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Agronomy Agriculture

Apollo Agriculture | Lusaka

Apollo Agriculture

Innovating the future of tech solutions in Zambia.

Job Description

Apollo Agriculture is a leading agri-fintech platform empowering small-scale farmers across Africa to increase their profits and farm more sustainably. Apollo uses artificial intelligence and automated operations to unlock the massive, untapped small-scale farming market. Apollo enables farmers to access the optimized financing, high-quality farm products, expert digital advice, and risk management solutions they need to invest and scale their businesses. Apollo grew paying customers over 2.5x in 2023 to over 200K small-scale farmers in Kenya and Zambia, increasing revenue to nearly $30M with robust unit economics. Apollo partners with key global agriculture companies like Bayer, OCP and Yara, and is backed by Anthemis, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Flourish Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, and Softbank Vision Fund. Apollo’s team brings together technology, credit and operations experience from The Climate Corporation, Google, Capital One, Revolut, and One Acre Fund.

About The Role

We are seeking a dynamic individual, with a strong background in agronomy, for the position of Agronomy Assistant to join our team in Zambia. The ideal candidate will use their expertise in agronomy and understanding of the local farming practices to support and empower farmers across the region.

This role involves using data to recommend suitable agricultural products, providing agronomy training to farmers and agents, addressing farmer queries and helping farmers enhance their production through improved farming practices.

Join our team to contribute to cutting-edge agricultural innovation and drive impactful solutions in the agricultural sector in Zambia.

Location: Lusaka with frequent travel across the country

Contract Duration: Fixed Term (1 Year)

Responsibilities:

  • Guided by Apollo’s IVR training and solid agriculture background, provide and diligently handle product inquiries from farmers, agents and partners via our various communications channels (telephone, SMS, Slack)
  • Manage and resolve agricultural product complaints or technical escalations from farmers, agents and partners, directly or indirectly in a timely manner and in line with company policies and protocols
  • Develop agronomy content and materials used in delivering training to equip call center and field agents with the knowledge to promote new agricultural products and resolve agronomic queries
  • Gain insights and feedback from relevant teams and stakeholders on agricultural products bundles and features as well as ways to improve on them
  • Identify and escalate priority agronomy and agricultural product issues that should be addressed through new systems developed by the Agricultural Product team
  • Accurately document all customer interaction relevant information according to standard operating procedures as the company shall detail from time to time
  • Collect and analyze data on crop performance, recommended products and the efficacy of farming practices and report findings for informed strategies and decision making
  • Treat farmers with respect and maintain high standards of customer care while attending to your duties
  • Take care of the company assets that are accorded to you individually as well as those meant for common use

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree, ideally in Agronomy of a related field
  • Knowledgeable and experienced in diverse agricultural farming practices across Zambia
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with internal teams, external partners, and stakeholders
  • Comfortable using Google Docs and Sheets
  • Hungry to learn and excited to make an impact through providing advice and developing products for smallholder farmers
  • Able to rapidly assimilate new agronomic technical information and transfer the same to relevant teams in easily understandable and simplified form
  • An able communicator who can clearly express technical ideas both verbally and in writing in English and Nyanya and/or Bemba
  • A considerate listener who takes the time to deeply understand customers, teammates, and Apollo partners

We:

  • Are a collaborative team of smart and ambitious people who are dedicated to serving our customers
  • Make magic happen to solve hard problems and always come with solutions when challenges arise
  • Are comfortable taking risks that can result in radical scale, and understand that failures are opportunities to learn and improve
  • Are considerate listeners and take the time to deeply understand and seek out ideas from the people around us, even when we disagree
  • Offer a dynamic environment that fosters talent, collaboration and growth
  • Take pride in our work and share the responsibility to see it through from conception to deployment
  • Back up our talk with a competitive compensation and benefits package and challenging projects
  • Value autonomy, honesty, transparency, and respect
  • Are excited to hear from you!

Apollo Agriculture does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. Apollo Agriculture is an equal opportunity/equal access employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce.

Apollo Agriculture is committed to providing a safe and productive learning and living community. To achieve that goal, we may conduct background investigations for all final candidates being considered for employment. Background checks may include, but are not limited to, criminal history, national sex offender search, and motor vehicle history.

Apollo Agriculture does not charge money or any kind of fee at any stage of the recruitment process.

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