Tupande Orchard Associate

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

Tupande Asili is launching the Tupande Matunda initiative to build a fruit and nut supply network across the region, targeting 140,000 smallholder farmers and planting 5 million trees. This program creates concentrated orchard clusters on farmers' land to boost smallholder income and supply regional and export markets. 

As the Tupande Orchard Associate, you will develop and execute the business model, evaluating target zones, modelling unit economics, designing distribution, and aligning nursery, field, agronomy, and commercial teams.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Financial Modelling

• Build multi-year business cases, growth strategies, and financial models covering unit economics, tree survival, and cost structures.
• Translate field data and financial modelling into strategic recommendations for leadership.

Operations & Delivery Execution

• Manage implementation roadmaps, budgets, and standardised SOPs for seedling procurement, nursery quality control, and distribution.
• Address operational bottlenecks and drive key operational decisions with leadership

Farmer Acquisition & Agronomy Standards

• Design recruitment incentives and field workflows to build dense, high-retention farmer clusters.
• Partner with R&D and nurseries to enforce seedling quality standards, crop protection protocols, and tree traceability.

Sourcing, Offtake & Performance Tracking

• Align yield forecasts and production clusters with commercial market demand and aggregation logistics.
• Maintain a registry of farmers, tree growth, and planting cohorts while running operational pilots to refine the model

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

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Background in strategy, operations, management consulting, or commercial growth. Agribusiness experience is a plus
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and translate agronomic data into operational plans.
• Strong financial modelling, unit economics analysis, and hands-on operational delivery capability
• Fluent in English and Swahili with readiness for frequent field travel.
• Degree in Business, Economics, Engineering, Operations, Agriculture, or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong spreadsheet and data-management skills.

Preferred Start Date

As Soon As Possible

Job Location

Kakamega, Kenya or Nairobi, Kenya

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Contract Duration

3 years

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya 

Application Deadline

7 February 2027. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made.

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 ([email protected]), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization's mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

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.