Strategic Partnerships Manager / Senior Associate (Fixed-Term)

How to Apply: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until a hire is made. One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address.

Master the Art of Donor Storytelling in Grant Management

In this role, your ability to translate field impact into compelling narratives will be just as critical as your project management skills. Hiring managers will probe how you've turned complex program data into clear, persuasive updates that keep donors deeply connected to progress.

1. Showcase quantifiable impact in your CV: Use numbers to describe how you've managed grants or partnerships. For example, 'Stewarded a $2M grant serving 50,000 farmers, delivering 98% of milestones on time.' This immediately signals you understand the scale and accountability this role demands.

2. Prepare a donor communication sample: Bring a one-page narrative report or email you've written to a funder. Be ready to explain your choices—how you balanced transparency with positivity, and how you tailored language for that specific donor's priorities.

3. Demonstrate field fluency in your interview: Expect questions like 'How would you explain a crop yield challenge to a donor without alarming them?' Practice linking field realities to broader program goals, showing you can bridge the gap between farmers and funders.

4. Highlight cross-functional coordination: This role works with program, finance, and M&E teams. On your CV, include examples where you aligned diverse stakeholders around a shared timeline or budget—especially in matrixed organizations.

5. Research One Acre Fund's thematic priorities: Conservation agriculture, women/youth engagement, and smallholder insurance are key. Read their blog or annual report and come with specific questions or ideas about how you'd advance these areas in a partnership.

6. Be ready for a case study on grant administration: You might be asked to outline how you'd track deliverables, manage invoices, and flag risks for a multi-million dollar grant. Practice building a simple tracker in Google Sheets with conditional formatting and pivot tables.

7. Show comfort with ambiguity: The posting mentions 'pioneering new approaches.' Share a story where you designed a process from scratch—like creating a partnership onboarding toolkit or a reporting template—and how you iterated based on feedback.

8. Emphasize your public-facing experience: Even if you've only managed one external stakeholder, describe how you built trust, handled difficult questions, and ensured consistent communication. This role is the face of One Acre Fund to its most important donors.