision into a rigorous 'Learning Agenda': designing the field trials, mastering the data, and proving what works before we scale it to 440,000 households. You will ensure that every piece of data collected in the field informs our highest-level strategic decisions. Success is measured by your ability to reach OAF Ethiopia’s 2030 objectives. You will: Support our network of 1,000+ nursery managers by improving their production and finding new ways to generate income. Engineer innovative, scalable solutions to maximize income for every farmer reached, unlocking opportunities for youth and women. Secure our seed supply through large-scale adoption of the best varieties and partnerships like the Jimma Research Centre. Define the next frontier and move beyond existing programs to identify "what's next." You will lead the feasibility studies to transition OAF Ethiopia from a traditional NGO model to a revenue-generating organization. You will investigate the regulatory landscape and operational requirements, and research and test the most impactful agricultural practices, products, and services for our farmers.

Responsibilities

• Translate our strategy into action: Lead multi-year impact strategies and translate them into specific field interventions across the organization.
• Drive the "Learning Agenda": Define annual critical questions. You will decide which new services or products enter our pipeline based on scale and ROI, then set SMART objectives. For example, explore the possibility of adding high-value trees.
• End-to-End Trial Management: Design multi-year impact models, oversee the full lifecycle of field trials, empower and coach the impact team to research and implement impactful activities, from hypothesis and budgeting to operational workflows and staff training to translating it into actionable recommendations.
• Evidence-Based Decision Making: Partner with our Monitoring & Evaluation teams to analyze trial data and drive "Go/No-Go" recommendations for the Country Director.
• Champion the professional evolution of your direct reports, providing the coaching and clarity needed to turn high-level organizational vision into rigorous, field-level results.

Qualifications

• A proven track record with a minimum of 7 years of experience in managing complex projects or operations, or social enterprise programs in emerging markets, e.g., in agricultural innovation, extension, research & development, marketing, product development, consulting or MEL in agriculture, public health, or education (including 3+ years in one of our countries of operation).
• Experience identifying strategic gaps and designing "Learning Agendas" - knowing exactly which questions we need to answer through field trials before committing to a national-scale rollout.
• Field-First Mindset: Significant experience living and working in rural or "last-mile" settings, with a deep understanding of the associated operational challenges.
• Experimental Design & "Piloting" Mindset: Proven ability to design and execute field trials or pilot programs. You understand how to set up a "test vs. control" environment to see if a new intervention actually drives impact, you understand KPIs and success metrics and you have the judgment to adjust as needed when challenges come.
• Evaluation Frameworks: Analyze qualitative/quantitative field data, and turn raw results into a "Go/No-Go" recommendation for leadership. A plus if experience working with Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) teams to design surveys.
• Experience managing large teams (5-10+ team members) and delivering projects successfully.
• English required, Amharic preferred.