Tanzania Market Access Lead (Fixed-Term)

One Acre Fund is a nonprofit organization that supplies smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa with the farm inputs, financing, training, and market access they need to grow more food and earn more income. Operating across nine countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the organization works with millions of farming families who rely on small, rain-fed plots of land as their primary source of livelihood. By delivering quality seeds, fertilizer, and agricultural services directly to rural farmers, One Acre Fund reports helping clients achieve approximately 45% more farm income on the same land area. One Acre Fund's sustainability and climate mission is embedded throughout its programs. The organization focuses on climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, including agroforestry and tree-planting initiatives, financing and insurance products to help farmers weather climate-related shocks, and innovation in climate-resilient agricultural practices. These efforts are designed to strengthen the long-term resilience of smallholder farmers who are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, while also contributing to carbon sequestration and reduced agricultural emissions across the continent. What distinguishes One Acre Fund is its last-mile delivery model, which brings bundled services directly to farmers in remote rural areas, combined with a rigorous impact measurement methodology including social return on investment analysis. The organization also prioritizes gender-smart agriculture, with women comprising more than 50% of its client base, and maintains a strong commitment to evidence-based programming and transparent reporting on outcomes.

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 Tanzania program, founded in 2013, supports more than 100,000 farmers with quality farm supplies, as well as fruit trees. Our team in Tanzania is headquartered in Iringa and supported by three smaller offices Mbeya and Njombe in the southern highlands, and Moshi in the north where the team is focused on expanding our services to new clients. One Acre Fund works in select areas in the Iringa and Mbeya regions, with a growing presence in the country’s north.

About the Role

Are you a strategic leader with a passion for building market systems that work for smallholder farmers?
This is a senior role at the heart of OAF Tanzania's commercial ambition. You will define and lead the organisation's market access strategy and portfolio, deciding which value chains to prioritise, shaping the commercial model for each, and building the partnerships needed to make them viable.
You will lead a team delivering both farmer-facing and commercial workstreams, bringing together strategy, commercial design, field delivery, and partner execution into a coherent and scalable portfolio.
This is not a hands-on field role, but it demands enough operational depth to guide execution effectively and ensure that every moving part connects. You will need to move comfortably between high-level strategic thinking and the practical realities of delivery.
If you are ready to shape how smallholder farmers access markets at scale, we would love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

Market Access Portfolio Strategy & Prioritization

• Strategic Roadmap: Define the multi-year strategy across priority value chains (e.g., cashew and avocado) with clear sequencing and resourcing.
• Opportunity Assessment: Evaluate and recommend whether to invest, partner, pilot, or scale specific value chains based on commercial viability and farmer impact.
• Risk-Adjusted Execution: Translate country-level goals into a focused portfolio that balances realistic growth with proactive risk management.

Value Chain Development

• Model Design: Develop commercially sound models for processing and aggregation, determining the best delivery approach (direct vs. partner-led) for the context.
• Partnership Management: Lead the identification, negotiation, and performance management of strategic commercial partners and third-party processors
• Program Alignment: Oversee farmer-facing delivery to ensure field operations align with both commercial requirements and farmer inclusion goals.

Performance, Analysis & Risk Management

• Business Case Ownership: Drive financial analysis, growth plans, and data-backed recommendations for scaling or exiting specific workstreams.
• Performance Tracking: Implement practical systems to monitor supply, sales, partner performance, and tangible outcomes for farmers.
• Risk Mitigation: Identify operational, commercial, and regulatory risks early to implement sensible mitigation strategies.

Leadership: Team, Cross-Functional & Representation

• Team & Operating Model: Build and lead a high-performing team with clear role accountability across HQ coordination and field delivery.
• Cross-Functional Synergy: Partner with Supply Chain, Finance, and Government Relations to ensure seamless end-to-end execution of department goals.
• External Representation: Serve as the primary liaison for buyers, government stakeholders, and donors while advising country leadership on capital and talent allocation.

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:

• You have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in business, economics, agribusiness, agriculture, supply chain, or a related field.
• You have at least 5 years of experience in agribusiness, market access, value chain development, or commercial agriculture — including leading teams and driving strategy through to execution.
• You have strong commercial instincts and numerical fluency . You can build or interrogate financial models, read margins and costs, and make sound decisions from data.
• You have the ability to operate at multiple levels. Equally comfortable setting a multi-year strategy, managing a team, and getting into operational detail when needed.
• You have a practical understanding of how value chains work from farmer aggregation and quality compliance through to processing, buyers, and export dynamics
• You have experience negotiating and managing external partners. I.e., processors, exporters, buyers, or service providers — and holding them accountable to agreed terms and performance.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Tanzania

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Contract Duration

2 Years

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.

Application Deadline

05 August 2026. 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.