Warc
James is in charge of administration and finance at Akokoa in the Bono East region of Ghana. He reports directly to the Finance Manager in Accra. He had his BSc in Agribusiness Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University. He has his interests in International Trade and Export, and helping smallholder farmers get value for their efforts.
We work to get farmers out of poverty. That’s our dream. We want to see Africa feeding the world in our lifetimes and its farmers to become the guardians of one of humanity’s most precious resource: the soils. We design and sell regenerative farming inputs as a service. With this, farmers are able to grow exponentially their incomes, improve their quality of life and develop a stronger tie to their lands. We worked with a thousand farmers and generated a very solid proof of concept. Now we aim high- we want one million farmers adopting our services within a decade.
Warc has humble beginnings. We did not learn how to run a business from a book; we have real, tangible experience. Warc’s revenue has grown 50x over the last 4 years and our goal is to triple it within the next 18 months. We began with a $30,000 investment from our founders and rapidly scaled up to raising over $5,000,000 in equity, debt and grants from angel, government and institutional investors.
Warc’s story started in Sierra Leone, but we’ve rapidly established ourselves in Ghana, and continue to grow. We’re more than 50 people in Ghana, representing 14 different nationalities, managing two production areas in Bono East Region and in the Upper West Region. We operate across West Africa, with established agricultural production, service delivery, market linkages and consulting operations in Sierra Leone and Ghana. In the next decade, we ambition to be present across West Africa. Help us do it!!
About the Job
Great candidates want to make an impact, and they don’t shy away from challenges! Our Service Delivery Unit (SDU) Program – the heart of the Warc business model – needs you to lead our every growing team and operations in the Upper West Region. Established in 2021, we have seen the high potential for growth in the area. Now we want you to get out there to lead and build the team further, manage our farmer network, oversee the operational field activities, and play a key role in shaping the future of the program in this next growth phase around the region.
This role is specifically for an SDU Manager to be based in our project location in Tumu, in the Upper West Region. You will work directly with our Chief of Party, and have the support of Warc’s senior management. You will lead a team of network coordinators and farmer connectors. You’ll get to spend your days between the office, fields and its neighbouring communities.
The main responsibilities of the SDU Manager include:
About you
Warc is excited to have a driven, talented, and hardworking person join our team. We can teach many of the technical skills, but it is very important for the person to have a strong interest in customer acquisition and business growth, technology, agriculture, and rural development in order to succeed in this role. A suitable candidate will have the following characteristics:
Applications are being accepted until 30th June, 2022 or until a suitable candidate is found. Female applicants highly encouraged to apply. Please apply below:
Christopher is a program manager for Warc’s service delivery unit in Sierra Leone. He oversees input and information dissemination to smallholder farmers and is responsible for tracking key metrics and supporting the expansion of the program. He has three years of professional experience as a management consultant and is a former Princeton in Africa Fellow in Malawi. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College where he studied Political Science and Economics.
Meghan is the West Africa Director for Acumen, where she sets strategy, oversees investing and leadership programs, and leads business development for the organization’s work in the region, based in Lagos, Nigeria. Meghan joined Acumen in 2013, and was leading the global Talent function before relocating to West Africa in 2018. Meghan’s commitment to market-driven approaches to tackling poverty is rooted in her experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Guatemala, after which she facilitated loans and created a financial literacy program for Grameen America, the U.S. affiliate of Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank.
Meghan holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, and a bachelor’s degree from American University in Political Science, and is fluent in Spanish.
I left the Netherlands to move to Sierra Leone with my partner in 2017, and was very lucky to quickly find a job as Finance Director at Warc. From the very beginning, I was given a lot of responsibility with respect to cash management, accounting and in developing/implementing good accounting practices. At Warc, I experienced working in a truly international team and in an environment where sustainable growth is essential. While I have now returned to the Netherlands, seeing things from the ‘client side’ at Warc was an invaluable experience that helps me add to the strengths of my accounting skills at PwC.
From my first day at Warc, I was immediately given the responsibility and flexibility I needed to contribute to the goal of ending hunger. I was encouraged to take risks and approach problems from new perspectives. I am now a Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) candidate at Georgetown University. As I engage with new international problems as part of my professional degree, I consistently draw on my experiences at Warc. Both the skills I learned and mindset I cultivated at Warc will stay with me throughout my life and career.
