Nigeria Government Relations & Partnerships Lead

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

The Nigeria program, established in 2018, is headquartered in Minna, Niger state. We're currently serving over 100,000 unique farmers across the state via our inputs on credit 'Core' program, inputs on cash 'Retail' program, and have a free tree seedling distribution 'Agroforestry' program. To learn more about our work, look at our Nigeria program blog.

About the Role

The Government Relations & Partnerships Lead plays a strategic role in shaping One Acre Fund Nigeria's external engagement, building partnerships, and ensuring policy alignment at national and sub-national levels. You will lead the organisation's relationship with government institutions, donors, and external partners to drive compliance, collaboration, and long-term program sustainability. This is a senior leadership role with direct managerial responsibilities for the Government Relations and Communications teams.

You will report directly to the Country Director. This role is based in Abuja, Nigeria and is onsite.

Responsibilities

Drive national-level strategy

• Develop external relations strategy (at national level, state level ) and lead the execution of complex streams of work, including establishing and maintaining relationships with key players in the agricultural sector such as Ministries of Agriculture, NGOs, local authorities, research institutes and others to unlock opportunities and de-risk the program.

Business Relations & Partnerships

• Build a pipeline of institutional donors, both domestically and globally to raise funds necessary to support One Acre Fund Nigeria's growth goals
• Ideation, proposal and scoping for potential commercial and government partnerships that further One Acre Fund Nigeria in the areas of impact, scale and sustainability
• Risk tracking and overseeing relationship health management across existing business partnerships

Policy and Intelligence work

• Drive organizational risk management on key issues related to political and regulatory trends. E.g. election monitoring and advise program leadership on course of action
• Build expertise on agriculture related, non-profit, social enterprise and microfinance policy issues (i.e. subsidy programs, extension, market access, etc.) that are relevant to One Acre Fund Nigeria's operations, and design strategies to respond to both opportunities and future risk.
• Support program expansion through relationship management with relevant authorities in new or targeted areas of operation.

Compliance

• Monitor legal and regulatory changes at national and state level, and provide advisory and update reports to senior management.
• Secure relevant permits and licenses for our products and services, and ensure that the program is fully compliant with relevant government policies and regulations
• Cultivate relations with regulators and government contacts for information gathering and troubleshooting purposes
• Liaise with One Acre Fund's legal, immigration, and finance departments on key contracts and compliance issues, as required

Strategic communications

• Be the main external communicator for One Acre Fund Nigeria
• Develop and execute One Acre Fund Nigeria's media relations and PR, including managing press relations and staff training
• Produce communications materials to engage key contacts and keep them informed of our work, including reports, briefing notes and official written correspondence.
• Drive participation in agricultural shows and other external events
• Work with the Field Operations and Innovations teams to develop communications strategies and products to drive field-facing targets
• Coordinate closely with other internal teams on other specific projects, such as with the Business Development team on fundraising, as required

People Management

• Manage and coordinate the activities of the department's staff across our regions of operations. Deliver training on work planning, strategic thinking and provide mentoring for the team.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• 6+ years of experience working with governments, policy institutions, or development organizations, including experience managing people and multi-stakeholder initiatives.
• Proven experience analyzing policies, legislation, and regulatory frameworks to generate actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
• Demonstrated success in developing and managing multi-year public or private partnerships from concept through execution.
• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred in Public Policy, Political Science, Public Administration, Law, International Development, or Business.
• Strong technical knowledge of government engagement, compliance management, and partnership development.
• English and proficiency in Hausa is required.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Abuja, Nigeria

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Nigeria.

Application Deadline

30th March 2026. Please note that we hire on a rolling basis, which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous 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. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.