The Rockefeller Foundation is hiring a Manager, Regenerative Agriculture, to advance this work. The Manager, reporting to the Vice President, Food Initiative, is responsible for shaping and managing a portfolio of existing and forthcoming grants, supporting and developing external partnerships, and conducting targeted analysis on key topics to inform strategy and support the work of our partners.

Please Note

• This is an open contract.
• The position will be based in the Nairobi office.
• Submission of a cover letter is required.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Grant Management

• Sources and manages a portfolio of grants within Regenerative Agriculture with support and direction from the Vice President and with guidance and engagement from other members of the Regenerative School Meals team, including understanding and building the capacity and success of potential grantees, designing and writing grant memos and other key documents, and managing grantee relationships.
• Helps the Regenerative Agriculture team (which consists of others on the food team and the Innovative Finance team with grants at the food and climate interface) assess incoming project opportunities, which includes shaping criteria to inform decision-making based on learning to date and evaluating the incoming pipeline of individual ideas, grant proposals, and opportunities.
• Develops, reports against, and analyzes key metrics and outcomes for initiative programs, advances a structured approach for measuring and communicating progress (internally/externally), understands and plans for risks.
• Supports the Vice President and other team members in internal processes such as budget management, business planning, Board reporting, and communications

Strategy

• Responsible for coordinating strategy development, reporting, communication, and alignment necessary, driving the “Big Bet” investment from the foundation within Africa and other geographies as needed (e.g., Indonesia, Philippines, etc.).
• Contributes to the development and implementation of the Regenerative School Meal’s overall strategy and activities within the context of the Foundation’s existing food strategy and emerging climate strategy.
• Supports the Vice President and team in advancing internal integration and alignment with other relevant areas of work pertinent to unifying and aligning around the Regenerative School Meals strategy (e.g., with the Nairobi-based School Meals team members, Innovative Finance, Convenings, Communications, etc.) and supports coordination with key internal stakeholders.
• Surfaces the new developments, innovations, and trends in Regenerative Agriculture by reading key reports, regularly engaging and attending conferences and events, particularly in areas pertinent to regen financing/investment, subsidy repurposing, and farmer experience.

Partnerships

• Serves as a focal point for the design of key meetings, convenings, and learning journeys. Co-creates design, identifies speakers, profiles breakthrough work, and manages partners, contractors, and logistics for events at such gatherings as Africa Food Systems Summit, Global Climate Summits, UNGA/NYCW, Bellagio convenings that are led by RF, and more.
• Cultivates, grows, and maintains partnerships with co-funders (MDBs, bilaterals, foundations, private investors), leading to increased co-funding in aligned work on regenerative agriculture and school meals; in lighthouse geographies, prioritizes strengthening local/regional/global networks to engage more explicitly in co-investing in regenerative school meals.
• Develops ambitious investment and partnership opportunities that support regenerative agriculture and market development for school meals.
• Identifies, participates in, and links to networks, including with private investors, private businesses, farmer groups, multilateral, bilateral, and foundation funders, universities and research institutes, and others – around regenerative agriculture, financing regenerative agriculture, sustainable farming, indigenous foodways, soil management and improvement, data sharing and interoperability, and more.

Education, Experience, and Skills

• At least 7 years of relevant experience in regenerative agriculture, agronomy, agroecology, food systems, agricultural economics, or food policy.
• Proven related work experience in Africa.
• Master’s preferred (or international equivalent) related to Soil Science, Agroecology, Agronomy, Environmental Engineering, Agricultural Economics, or related discipline.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including effective public speaking and the ability to communicate complex issues both verbally and in written form in English.
• Experience developing, leading, and implementing a portfolio of projects with defined objectives, deliverables, monitoring, and evaluation of results.
• Experience navigating global food systems institutions and stakeholders, including building partnerships with senior leaders.
• Ability to navigate complex, overlapping networks to build trust, allyship, and shared vision.
• Prior experience in environmental and conservation-based investing with a focus on sustainable agriculture is preferred.
• Prior experience in financing/blended capital/private investment preferred.
• Prior experience directly engaging with farmers, landscapes, and investors is preferred.

Qualifications and Competencies

• Data Oriented: Consistently achieves results by approaching work informed by data.
• Directs Work: Provides direction, delegates, and removes obstacles to get work done.
• Manages Complexity: Makes sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Strategic Learning: Actively learns through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder.
• Values Differences: Recognizes the value of different perspectives, commits to being self-aware and respectful, and seeks to learn from new and different voices.