Job opportunities – Sustainable Harvest Rwanda Ltd

Sustainable Harvest Rwanda Ltd is a locally registered for-profit social enterprise that does wholesale coffee sales business, runs alongside a retail café, and connects smallholder coffee producers to the broader coffee market. The organization believes in transparency, innovation, inclusion, and most of all, great coffee.

Open positions

1.Cooperative Commercial Manager

Sustainable Harvest Rwanda Ltd is a locally registered for-profit social enterprise that does wholesale coffee sales business, runs alongside a retail café, and connects smallholder coffee producers to the broader coffee market. The organization believes in transparency, innovation, inclusion, and most of all, great coffee.

The Question Coffee Center is a project of Sustainable Growers Rwanda. SGR created the Question Coffee Center in 2015, as a place where farmers and cooperative managers can learn to taste coffee in the cupping lab and to see how their product is used by consumers, thereby learning how to meet that consumer demand through quality improvements at the farm and cooperative level.

POSITION: COOPERATIVE COMMERCIAL MANAGER
REPORTS TO: Social Enterprise Director	SUPERVISES: None
LOCATION: Kigali	STATUS: Fixed Term Contract

JOB SUMMARY/PURPOSE

To ensure close linkage with Sustainable Growers Rwanda beneficiaries and the cooperatives/export units we work with in order to enhance and facilitate access to the market. These cooperatives include Nyampinga, Twongerumusaruro wa Kawa, Gisuma Coffee, Gashonga cooperative, Mayogi Coffee, S.CPNCK and a cooperative from Tanzania (TBD)

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

The responsibilities are but not limited to

• Merge all five cooperatives into a single entity;
• Support cooperatives to obtain export licenses;
• Collect and consolidate information (prices, quality, availability, supplier and competitor positions, macro-economic factors, producer group needs assessments, etc.);
• Advanced knowledge of coffee quality evaluation (cupping) for grading export coffees;
• Support cooperatives with training, season planning, access to finance applications;
• Support cooperatives on the full array of certification and export requirements;
• Manage and support all cooperatives to find a market for all their products locally and internationally;
• Manage and support all supply chain process up to the export;
• Manage inland logistic to bring coffee to FOB and troubleshoot where any issues exist;
• Manage relationship with key producer groups in the region
• Any other reasonable duty as may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility;
• Create new and manage existing partnerships with cooperative partners such as hotels buyers, roasters

REQUIREMENTS OF THE ROLE

• University Degree in Agricultural Economics or a Bachelor of Commerce with  relevant experience;
• At least 5 years of experience in the trading industry
• Clear understanding of the coffee value chain in East Africa particularly in Rwanda, DRC, Tanzania;
• Good understanding of product description (coffee profiles);
• Good communication skills (written and oral);
• Good customer relationship management skills;
• Language skill: English and French as a must, Kinyarwanda, and Swahili preferred;
• Proactive approach;
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team;
• Highly Efficient and Organized;
• Previous logistic experience is a plus.

KEY DELIVERABLES

• A strong relationship between SGR & Cooperatives;
• Merging of Cooperatives;
• Export and Logistical support:

KEY INDICATORS

• Cooperation and ease of work between SGR & Cooperatives
• Unified and working Cooperatives
• Amount of green coffee sold to local and international buyers

How to apply: Interested qualified candidates should send their application file (detailed CV, academic certificates, and cover letter) to recruitment@sustainablegrowers.org not later than 23^rd October 2020

The subject line must be: Job application for “title of the position”

Only those who strictly meet the criteria should apply for this position

Due to the expected high volume of applications, we cannot respond to all applications and will only be contacting shortlisted applicants.

2.Social Enterprise Director

Sustainable Harvest Rwanda Ltd is a locally registered for-profit social enterprise that does wholesale coffee sales business, runs alongside a retail café, and connects smallholder coffee producers to the broader coffee market. The organization believes in transparency, innovation, inclusion, and most of all, great coffee.

The Question Coffee Center is a project of Sustainable Growers Rwanda. SGR created the Question Coffee Center in 2015, as a place where farmers and cooperative managers can learn to taste coffee in the cupping lab and to see how their product is used by consumers, thereby learning how to meet that consumer demand through quality improvements at the farm and cooperative level.

