Director of Operations

COMPANY PROFILE:

East Africa grain trading company operating out of the Masindi District of Western Uganda. As an integrated supply chain for agricultural commodities, the company purchases, processes, bulks, and markets corn, capturing efficiencies and effectively managing quality. Our client leverages a network infrastructure of rural maize aggregation centers and centralized processing to more efficiently source and handle maize produced by smallholder farmers (80% of the primary producers throughout East Africa) and cut post-harvest losses due to insufficient quality management capabilities. This integration not only improves the business viability but drives shared, transformational value for the company’s stakeholders by providing smallholder farmers access to reliable and high value domestic and export markets while producing significant returns for investors.

JOB OVERVIEW

The Manager of Operations ensures successful execution of overall operations across the company Masindi District footprint. This includes supply chain planning, sourcing across a distributed network of village aggregation centers, logistics, processing, production and distribution via Masindi-based processing facilities. The Manager of Operations will have a diverse team of around 80 full-time employees and more than 100 casual laborers. Growth potential is significant as the company scales throughout Uganda and East Africa.

RESPONSIBILITIES

&#149  Manage overall operations

&#149  Ensure efficient procurement of 10,000 MT per season of high quality maize sourced via rural aggregation infrastructure network and trader purchases

&#149  Oversee logistics from village aggregation centers to warehouse and processing centers

&#149  Manage plant operations to achieve regional market requirements

&#149  Manage staff of village procurement officers, extension workers, plant personnel, and casual laborers of more than 100 people

&#149  Ensure financial transparency—prevent fraud and theft—and financial fluidity—timely payment of suppliers and contractors

&#149  Develop solutions for problems across the JI network including leakages, weather challenges, infrastructure malfunction, or other incidental challenges

&#149  Work with Senior Management to plan future operations strategy, Masindi District expansion, and other planning responsibilities

&#149  Manage relationships with key local stakeholders, supporters, and competitors

QUALIFICATIONS

The company is an early-phase business in Uganda, a country with significant challenges, changes, and opportunities to be expected across the course of time. The Manager of Operations should be capable of responding to this environment with aplomb. In order to do so it is expected that the he or she possess:

&#149  Exceptional management capabilities with proven capacity to oversee and motivate diverse teams (expect 3 years of experience)

&#149  Ability to foresee and solve complex problems

&#149  Extraordinary attention to detail and strong process-oriented thinking skills

&#149  Exceptional work ethic, proactive attitude, and energy

&#149  Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks of any scale in a high-pressure environment

&#149  Familiarity with financial planning and management reporting

&#149  Experience with logistics and production planning concepts

&#149  Broad range of computer skills—database, statistics applications, and logistics software packages

&#149  Strong verbal and written communication skills

&#149  Agricultural experience a significant plus

&#149  East African and African experience a significant plus

&#149  Bachelor’s Degree in economics, engineering, math, finance, business, or other related fields encouraged