Burundi: Mechanical Engineer and Manufacturing Coordinator

Industry: Nonprofit/International Development/Agriculture/Microfinance

Function: Design, Engineering

Title: Mechanical Engineer and Manufacturing Coordinator

Employer: One Acre Fund

Job Location: East African Capital with significant travel to rural locations

Commitment: Full Time

Organization Description

Most of the world's poor are farmers, representing the largest and most uniform group of poor people in the world. One Acre Fund is a growing NGO in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania that is innovating a new way of helping farm families to achieve their full potential. Instead of giving handouts, One Acre Fund invests in farmers to generate a permanent gain in farm income. We provide farmers with a "market bundle" that includes education, finance, seed and fertilizer, and market access. Our program is proven impactful – every year, we weigh thousands of harvests and measure 50-100% average gain in farm income per acre. We have laser-like focus on generating better lives for the people that we serve.

Job Description

We want an exceptional individual to design and coordinate manufacturing of life-changing tools and materials for subsistence farmers across East Africa. Although most of the world’s poor are farmers, very little has been done to rethink and redesign the tools farm families use every day. We believe this space is ripe for innovation and change, with the possibility to positively impact millions of farm families. There are three broad buckets of products which we would like to innovate:

· Impactful and Affordable Planting Instruments – we want to create extremely affordable, plastic, handheld planting tools to allow farmers to comply with best planting practices. An example of such a tool is a teff planter (teff is a critical food crop for millions of rural farm families in Ethiopia). Despite the importance of teff to many families, most farmers continue to use traditional planting methods – broadcasting seed and fertilizer across their land with limited to attention given to even distribution of inputs or control of plant populations. The results are predictably poor, resulting in increased levels of hunger and greater insecurity for farm families. An effective teff planter would make it easier for farmers to comply with improved planting techniques, resulting in larger harvests and more food.

· More Sophisticated Tools – to help farmers grow their way out of poverty, we also want to design and produce tools to allow farmers to effectively cultivate more of their land. An example of such a tool is an improved ox-drawn planting device. Such a tool could transform farmers’ livelihoods by enabling them to plant on more land during the short planting window each season.

· Innovations to More Complicated Machinery– lastly, we also want to explore improvements to machinery which affect smallholder farmers. Examples include improvements to machines which bag seed and fertilizer.

To enable the person chosen to fill this role to innovate and experiment at a fast pace, we are willing to build a small prototyping lab in East Africa to support their work. We will also ensure that the person chosen for this role is allowed to have significant exposure to users and field staff in order to develop the most impactful products possible.

Job Responsibilities

§ Work directly with farmers and other stakeholders to gain a detailed understanding of farmers’ needs.

§ Develop detailed design schedules from problem definition through mass production.

§ Develop multiple device concepts and designs.

§ Rapidly prototype promising concepts and designs.

§ Test prototypes in workshop and on farm with target users (rapid test and iteration).

§ Identify and work with potential manufacturers to optimize designs for low-cost volume manufacturing.

Qualifications

We are seeking exceptional professionals and recent graduates from relevant academic programs with product design experience, an incredible imagination, and a passion for service.

Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

· Strong product design experiences, including proven ability to take designs from concept to production. Examples might include design of low-cost agricultural tools, consumer products, or medical devices.

· Experience with human-centered design and rapid prototyping required.

· Experience with simple hands-on fabrication and prototyping including the use of hand tools.

· Experience with various manufacturing methods and technologies (metal fabrication, injection molding, etc) is a plus.

· Top-performing undergraduate background (please include GPA on your resume) in Design, Engineering or related degree.

· Very strong self-manager. Well-organized and able to manage their work independently.

· Humility and personal stability. We are looking for passionate professionals that combine strong technical skills with good humor, patience, and a humble approach to service.

· Experience living in a developing country is a plus.

· Ability to cook/laugh – desirable.

· Language: English required

Preferred Start Date

Immediately

Compensation

Starts modest. However, this is a career-track role with fast raises for performance, paying a meaningful salary for long-term placement in developing nations.

Benefits

Health insurance, immunizations, flight, room and board.

Complete this form (http://myjotform.com/form/40471746260553). You will be prompted to submit your CV and cover letter. You may also be asked to submit work samples for some positions. Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), please submit a copy of your Description of Service (DOS) in the appropriate section.