Agricultural Trials Lead

About

This role leads One Acre Fund's phase 1 agricultural research portfolio in Kenya and manages research station hubs across five agroecological zones. It is responsible for rigorous, efficient trials that generate evidence for testing, scaling or commercializing technologies. Candidates need an MSc and 2–3 years of experience in applied agricultural sciences, along with multi-location trial, research operations, budget and team-management experience. Terms of service: Contract duration 3 years. Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya. Benefits: Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits.

How to apply

Apply online through the official advert page on One Acre Fund Careers using the “Apply now” button.

Responsibilities

• Execute the phase 1 Ag R&D strategy by translating R&D priorities into well planned and executed trials across diverse agro-ecological zones (AEZs).
• Balance Ag R&D portfolio across fertilizer alternatives, soil-health innovations, biological inputs, IPM technologies and other emerging agricultural innovations to ensure a healthy and balanced phase 1.
• Provide technical leadership over trial design and execution, ensuring research pipelines reliably produce the evidence needed to guide R&D strategy and accelerate technology adoption.
• Provide practical, hands-on trial management support for the field teams as well as timely solutions to any problems that may arise during trial execution.
• Establish minimum quality standards for trial planning, implementation, monitoring, data collection, analysis and reporting.
• Ensure protocols are implemented consistently across research hubs while allowing justified adaptation to local agroecological conditions.
• Strengthen data quality through field checks, protocol-compliance assessments, data audits and timely corrective actions.
• Perform data analysis, interpretation of results and write technical reports which provide actionable recommendations to the Ag R&D team and relevant stakeholders.
• Participate in stage-gate processes to evaluate innovations based on clear impact and adoption potential metrics and keep the Ag R&D pipeline up to date.
• Develop and manage annual budgets for the trials portfolio and the five research hubs.
• Ensure efficient use of land, inputs, equipment, labor and research infrastructure as well as developing cost benchmarks for different trial types and monitor cost per trial, site and usable dataset.
• Ensure procurement and distribution of research inputs is completed on schedule and maintain appropriate controls for trial inputs, equipment, samples and research assets.
• Identify operational risks and implement mitigation and contingency plans.
• Monitor research delivery against approved timelines, budgets and quality standards.
• Improve research efficiency without compromising scientific rigor or staff safety.

Qualifications

• Strong technical knowledge in fertilizer alternatives, soil health products and integrated pest management technologies.
• MSc with 2-3 years experience in applied agricultural sciences.
• Demonstrated experience designing and managing multi-location trials.
• Ability to translate research findings into clear innovation recommendations for scaling or commercialization.
• High experience in managing research stations, field sites or geographically distributed research operations.
• Experience managing research budgets, work plans and operational risks.
• Experience working with technology companies, donors, universities, national research organizations or regulatory agencies.
• Experience developing or delivering fee-for-service agricultural research.
• Demonstrated experience in establishing project management frameworks, station-level KPI tracking, R&D efficiency metrics and status reporting.
• Demonstrated experience managing and developing technical teams, including direct reports.