Trending Jobs: Kenya Corporate Operations Specialist at One Acre Fund

Thursday, 13 February 2020

Kenya Corporate Operations Specialist at One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms vastly more productive. We provide quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural trainings to improve harvests. We measure our success by our ability to make farmers more prosperous: On average, farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund.

We are growing quickly. We currently serve more than 800,000 farm families in Eastern and Southern Africa, with more than 7,500 full-time staff, and we aim to serve 1 million farm families by 2020.

Job Description

Seeking a highly organized and motivated individual to oversee visitor, residences and food services. This will involve leading all operations in these workstreams, auditing essential databases and dashboards and managing the individuals directly responsible for these workstreams to provide exceptional visitor experiences, safe, healthy and tasty food, and welcoming comfortable spaces for our guests and residents. All these are pivotal in creating an exceptional culture and allowing our teams to better serve the farmer.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Visitor Services (50%)

Visitor services encompass all the services offered to donors, interview candidates, visiting staff, and all other categories of visitors to ensure that they have a brilliant guest experience and achieve all their goals during the visit.

Donor and visitor communications – own and update all information packets, email communications, and location-specific one-pagers/visitor guides. Ensure that all visitors receive the relevant and correct information packets/emails/visitor guides.
Donor and visitor logistics – own all visitor and donor facing logistics including creating schedules that cater to individual needs, organizing trip logistics (ground transport, accommodation) and organizing all trip activities (field visits, homestay visits).
Program and operations hosting – be the primary host for visitors; take them to visit our field team and to observe fieldwork, as well as our nurseries and warehouses. Build up a network of One Acre Fund contacts to ensure timely and appropriate visits depending on the intentions of the particular visitor.
Be the first point of contact for all new hires – act as our first point of contact for new hires at One Acre Fund in Kenya. This will involve sharing information, preparing schedules for their first weeks, and managing their arrival at One Acre Fund.
Onboarding management – arrange, coordinate and administer all aspects of the onboarding process: liaising with departments to set up onboarding informational meetings; prepare onboarding schedules, share timely invites with onboarding cohort and their managers; prepare spaces for the meetings/events and be present to guide the cohort through these.
Visitor feedback – review, analyze, respond to visitor feedback and report these upward in monthly CRO meetings. Use a services improvement project pipeline to map out and action next steps in high priority visitor issues/feedback.

Food Services (30%)

Food services cover the canteen and the cafe and would involve managing and working closely with the Senior Food Supervisor to ensure that we provide safe, healthy and tasty food and quality services to the staff.

Food service operations – manage the day-to-day operations in the canteen and cafe to ensure that all processes run to expected standards and within budget.
Vendor management – food in the canteen is provided by an external vendor and this relationship needs to be managed to ensure that they are providing the best quality food. Manage the relationship with external vendors and suppliers to ensure we always receive the highest quality ingredients at the best prices.
Process audits – create, own and oversee the execution of all process audits in the canteen and cafe to ensure that food quality/quantity, service, and health/safety standards are adhered to.
Additional service provision – liaise with departments that require additional food services and engage with the vendor(s) on their behalf to ensure they receive the products and services they require.
Menu creation – design exceptional menus that cater to a wider variety of needs and modify slightly to meet customer needs and requests (reduce salt, increase flavors, add more vegetarian options, etc). Experiment with new recipes and options to keep the menu fresh and exciting.
Product/ingredient management – oversee all ingredient/product par levels according to current menus. Implement processes for ordering, delivery, and usage to avoid stock-outs and ensure that the items are used in an effective and economical manner.
Customer service – maintain excellent levels of customer service and create feedback mechanisms to identify improvement areas.
Customer feedback – review, analyze, respond to customer feedback and report these upward in monthly meetings. Use a services improvement project pipeline to map out and action next steps in high priority visitor issues/feedback.
Health and Safety Compliance – ensuring compliance with Health and Safety standards in our canteen and cafe. Liaise with the Security team where necessary.
Monitor cafe sales and productivity and report these upwards ensuring that we operate at a profit.

Residence Management (20%)

Residence management covers the two One Acre Fund owned residences (Main Compound and Makaka) and would involve managing and working closely with the Residences Supervisor to oversee housing-related activities to ensure we provide clean, welcoming and safe spaces for our residents and guests.

Expenses and finance management – oversee all service payments are made on time and in line with budgets. Develop and own new ways to manage/reduce recurring expenses.
Systems and processes – create and oversee proactive housing management systems. Audit these to ensure that they are performed to expected standards.
Service level agreements – own the housing SLAs, train the residence team on the same, ensure that the schedules are upheld, audited regularly and reported upwards.
Asset management – own and oversee the asset tracking system ensuring that the trackers are audited monthly and results reported upward quarterly.
Team Management – provide mentorship and professional guidance to the team including identifying training and professional development opportunities.

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

We are seeking an exceptional professional with 2+ years of work experience and ideally a demonstrated passion for our mission.

A Diploma or Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field: hospitality management experience preferred but not necessary.
Demonstrated team management experience with a knack for conflict management and resolution – the ability to be impartial and find great compromises.
A high degree of ownership coupled with the ability to proactively identify and resolve problems and independently drive forward improvements.
Experience with work planning tools and strategies e.g. Google Calendar and Google Sheets.
Demonstrated computer skills in Microsoft office as well as basic office skills (scanning, printing)
Excellent communication skills.
Great attention to detail.
Strong organizational skills and demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and tools at once.
Demonstrated leadership experience at work, or outside of work, enthusiasm for learning, and openness to feedback.
Ability to build relationships and collaborate with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
Good time management.
Basic financial/mathematical skills.
Proficient in English and Swahili.