Business Development Deputy to the President

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.

About the Role

One Acre Fund is looking for someone to work closely with the President - we are looking for a unicorn with the potential to eventually rise to be one of our top leaders, whose work is most important in delivering our long-term vision. You would work very closely together with the President, and he would be invested in your career success. As with any good deputy role, the goal of the deputy is to eventually replace almost everything that the President does, so that he can continually grow his own role.

We are looking for someone with a diverse range of technical skills, strong intellectual horsepower, EQ and soft skills, and who is generally good to work with (all important in this role, which interacts with many One Acre Fund and external stakeholders).

Responsibilities

• Fund development and philanthropy. Today, resources are the binding constraint on social change growth globally - and hence, fund development and philanthropy are the most important skills to learn. This role will:
  
  
  
  • Steward most of One Acre Fund’s 25 most important relationships - frequently interacting with with smart, business-like foundation teams, often leading to program asks and coordination
  
  
  • Lead 3-5 key strategic grant renewals per year, which often involve strategy setting and program coordination
  
  
  • Lead 1-3 new potential wins per year, which often involve the same
  
  
  
  


• Program coordination and strategy. This role will coordinate major program priorities within One Acre Fund that have been delegated to the President’s office. For example:
  
  
  
  • The President’s office co-owns the youth priority within One Acre Fund. Youth are demographically important to our future - for every older farmer, there are 2 youth farmers in the markets we work. Youth are vital to keep One Acre Fund programs relevant in the coming decade. The Mastercard Foundation has resourced us to do this, and the president co-manages a team of five people who spearhead this work within One Acre Fund.
  
  
  • One Acre Fund has a goal of providing nutritious crops like green leafy vegetables, iron-rich beans, and textured vegetable protein to 2+ million families by 2030. We have an opportunity to build on existing programming, work with program teams to design new programming, and monitor through to end outcomes.
  
  
  • We are coordinating a grant that is routing through our UK entity and will then flow to our Malawi entity, and making appropriate governance changes.
  
  
  
  


• Project management. You will support special projects related to the President’s portfolio.
  
  
  
  • The President is helping to coordinate a project about One Acre Fund financial resource stewardship, and how we scale programs up/ down with changes in donor funds. This project touches on our core budgeting and governance principles, and helps to drive new thinking on how we do long-term financial planning.
  
  
  • The President is doing some initial research into a gene-edited soil amendment which would reduce conventional fertilizer requirements. This technology has relevance to both our program and external stakeholders. Our office has been delegated to coordinate our research and investigation here, with a priority on health and safety – and while balancing science, government priorities, donor priorities, public comms in our program countries, and program priorities.
  
  
  • Boards are a growing area of work at One Acre Fund – our US, UK, NL boards, and possible new SPV launches.
  
  
  
  


• Team management. The office of the President will have 3-4 professionals at any given time, plus has dotted-line management to a few other team members.

Career Growth and Development

We have a culture of constant learning, and we invest in developing our people. The President is also particularly invested in this role, and the explicit purpose is for the deputy to eventually be doing almost everything that the President currently does (enabling him to expand his scope).

Qualifications

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

• Seeking a long-term career. We are seeking candidates interested in developing into One Acre Fund top leadership, and so are looking for people who could realistically envision spending their next decade at One Acre Fund, if the role works out.


• Written communication skills. The ability to logically outline a storyboard in power point and written memos - both to delegate, and to write directly.


• Soft skills and humility. The ability to use “soft power” to coordinate the work of program teams - while constantly balancing deference to program teams with high-level deliverables. We are seeking someone who shows up to interactions in a way that is respectful and authentic.


• Intellectual horsepower. The ability to think through gnarly problems and come up with creative solutions.


• Outcome orientation. An innate drive to see projects through to end results - not to follow literal guidance, but to understand the end outcome goal, and to achieve it.


• Minimum 8+ years of relevant professional experience. Management consultants (especially with a concentration in the social sector) are especially encouraged to apply. Other relevant experiences include leadership of a globally-focused social enterprise or nonprofit, grant or debt-raising for the same, and impact investing or philanthropy in the global development sector.


• Ability to travel. You will have 15-50 nights per year of travel, roughly evenly split between domestic and international. Specific dates of travel are flexible.


• Genuine commitment to rural communities. You are passionate about providing opportunity to the hardest-working farmers on the planet.


• Language: English

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Flexible, but with a preference for US East Coast major cities including - but not limited to - NYC, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Boston.

Benefits

100% health insurance premium coverage, 5 weeks of paid vacation plus federal holidays, child and family benefits, and a flexible work schedule.

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of the United States.

Application Deadline

February 28, 2026. Applications after this date will be accepted on a rolling basis.

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.