Manager Associate Director Program Operations (Remote)

Location: Remote/Flexible within Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala

Start Date: December, 2024

Contract: Full-Time Employee

Travel: 50%

About Acceso

Acceso (www.acceso.org) is an award-winning social enterprise that is revolutionizing food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean to put smallholder farmers first. Acceso’s mission is to create fundamental and lasting positive economic change in the lives of rural smallholder farming families. Acceso’s seed-to-market model provides smallholder farmers with a sustainable way to participate in formalized markets, enabling them to work themselves out of poverty with dignity and to prosper. Acceso is currently a team of over 600 determined and driven change-makers supporting over 35,000 smallholder farmers across Colombia, Haiti, El Salvador and Guatemala.

About This Role

The Manager/Associate Director, Program Operations will lead the design, development and execution of Acceso programs working directly with enterprise agri and operations teams.

The programs team at Acceso is responsible for day-to-day partnership with farmers to increase their production yields, quality and volumes to meet market demand. The programs team seeks to drive sustainable income increases for farmers using the latest technologies, research and climate smart practices and market access. The programs team is responsible for all farmer-focused aspects of Acceso’s seed-to-market model, including farmer recruitment, in-person and digital training, inputs on credit and commercialization of production.

Responsibilities

Working in close collaboration with other programs team leads (innovations, input financing), MEL and in-market program teams, the Manager/Associate Director, Program Operations will ensure operational standardization, execution and excellence of all Acceso farmer support activities. The Manager/Associate Director, Program Operations will have the following primary responsibilities:

• Lead design and development of Acceso programs.
• Ensure excellence, standardization and integration of all Acceso programs.
• Support day-to-day execution of Acceso programs.
• Evaluate and continuously improve Acceso programs to drive maximum economic impact for beneficiaries with year-on-year organizational efficiency improvements.

Key Responsibilities

• Program Design (50%)

• Oversee the design of Acceso programs including training methodologies, templates, dashboards, staff and participant incentives, scoring matrices, partner selection criteria, and more.
• Facilitate the successful transition between program design and program execution including interim and/or mobilization support for the start-up of new programs.
• Perform annual strategic planning and resourcing plans for programs.
• Ensure integration and standardization of all program design and innovations across all Acceso countries.

• Support enterprise teams program management including project plans, execution and administration.
• Develop and implement strategies that will maximize the synergies among program areas across all Acceso countries.
• Work with staff to develop performance measurements across all programs, to ensure consistent, high-quality evaluation and goal setting for all program teams.
• Monitor programs and lead program staff in analyzing program results.
• Prepare and submit annual program budgets for review and approval as necessary; effectively manage budget, regularly review, report on, and ensure compliance within program budgets.
• Develop and deliver regular program reports to project teams to improve performance, efficiency and impact.

• Recruit key roles required for programs; support onboarding and training of new roles as it relates to programs.
• Lead and/or provide guidance to teams or sub-teams on program execution.
• Identify and provide training and development opportunities for the programs team.
• Support development of processes and training of team members to capture and report on program data.

Qualifications

• Mission driven and personal commitment to improving the lives of smallholder farmers.
• BS or BA in business administration or relevant area required. Master degree in business, finance, public administration, international development, agronomy or related fields a plus.
• Required: 2+ years of experience in a management role for manager level/5+ years for director level, or other experience particularly related to program design, oversight, reporting and team management.
• Preferred: 2+ years experience leading multi-million dollar agriculture and/or livelihood programs or country operations in Latin America or the Caribbean.
• Experience managing teams of 10+ technicians or field agents.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities; data-driven.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills.
• Experience with budget oversight and planning.
• Financial and social analysis and reporting skills.
• Technical skills in agronomy, gender and/or livelihood program design.
• Proficiency in MS Office, including Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Familiarity with field data collection and management tools.
• Business acumen; entrepreneurial.
• Ability to build trust and positive relationships; collaborative.
• Highly organized with excellent time management skills.
• Drive and ability to work independently, work well under pressure and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Language Skills: Full Fluency in Spanish and English required. French and/or Haitian Creole a plus.

Application Instructions

To apply, please submit your CV/Resume and Cover Letter (all in English) via the application form below.

For more information about Acceso and careers with us, please visit Acceso.org/careers.

Acceso is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.