Associate, Product

ASSOCIATE, PRODUCT ABOUT ACELI AFRICA Aceli Africa is a data-driven agribusiness market incentive facility working to unlock $1.5 billion in private sector lending for agricultural SMEs across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia by 2029. Operating since September 2020, Aceli partners with over 40 global and local financial institutions to extend loans ranging from USD $15K-$1.75M to inclusive agricultural SMEs. Through a combination of financial incentives, technical assistance, and lender capacity building, Aceli has enabled its partners to make more than 2,800 loans, creating market linkages that benefit over 1 million smallholder farmers. Leading bilateral and philanthropic donors—including the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Global Affairs Canada, IKEA Foundation, Norwegian Agency for Development, Swiss Development Corporation, UK FCDO, and USAID—have committed over $93 million to support Aceli's work through 2029. The organization's vision is to catalyze a more competitive lending market for agri-SMEs and demonstrate a scalable model across Africa. THE ROLE Reporting to the Manager, Product, this full-time position is based with Aceli Kenya and offers an opportunity to contribute to a dynamic product team that designs and operationalizes Aceli's core incentive offerings. The Product team drives critical functions across incentive design, market research, loan review, and data management. As an Associate, Product, you will support the product design function across multiple workstreams that directly influence how Aceli calibrates its offerings to the market. Your core responsibilities will include supporting Aceli's annual benchmarking exercise, a comprehensive, data-intensive market research initiative conducted collaboratively with lending partners. You will be involved in data collection, cleaning, and analysis, as well as synthesizing findings for both internal stakeholders and public-facing communications. You will contribute to the incentive product adjustment process by gathering evidence, modeling the impact of potential changes, and coordinating implementation across teams and partner lenders. Additionally, you will manage ad-hoc data and analysis projects that evaluate specific aspects of Aceli's incentive program performance. You will play an active role in the annual incentive budgeting process, conducting initial analysis and helping validate assumptions and model outputs. Part of your work will involve developing and maintaining data dashboards in PowerBI for internal and external audiences. You will also support senior leadership—the CEO, MD, and Executive Office—in executing special analyses for internal and external communications, including reports to the Board, Steering Committee, and prospective funders. WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR You have a minimum of four years of professional experience, with at least two years spent in a management or strategy consulting firm where you demonstrated clear upward mobility. Your technical skills are strong: you create compelling PowerPoint presentations, conduct sophisticated Excel analysis, and ideally have data visualization experience in PowerBI. You possess a solid understanding of the agri-SME sector in East Africa, with knowledge of agri-SME lending being a significant advantage. Prior experience in finance or investment work is a bonus. Your communication abilities are exceptional—you have a proven track record developing materials for senior-level and external-client audiences at the highest standards. You bring strong attention to detail, a curious and entrepreneurial mindset, excellent time management, and genuine openness to feedback. You hold a bachelor's degree in a data or finance-related field. Most importantly, you are personally committed to creating positive impact on farmer livelihoods and economic development across Sub-Saharan Africa. HOW TO APPLY Interested candidates should submit a one-page cover letter expressing their interest and qualifications for the role, along with an updated CV. Application deadline is Friday, January 31st, 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Aceli is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates.