Senior Agronomist, Conservation Agriculture

About

One Acre Fund seeks a Senior Agronomist to develop and improve scalable conservation agriculture advisory models, farmer training and field deployment in Rwanda. The role requires a relevant master's degree and at least six years' relevant experience, and has a two-year renewable contract. Terms of service: Fixed-Term Duty station: Kigali, Rwanda Contract Duration: 2 years, renewable with a high chance based on good performance.

How to apply

Apply online through the official advert page on One Acre Fund Careers.

Responsibilities

• Develop and continuously improve scalable conservation agriculture advisory models in collaboration with farmer advisory and field teams.
• Design practical extension materials, training manuals, visual guides, and digital tools tailored to diverse farmer needs and contexts.
• Translate technical concepts including cover cropping, minimum tillage, agroforestry, and integrated pest management into practical field-based curricula.
• Adapt advisory approaches and materials based on climate, soil, socioeconomic conditions, farmer feedback, and field learning.
• Provide hands-on technical guidance to field teams delivering farmer trainings, workshops, Farmer Field Schools, and demonstration plots.
• Build the capacity of field staff and local extension agents to effectively promote and support conservation agriculture adoption.
• Provide timely agronomic troubleshooting to farmers and field teams addressing crop, soil, pest, and climate-related challenges.
• Work with MEL and field teams to develop and implement systems that track adoption, farmer outcomes, and opportunities for scaling.
• Evaluate and refine conservation agriculture practices to improve soil health, water retention, biodiversity, productivity, and farmer profitability.
• Collaborate with R&D teams to design and oversee field assessments of soil health, crop performance, and environmental outcomes.
• Analyze field evidence and farmer feedback to identify high-impact practices and recommend improvements to conservation agriculture programming.
• Translate research findings and field learning into practical recommendations, extension content, and scalable implementation models.
• Build and manage strategic relationships with public, private, NGO, academic, and other technical partners supporting conservation agriculture initiatives.
• Coordinate project plans, timelines, deliverables, reporting, and data sharing across internal teams and external consortium partners.
• Represent the conservation agriculture program in technical discussions and ensure strong alignment between farmer needs, organizational priorities, and partner objectives.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Agronomy, Agroecology, Crop Science, Soil Science, or a closely related agricultural field.
• Minimum 6 years of relevant professional experience in agronomy, conservation agriculture, regenerative agriculture, or agroecological farming systems.
• Proven experience developing agricultural extension materials and leading farmer-facing training, capacity building, or advisory programs.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multi-stakeholder projects involving government, NGOs, research institutions, academia, or private-sector partners.
• Strong hands-on experience working directly with smallholder farmers and field teams, with willingness to travel extensively and spend significant time in rural settings.
• Proficiency in English is required; additional regional or international languages are an advantage.