Country Manager

About Tivera Solutions

Tivera Solutions Ltd. is a Kenya-based agricultural mechanization startup. We deploy two-wheel tractors (2WT) as a tillage service for smallholder farmers (primarily under 1 acre), while training rural youth as operators and building a franchise platform through which they can become independent business owners. We are currently active in Migori and Homa Bay counties, co-founded with a Japanese firm (IMG Inc.), and are now establishing Kenya-led operations in earnest.

Position: Country Manager (Kenya)

• Location: Nairobi (base) / Regular travel across Kenya, including Migori and Homa Bay
• Contract: Initial 3-month fixed-term (trial period) → Full contract upon mutual agreement
• Start Date: Targeting Q3 2026
• Compensation: Competitive, based on experience (details discussed at interview)

Role Summary

The Country Manager holds full responsibility for designing and executing Tivera's Kenya operations. Working closely with the founders, you will build — from scratch — a business model that delivers economic independence for rural youth and improved productivity for smallholder farmers. This is a builder role, not a manager of existing systems.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead procurement and partnership negotiations with agricultural machinery manufacturers, dealers, MFIs, SACCOs, agritech companies, and grant/subsidy institutions
• Co-design and implement operator training curricula with specialist agricultural institutions and international organizations
• Design the transition pathway from direct employment to franchisee independence; implement franchise agreements with legal counsel
• Build asset finance repayment and recovery systems (hire-purchase / leasing)
• Identify and develop expansion areas across Kenya based on crop patterns and agricultural calendars, starting from Migori and Homa Bay
• Establish unit economics for tilling service delivery and build customer-facing systems
• Track and report monthly KPIs to founders: utilization rate, revenue, repayment rate, operator training progress, and area-by-area performance
• Plan future hiring and team expansion; collaborate with existing local staff (1 person)

Requirements (Must-Have)

• Business-level English: negotiation and written communication
• Structured communicator: able to lead with conclusions and persuade logically
• Self-starter: able to form hypotheses and act independently under uncertainty
• Hands-on experience in agriculture, rural finance, agritech, NGO, or vocational training
• Ability to own and track numbers (KPIs, P&L) and report clearly to leadership

Nice-to-Have

• Experience in rural youth employment, vocational training, or entrepreneurship support
• Background in agricultural mechanization or rural service delivery
• Knowledge of asset finance or microfinance operations
• Networks with farmer cooperatives or agricultural associations in Kenya
• Experience launching a startup or new business venture
• Ambition to grow into a co-leadership role as the business scales

The Ideal Candidate

You genuinely hold both "I want to solve problems for farmers" and "I want to build a real business." You believe in rural youth as entrepreneurs, not just laborers, and are motivated to build the systems that make that possible. You move across geographies based on data and field insight, and can work as a peer with academic institutions and international organizations — while keeping business logic at the center.