Forestry Innovations Manager

What You Will Do
Lead our engagement with external researchers and experts to understand existing best practices in forestry – including site selection, species R&D, nursery operations, planting, growth, enumeration, and harvesting.
Lead Komaza’s internal multi-departmental design process to create new methodologies, tools, and approaches to forestry activities across the value chain.
Monitor, evaluate, and improve Komaza’s existing forestry practices across the value chain.
Research forestry products and tools appropriate for small-holder farmers, trial them with small-holder farmers, and scale them.
Build a small team of design and forestry specialists who can continue to grow our internal expertise in designing farmer-centered forestry best practices.
Lead the creation of Komaza’s farmer and environmental impact evaluation methodology and execute that methodology.
What You Should Have
Bachelor’s degree in forestry or other relevant scientific field required, Master’s Degree or above in a relevant field preferred.
Experience working with small-holder farmers, experience with farmers in East Africa preferred.
Experience with human/user-centered design, iteration, and product development.
Experience conducting primary (not a literature review) forestry research preferred.
Experience with the full forestry value chain (nursery to planting to growth to harvest to processing) a plus.
Minimum of 2-5 years post-undergraduate, masters degree or full-time work in a forestry or agricultural context preferred.
You’re also
Equally comfortable in the office conducting literature reviews and in the field seeking feedback directly from farmer focus groups.
Flexible and self-motivated with the drive to do whatever necessary to get the job done.
Comfortable working in a company that acts and feels a lot like a startup (dynamic, unstructured, and frequently changing).
Self-directed and intellectually curious – you know how and when to seek feedback in the pursuit of continuous improvement.
Growth-obsessed with a strong desire for personal development.
A collaborative problem solver who seeks the opinions of other teammates and departments in the development of creative and sustainable systems.
 
What we expect
You are a good fit for Komaza if you want to make a meaningful commitment to this role for a minimum of 2+ years. This role is based at our headquarters in Kilifi, Kenya for the foreseeable future. The role offers competitive salary and benefits with potential for further career growth.