Malawi Market Access Lead

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.

Our Malawi program, founded in 2016, provides more than 670,000 farmers with quality farm supplies and training. Our office in Malawi is located in Zomba, in the country’s south. One Acre Fund works in Malawi’s southern region, which has the highest concentration of smallholder farmers in the country.

The Market Access Lead will have a unique opportunity to own one of the key pillars of One Acre Fund’s vision by owning the development of high‑value cash crop chains in Malawi. If successful, this role will enable a scalable number of smallholder farmers to consistently grow more cash crops, getting higher profit in their pockets, while building export channels bringing sustainable USD revenue critical to our programs’ growth.

Responsibilities

• Lead Malawi Market Access (MKT) Strategy, including long‑term vision, seasonal target setting, work planning and delivery from start to end.
• Steer the MKT team’s rapid development, including structuring and hiring of additional HQ and field staff to successfully support ambitious buyback expansion.
• Own all critical buyback activities from timely planning to timely execution, with full ownership of implementation, from farmers’ crop adoption and production to aggregation and commercialization.
• Strengthen chili buyback to expand both its impact and scale, with an ambitious yet achievable 3‑year strategy for chili to become a “value chain winner” in 2030.
• Revamp soya buyback, challenging and improving the current set‑up where OAF aggregates and sells to a local buyer with no margin.
• Start new buyback value chains from scratch subject to thorough analysis of impact potential for smallholder farmers and market needs.
• Contribute to setting up processing services (e.g.: solar dryers to dry fruits) to enable smallholder farmers to get higher value from their harvest while building more crop transformation capacity in Malawi.

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

• Passionate, impact‑driven, hard‑working, result‑oriented individual who can fully align with OAF’s values.
• Entrepreneurial profile: high level of innovation and ambition, ad‑hoc risk assessment, bias towards action, and ability to keep moving despite complexities, ambiguities and uncertainties.
• Team & project management: nurture high accountability on results across HQ and field impact team, celebrate and challenge people as needed.
• Design and lead multiple medium to large projects with a high degree of independence and ability to navigate ambiguity with little manager support.
• Analytical decision‑making: collect and analyze KPIs autonomously and critically, leading to data‑based and impact‑driven decisions.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible.

Job Location

Zomba, Malawi or Lilongwe, Malawi.

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits.

Eligibility

One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.

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.

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.

Why Work Here

We’re one of the largest agricultural organizations in Africa, operating in ten countries that together are home to two‑thirds of Africa's farmers. Guided by our mission, we use the discipline of a business to deliver cost‑effective services to millions of people. We believe that heart plus rigor can change the world.

Job Application Process

We use a unique, hands‑on interview process to ensure a great match. We’re constantly seeking exceptional leaders from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences. We strongly encourage applications from African professionals with deep local knowledge and investment in the communities we serve.

Careers FAQ

Here’s your quick guide to some of the common questions we hear about our application process.