Senior Manager, Next Generation Jobs

About Us

Agriculture is the key to unlocking a better future for billions of people. But while rural families sustain the world, they struggle to sustain themselves. At the same time, they face increasingly urgent challenges, from volatile crop prices to extreme weather.

Root Capital is a social impact investor that provides financing and business training to agricultural enterprises so that they can transform rural communities. We work with enterprises in the “missing middle” of agricultural finance: those whose credit needs are too big for microfinance and too small or risky for commercial banks.

Since 1999, we have loaned over $1.9B to more than 800 businesses and we have trained more than 1,800 ones—improving the lives of 10 million people. As these agricultural businesses succeed and scale, they become engines of impact for their local communities, raising incomes, creating jobs, uplifting women and young people, preserving vulnerable ecosystems, and building rural prosperity.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Root Capital currently works in a dozen countries in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, and has staff in Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Peru, Ghana, and Kenya.

Position Overview

The Senior Manager of Next Generation Jobs serves as a technical expert in youth inclusion across Root Capital's related innovation agenda, leading to the development of new products and services that address emerging needs of both agricultural businesses and associated youth. We currently define youth as individuals of working age (in accordance with local labor laws) up to and including 35 years old. Capacity to envision the needs of these target communities and respond with insight, as well as collaborate deeply with colleagues across the organization, are key to the success of this newer programmatic area and will enable this role to contribute to Root Capital's mission and strengthen its reputation in this field.

The innovation team provides technical and programmatic services to the rest of the organization around our global innovation agenda, which ensures Root Capital's service offering continues to meet evolving client needs and market realities. The innovation team leads an inclusive and rigorous process to evaluate, prioritize, and monitor innovation ideas through the innovation lifecycle. It collaborates closely with innovation leads on Client Services and / or itself leads the design of innovations that benefit Root Capital's client base and advance our mission.

Duties & Responsibilities

Purpose

Innovate (45%)

• Design new programs and services related to Next Generation Jobs that advance Root Capital into new opportunities consistent with its mission. This includes framing and conducting or overseeing related market research, as well as the design of technical specifications for the service, and planning and project management related to the development - and in some cases testing - of these services.
• Lead the development of the Next Generation Jobs innovation strategy and identify gaps in our current product and service offering to identify opportunities for innovation.
• Oversee the research and review of ideas for new products and services related to Next Generation Jobs, ensuring they support the overall strategy and fit with organizational capabilities.
• Craft learning plans for Next Generation Jobs-related pilots and oversee their execution including critical assessment of pilot performance to inform executive decision-making about the future of the tested products and services.

Engagement

Advocate (30%)

• Promote the importance and strategic alignment of the Next Generation Jobs work with team members and management across the organization.
• Build capacity among other teams to deliver youth-related programs and services.
• Network with other organizations working on Next Generation Jobs (or related) topics in order to keep abreast of best practices, trends, and learnings from external sources that might inform Root Capital's own work.
• Build relationships with other organizations that might serve as complimentary partners in our Next Generation Jobs strategy, and identify areas of alignment to inform potential shared programming.

Delivery 

Define Project Cycle (25%)

• Plan for Next Generation Jobs innovations to follow Root Capital's innovation processes, with clear stage-gates, roles and responsibilities, and synthesized and relevant information to inform decision-making.
• Organize and collaborate closely with the cross-cutting teams working on Next Generation Jobs related innovations to ensure timeliness and quality in their deliverables.
• Introduce effective tools to promote the development and monitoring of new youth-focused products and services, in close collaboration with other teams.

Perform other relevant duties as assigned.

Required Skills and Experience

List of skills and experience in order of importance:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in youth employment, youth in agriculture, or another related field within the context of smallholder agriculture. Experience formulating new approaches within this field that are aligned with an organization’s broader strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to influence changes to existing organizational policies and approaches, as well as bring in new insights from outside the organization that inform decision-making.
• Experience building influence across diverse teams and project management of those teams in complex initiatives. Prior exposure to programmatic quality control processes desired.
• Demonstrated ability to design and conduct qualitative research to inform strategic decision-making.
• Bilingual English/Spanish is required.
• Specialized/varied experience in service delivery/project design in agriculture across multiple geographies, and a proven ability to collaborate deeply with cross-cutting teams
• Enthusiasm for working in a multicultural environment; experience in a global and multi-location work environment is highly desired.
• Committed to prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion and embracing transparency and authenticity in daily work life.
• Proactive approach to problem-solving with demonstrated decision-making capabilities.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and adapt to a dynamic environment.
• Experience working and communicating in a remote environment.
• Committed to practicing and supporting wellbeing and a work-home life balance.
• Passionate about Root Capital mission.
• Authorized to work in a country where Root Capital has an office.
• Flexibility to travel locally or regionally is required according with the nature of the role, including the possibility of visiting clients in rural areas.

How to Apply

More information about Root Capital is available at www.rootcapital.org. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Candidates are encouraged to apply using the form below as soon as possible, making sure to include a resume and cover letter that describes your interest, qualifications, language abilities, salary requirements, and how you learned of the position. Finalist candidates will be required to provide at least three work-related references.

U.S applicants: Root Capital Inc. participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government your I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. For more information, see here. Learn more about your right to work.

Root Capital provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, active military or veteran status, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, medical conditions related to pregnancy and childbirth, and breastfeeding and expressing breast milk), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. Root Capital is committed to creating a dynamic work environment that upholds our leadership principles of: empowerment, equity, integrity, service, and transparency.