POSITION: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DIRECTOR

REPORTS TO: Executive Director

SUPERVISES: SEs Staff

LOCATION: Kigali

STATUS: Fixed Term Contract

JOB SUMMARY/PURPOSE

Build a social enterprise that generates profit that sustains a roasting business and espresso bar and provides additional resources to return to farmers as training or premium sharing.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

The responsibilities are but not limited to

• Develop a strategic sales plan to achieve monthly/quarterly goals;
• Work with owners to research, identify and prioritize targeted account opportunities by strategic channel and geography;
• Report weekly, monthly and quarterly on strategic sales plan;
• Leading, managing, and holding the sales team accountable for increasing sales;
• Act as a conduit between sales and all other integrated departments for wholesale operations;
• Manage priorities, help drive the schedule and resources across projects and initiatives maintain a comprehensive and working target and lead list that ties to sales objectives for all regions;
• Responsible for achieving or exceeding annual sales revenue plan for wholesale market sales;
• Coordinate new account sales activities. Oversee weekly roast-to-order production, inventory levels, and delivery. Work closely with operations manager to coordinate activity;
• Respond to wholesale inquiries and opportunities within 12-24 hours and prioritize opportunities with owners;
• Closely monitor industry trends, regularly secure market intelligence, and maintain professional contacts with industry innovators and knowledge sources to insure that the company anticipates market moves and can quickly respond to changing customer needs;
• Directly manage relationships with all wholesale accounts;
• Establish and maintain a call/visit schedule with all wholesale accounts;
• Maintain a current knowledge of existing wholesale account locations, coffee offerings, equipment, and brew methods used;
• Follow sales trends of existing accounts and monitor pricing levels;
• Find opportunities to improve the wholesale program and add value to all wholesale accounts;
• Work to improve account performance and sales through coffee education, trainings, cupping’s, demos, and sales promotions;
• Communicate with customers in a positive, compassionate, and professional manner;
• Keep your finger on the pulse of accounts – paying attention to events at a local, regional, and national level and how that affects sales;
• Maintain working knowledge of our marketing/promotional material, help maintain an inventory of material at accounts;
• Resolving guest, team member, and service issues in a timely fashion ensuring each product delivered to guests meets quality standards;
• Place, receive and verify orders, conduct inventory, control waste and dates;
• A team/collective approach is taken when preparing proposals for equipment;
• Prepare equipment proposals for espresso machines, grinders, brewers, water filtration, parts, and start-up tools;
• Responsible for the majority of communication during the proposal process;
• Use account management software to record and track progress;
• Maintain accurate records and paperwork including daily sales results, monthly inventory, cash drawer reconciliation, personnel records, and employment documentation;
• Participate in the development of the coffee bar’s annual budget, and identify quarterly goals and objectives;
• Ensure cleanliness, organization, and attractiveness of the coffee bar’s interior and exterior;
• Maintain strong vendor relationships to ensure response time and deliveries are timely; track vendor activity, particularly those responding to and completing work order requests;
• Plan, identify, communicate, and delegate appropriate responsibilities and practices to staff to achieve operational goals;
• Continuously review the coffee bar’s operations to identify problems, concerns, and opportunities for improvement;
• Recruit, hire, and supervise qualified personnel when positions become available;
• Prepare, monitor, and manage the coffee bar’s staffing levels and schedule; identify opportunities to increase efficiency without sacrificing operations;
• Review monthly financial reports to identify and address trends and issues in performance;
• Suggest and implement new initiatives in pursuit of increasing quality and profitability, streamlining labor/systems, and increasing morale;
• Ensure staff’s adherence to operational guidelines and standards, compliance with all safety and security policies, and the proper functioning and maintenance of store equipment;
• Work with coffee bar staff – on an individual and group basis – to ensure that staff is confident in their drink preparation skills, throughout the year, and particularly prior to quarterly testing periods.

REQUIREMENTS OF THE ROLE

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, MBA or post-graduate business discipline preferred
• At least 5 years experience in growing small businesses as a senior-level manager, or founder
• At least 5 years experience in foodservice retail and or wholesale
• Prior proven experience in an entrepreneur preferred
• Prior experience in the coffee sector preferred
• Experience in strategic development, business model generation, and business planning
• Experience in corporate partnerships, strategic partnerships with either public,private or non-profit sector
• Analytical skills to evaluate data and make operational decisions;
• Excellent organizational and leadership abilities;
• Excellent written/verbal communication skills;
• Outstanding people skills;
• Knowledge of industry’s legal rules and guidelines;
• Knowledge of diverse business functions and principles (e.g. supply chain, finance, customer service etc.);
• Familiarity with MS Office and various business software;
• Meticulous attention to detail;

KEY DELIVERABLES

• New business and sales targets;
• Maintain key business relations;
• Retail quality control.

KEY INDICATORS

• No of new business and targets
• Retention;
• Keeping of standards.

How to apply: Interested qualified candidates should send their application file (detailed CV, academic certificates, and cover letter) to recruitment@sustainablegrowers.org not later than 23^rd October 2020

The subject line must be: Job application for “title of the position”

Only those who strictly meet the criteria should apply for this position

Due to the expected high volume of applications, we cannot respond to all applications and will only be contacting shortlisted applicants.