Ethiopia Senior Avocado and Trials Coordinator

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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.

One Acre Fund has been working with farmers in the Amhara region of Ethiopia since 2014, with a specific focus on trees since 2018. The Ethiopia program has now expanded into the South Region of Ethiopia in 2024. Our aim with the tree program is to provide not only short-term income opportunities but also long-term benefits, such as soil health improvements and erosion control, so that farmers build resilience over time.

About the Role

One Acre Fund is seeking an exceptional Avocado and Trials Coordinator with 3–5+ years of experience to lead tree nursery operations, technical training, and field execution in South Ethiopia for increased farmer impact through high-value trees.

Job Location: Sodo, Ethiopia

Preferred Start Date: As soon as possible

Application Deadline: September 5, 2026

Benefits: Health insurance, paid time off

Eligibility: This role is open to Ethiopian citizens, permanent residents, and origin cardholders.

Responsibilities

Avocado Nursery Management and Operations (60% of time)

• Central Nursery Oversight: Oversee the successful establishment, infrastructure setup, and daily operational workflows of central avocado nurseries in South and Central Ethiopia.
• Decentralized Nursery Oversight: Support the operational efficiency of avocado production across decentralized production contexts in South and Central Ethiopia.
• Agronomic Best Practices: Ensure strict adherence to high-quality standards and agronomic best practices in seedling production, specifically targeting grafting operations, optimal watering schedules, and rigorous pest and disease control.
• Operational Agility: Apply quick thinking and adaptability to navigate operational bottlenecks in decentralized nursery environments, standardizing avocado workflows to streamline production metrics.
• Post-Grafting Follow-up: Implement structured monitoring systems and post-grafting verification routines to ensure high survival rates and maintain rigorous seedling quality metrics.

Southern Innovation Trial Execution and Management (40% of time)

• Hands-on Trial Management: Directly manage the field execution, localized setup, and status tracking of non-avocado Product Innovation (INN) trials in the South (e.g., active shade net trials) hosted at INN's research station or core tree nurseries.
• End-to-End Data Ownership: Modify existing data collection tools, or design context-specific data tools ensuring they accurately capture what is required for trial objectives.
• Data Collection Quality Control: Provide rigorous training, oversight, and auditing for temporary field staff and dedicated INN Tree Officers collecting data to ensure data quality is high enough to make concrete scaling recommendations.
• Analysis and Reporting: Synthesize, analyze, and report on qualitative and quantitative field trial data to capture localized performance metrics and drive strategic model improvements.

Technical Training, Capacity Building and Resource Development

• Staff and Owner Training: Conduct technical training and capacity-building sessions for full-time Tree Officers (TOs), local tree nursery owners, and temporary field staff to institutionalize avocado production and trial tracking techniques.
• Documentation and SOPs: Author, refine, and update technical training materials, standardized toolkits, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to guide seasonal and permanent field executions.

Coordination, Strategy and Field Mobility

• Workstream Scope Management: Scope improvements within the immediate avocado and trial workstreams to resolve field challenges independently, while actively considering future team strategies and expansions into new regions.
• High-Mobility Field Presence: Execute intensive field travel, spending 50%+ of working hours in the field across South and Central Ethiopia to audit nursery sites, supervise teams, and manage localized operations firsthand.
• Organizational Alignment: Fluently articulate the current and future activities, targets, and milestones of the avocado program to cross-functional internal teams and external local stakeholders.

Qualifications

• At least 3–5+ years of experience in avocado seedling production, grafting management, plant health diagnostics, and smallholder farming systems.
• Bachelor's degree in Agroforestry/Horticulture.
• Background in project management.
• Field data collection/analysis experience.
• Proficiency in Google Sheets/Excel.

Career Growth and Development

One Acre Fund has a strong culture of constant learning and invests in developing its people. You'll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. Career reviews are held every six months, with time set aside to discuss aspirations and career goals.

Diversity and Equal Opportunity

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to One Acre Fund's mission and purpose. 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.

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 to globalhotline@oneacrefund.org.

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