Carbon Finance Manager (Fixed-Term)

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience.

This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

About the Role

One Acre Fund is currently implementing four agroforestry carbon programs with a total of close to 40,000 active farmers. Each program enrolls new farmers in cohorts every season and plans to generate carbon credits for sale in the next one to three years. It is critical that each of these programs has a viable financial pathway and that leaders in each program utilize financial modeling to understand the benefits and tradeoffs of strategic decisions.

The objective of the Carbon Finance Manager/Lead is to ensure that One Acre Fund’s intensive agroforestry carbon programs have strong, accessible, and useful financial modeling. Operational financial models should be highly reliable and reflect on-the-ground realities, and this role is responsible for the integrity and accessibility of these models to program leaders so that they can make informed decisions around program performance.

The Carbon Finance Manager will also be responsible for translating operational financial models into investment-grade financial statements in order to support the development of AMC, funding, and financing partnerships.  You will build on One Acre Fund’s existing financial modeling to create a comprehensive picture of the entire portfolio.

This role reports into the Payments for Ecosystem Services team in the Impact and R&D Division, but it is a cross-functional role that liaises often with colleagues in Business Development, Finance, and Program Operations.

An ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of nature-based carbon financing, ideally at the smallholder level, as well as experience using financial models to make strategic decisions.  We are looking for a proactive and communicative leader to help take these programs from pilot stage into scalable carbon financing.

Responsibilities

• Own Financial Modelling and Analysis (40%)
• Build, maintain, and stress-test complex financial models of carbon projects, including carbon credit production, issuance volumes, operational costs, and financing structures and costs.
• Maintain program- and portfolio-level rollups for leadership to use in strategic decision-making.
• Support or conduct analysis to identify opportunities for performance improvement and financial viability
• Improve Org-Wide Fluency of Carbon Finance Strategy (30%)
• Build fluency and utility of financial models with program teams in order to guide operational decisions.
• Align financial forecasts with country program teams, central Finance team, and partnerships / Business Development team.
• Prepare materials for leadership calls to update senior stakeholders on fundraising progress and financial health of the carbon projects.
• Support External Fundraising and Partnerships (30%)
• Support the partnerships team in evaluating financing options and produce 3-statement financial summaries for discussion with carbon buyers and investors.
• Conduct sensitivity analysis to inform pricing strategies and risk management for carbon credit generation.
• Support Business Development team with investor due diligence.
• Career Growth and Development
• We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

• Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for.
• For this role specifically, you will have: Relevant academic background in finance, economics, PES, or other relevant field.
• Advanced proficiency in financial modeling and accounting standards, with a proven ability to build dynamic models from scratch for project finance or structured finance across multiple regulatory jurisdictions.
• Understanding of the operational and financial realities of implementing high-integrity PES programs, ideally demonstrated through practical experience with the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM).
• Proven ability to build team fluency in models & identifying and summarizing practical insights from complex financial models.
• Experience setting complex multi-year budgets and managing performance to those targets.
• Strong project management skills and experience leading complex initiatives with diverse stakeholders.
• 5+ years of professional experience with 3+ years in climate finance, project finance, accounting, or a related field.
• 1+ years of professional experience in one of our countries of operation (particular focus on Kenya, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania).
• Preferred Start Date
• As soon as possible
• Job Location
• Flexible: Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania