Director of Market Integration

RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy & Pilot Development

• Assess our current programs, including farmer engagement models, types of farmers, existing market touch points, and long-term aims of farmers and the organization vis-a-vis our carbon financing program, and develop a fit-for-purpose strategic approach to market integration.
  
• Evaluate the implications of market integration opportunities on both farmer profitability and restoration outcomes, and recommend approaches that optimize long-term value across both objectives.
  
• Design and lead TREES’ market integration roadmap across East Africa, in coordination with country program teams and technical advisors, to ensure integration with country-level programmatic approach, on-the-ground reality, and farmer and market readiness.
  
• Identify and prioritize market intervention entry points (i.e. financing, inputs access, offtake aggregation, transport, cold chain, branding), and develop and execute rapid pilots to get to proof of concept (or disprove concepts).
  
• Collaborate with in-country Markets and Value Chain staff, Country Directors, Field Program Leads, research and evaluation staff, and other relevant teams to embed market thinking into core programming; pilot and evaluate new ideas and solutions, and identify high-potential options to scale up.
  

Farmer Economics & Financial Leadership

• Develop tools and analyses (e.g. simplified farmer-level P&L models and organizational-level business propositions) that assess both farm enterprise performance and restoration impacts to support strategic investment and program decisions.
  
• Support the design of bundled financial products (e.g. input financing, insurance, forward contracts) to facilitate end market access.
  
• Analyze deal structures, leverage regular farmer input and feedback, and negotiate contracts with buyers, processors, and service providers as a trusted partner to farmers.
  

Partnerships & Ecosystem Engagement

• Build strategic partnerships with cooperatives, exporters, agri-tech firms, and buyers.
  
• Engage with private sector actors to co-create structural market access approaches.
  
• Represent TREES in value chain forums, trade associations, and other relevant industry networks.
  

Data & Market Intelligence

• Identify, create, or otherwise activate market data collection systems to ensure TREES and the farmers we serve understand demand, price points, volume requirements, and quality standards to inform agricultural programming.
  
• Integrate market and restoration performance data to inform recommendations on crops, production systems, and market opportunities.
  
• Work closely with training and agricultural extension teams to ensure market intelligence is adequately translated and disseminated to farmers, and that extension staff have the information and know-how to support farm-level decision-making in line with market requirements.
  

ROLE REQUIREMENTS

Required

• 8+ years of experience in private sector engagement within key agricultural value chains in East Africa.
  
• Demonstrated combination of strategic thinking, the ability to drive change at a program level, and detail orientation to connect strategies to on-the-ground implementation.
  
• Proven track record in connecting smallholder farmers to durable market opportunities, and an existing network of relevant agribusiness actors in the region.
  
• Commercial financial skills: P&L modeling exposure, deal structuring, and contract negotiation.
  
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and partnership-building skills; a natural collaborator and communicator with the ability to lead with influence across diverse teams and cultures.
  

Preferred

• Demonstrated ability to balance farmer profitability with land restoration objectives and make sound recommendations where tradeoffs exist.
  
• Experience with agricultural product differentiation and certifications, i.e., regenerative agriculture, organic certification, or carbon neutral claims.
  
• Exposure to digital traceability or agri-tech platforms.
  
• MBA, Master’s in Agribusiness, Economics, or a related field.