Job Description
Our Deputy Director, Global Sourcing will be the Global Sourcing Directors key deputy in leading a 50+ person team to deliver high quality, well-priced inputs to our clients while preparing our systems for scale. S/he will play a critical role in developing world class leaders, maintaining execution excellence, and improving purchasing processes to drive increased efficiency and reduced waste across the sourcing team. Success in this role means driving organization-wide sustainability and scalability by ensuring we can effectively deliver the most important part of our program model at scale.
The overarching goals of this role are to:
Continue building best-in-class global sourcing and country procurement functions through capacity building, leadership development, and easy-to-follow processes;
Grow our sourcing team in an efficient and scalable manner to deliver a broader mix of products to more clients across a larger geography;
Drive innovation across the sourcing and procurement team to mitigate risks and adapt to needs of a changing program model and regulatory environment;
Eliminate waste from the value chain by streamlining processes, systems, and data management while improving service levels from top suppliers.
A successful candidate in this role will:
Achieve near 100% on time in full deliveries across seasons and country programs;
Save money for the organization by purchasing goods consistently below market rate and eliminating waste from the value chain;
Build capacity and hire strong talent across the sourcing and procurement teams;
Continuously seek buy-in from country clients to ensure sourcing systems & strategies are aligned with broader organization goals;
Insulate clients from changing regulations and inconsistent supplier performance through risk mitigation strategies, strong supplier relationship management, and durable processes.
Responsibilities of the Global Sourcing Deputy Director will include:
Setting Vision and Strategy:
Support the Global Sourcing Director in setting and executing a long-term vision for global sourcing and local procurement teams
Maintain a high-performing, motivated, and impactful team
Build and maintain strong collaborative working relationships across country leadership and global departments
Identify and execute on key areas of strategic innovation across the sourcing team
Design and implement innovative and impactful sourcing strategies that can scale across several countries in East Africa, Europe, North America and Asia, minimize waste, and maximize deliver accuracy
Build Team: Day-to-day management of multiple manager-level staff. You will not manage the full team when you first join One Acre Fund in the deputy Director role but will layer on additional management responsibilities over the course of your first 6-12 months in the role.
Responsible for rapidly growing the careers of leaders across the sourcing team through weekly check-ins and workshops, ongoing development feedback, and bi-annual career reviews
Responsible for developing the level below through capacity building and developing strong management skills in top level leaders
Motivate the full team around 1AFs mission and ensure staff see the link between their work and the organizations high level goals ensure the team is effectively supporting its internal clients
Identify strong talent pools for recruiting high quality supply chain staff
Guiding execution excellence on key organizational initiatives:
Drive toward 100% on time in full deliveries and drive down costs to the farmer through smart purchasing and international logistics efficiencies
Prevent fraud and input loss by implementing a rock solid controls environment
Mitigate risks across the supply chain by adapting sourcing procedures to be able to more nimbly respond to changing regulatory environments and program needs
Stop quality issues from reaching farmers with improve quality controls throughout value
Leading Innovation in Sourcing operations: Drive innovation across the global sourcing and local procurement teams by thinking creatively and outside the box. Example focus areas include:
Identify and invest in long term, reliable supply partnerships to minimize price volatility and supply risk for high value goods
Invest in data-driven forecasting and new warehousing and sourcing strategies to minimize excess inventory in regional warehouses without risking stock-outs during key seasonal deliveries
Improve financing terms across domestic and international suppliers to minimize costs of trade credit
Communication: Represent the sourcing team with internal clients:
Serve as the global voice for all procurement-related issues to country and organizational leadership
Represent 1AF with high level external suppliers and stakeholders could include speaking at industry conferences and interacting with donors investing in supply chain operations
Career Growth and Development
We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. Youll 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. Youll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.
Qualifications
We are seeking exceptional candidates with 8-10+ years work experience as a general manager/ leader in a fast-growing organization, and a propensity for innovation. Prior operations, supply chain, consulting, engineering, manufacturing, or systems experience strongly preferred but not required, if the candidate has held a senior-level position at an innovative organization. Ultimately, we are looking for passionate professionals who combine strong leadership skills with patience and a humble approach to service.
Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:
Professional Skills:
Passion for building scalable and efficient systems and solving problems in a difficult operating environment
Strong strategic mindset you can synthesize requirements from across the organization into a set of clear, prioritized strategic initiatives
Strong work ethic, professional maturity, and an ability to handle a demanding, high pressure work environment
Ability to work independently and make thoughtful and well-justified decisions
Humility and a strong sense of ethics, honesty, and integrity
A passion for world class customer service
Experience working in a multi-cultural workplace a plus
Even if you come from a different industry, you should have familiarity with how supply chains function in our operating environment including common challenges and terminology
Execution Skills:
Strong data and analytical skills you are extremely comfortable putting together easy to follow tools for project management, turning complex data sets into simple tables for presenting data to leadership as well, and evaluating financial models for accuracy and clarity
Strong attention to detail you can pick out a mistake in a contract from a mile away
Strong quantitative reasoning skills you can QC contracts, POs, and orders effectively without support and can think quickly on your feet during supplier meetings
Creativity and strong problem-solving skills you can quickly map out the full universe of solutions, evaluate them against qualitative and quantitate metrics, and drive to a thoughtful recommendation
Orderliness / strong project management skills you can competently turn large strategic ideas into bite size chunks of work and keep multiple projects on track simultaneously
Communication skills:
Excellent written and verbal communication skills you are comfortable making complex problems and ideas immediately comprehensible to your audience using clear writing skills and simple, clear tables where appropriate
Excellent stakeholder management skills you tailor your communication style to the situation and audience and can manage energy levels effectively even in a multi-day conference
World class negotiation skills you know how to drive consensus, get others on your side, and dont take no for an answer (unless its the answer youre looking for)
Management Skills:
Proven ability to set and meet targets
Proven ability to manage teams and develop leaders; experience in remote management a plus
Situational leadership skills you are comfortable managing people with varying skill levels and tailoring your managing and delegation style in order to get the most out of them / play to their strengths
You have a humble and inclusive approach to decision making and developing others but also have the ability take disciplinary action when expectations are consistently missed
Passion for capacity building and investing in others
Academic Background:
Bachelors degree from an accredited institution
Related Masters Degree is an asset, but not strictly required
A willingness to commit to living in East Africa for at least two years this is a long-term, career-track role
Language: Fluent English required
Preferred Start Date
As soon as possible
Compensation
Commensurate with experience.
Benefits
Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits
Sponsor International Candidates
Yes. East Africans are strongly encouraged to apply.
