Tupande Engineering & Maintenance Lead (Fixed-Term)

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.

Our Kenya program, founded in 2006, operates under the local brand Tupande. Close to 500 staff in our Kakamega headquarters support 1,747 field staff and serve more than 1 million farmers. In Nairobi, around 50 staff support global functions like procurement, recruitment, government relations, and communications

About the Role

Seeking an exceptional Engineering Lead to lead factory machinery and equipment maintenance. The lead will establish engineering maintenance excellence across the Tupande Soko factories and reduce operational downtime for our processing operations.

Responsibilities

Build and own the maintenance management system

• Implement a CMMS across all three factories within 90-120 days of joining; own the equipment hierarchy, PM job plans, and work order lifecycle
• Design and standardize preventive maintenance schedules for all critical equipment; target 80:20 planned-to-unplanned maintenance ratio within 12 months
• Own the cross-factory spare parts strategy: set minimum stock levels, manage replenishment, and prevent stockouts on critical items
• Establish RCA processes for major failures; track corrective actions to closure and use findings to improve PM plans
• Troubleshoot complex equipment failures directly, providing on-the-spot technical interventions when maintenance staff or vendors are unavailable.
• Mentor and model best-practice repair techniques during direct interaction with the maintenance team to elevate technical standards.

Drive management visibility through reporting and KPIs

• Design, maintain, and present the Tupande Soko maintenance KPI scorecard to the Soko Director monthly.
• Produce weekly factory-level maintenance reports for Business Leads; provide clear production-impact assessments and escalation flags
• Maintain a cross-factory equipment risk register; flag capital investment needs and imminent replacement requirements to the Soko Director
• Attend monthly Soko leadership meetings as the technical representative of the maintenance function

 Professionalize the maintenance workforce

• Lead the transition from operator-led to technician-led maintenance: define job families, competency frameworks, and career pathways
• Partner with HR to recruit dedicated Maintenance Technicians (mechanical and electrical) at each factory (where needed)
• Design and deliver TPM autonomous maintenance training for machine operators (cleaning, lubrication, basic checks)
• Coach and assess technicians and operators on maintenance standards; conduct monthly team reviews with factory leads

Internal and External Coordination 

• Oversee maintenance-related vendor relationships and manage associated service contracts in partnership with the Procurement team
• Define scoping requirements and establish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in coordination with Corporate Operations for non-technical repairs (e.g. factory structure repairs and maintenance)
• Ensure correct specifications listed for machines, spare parts and consumables requested by all factory teams 

 Ensure safety and food safety compliance

• Ensure all maintenance activities comply with safe systems of work: permit to work, LOTO, confined space, and relevant Kenyan regulatory requirements (KEBS, DOSH, NEMA)
• Maintain HACCP-required equipment records for food-contact assets; lead the maintenance function's contribution to food safety audits
• Champion a zero-harm safety culture; conduct regular safety walks and close out hazard reports

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:

Technical skills (must have prior to joining):

• Degree in an appropriate engineering field
• Active registration as an engineer in Kenya 
• Preventive/predictive maintenance programme design and implementation
• Experience with avocado oil machinery repairs and maintenance preferred
• Experience with industrial dehydrators, macadamia processing, and industrial-level biochar production preferred
• CMMS operation and administration 
• Mechanical and/or electrical fault-finding and root cause analysis on industrial plant equipment
• KPI dashboard development and maintenance performance reporting
• Spare parts inventory management

Knowledge (required understanding):

• Food safety management systems and HACCP requirements as applied to plant maintenance
• Kenyan occupational health and safety legislation (OSHA, DOSH requirements)
• TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) or World Class Manufacturing principles
• Kenyan regulatory environment for food manufacturing (KEBS, relevant standards

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Sagana, Kenya

Benefits

Health insurance, housing, and comprehensive benefits

Contract Duration

2 years.

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Rwanda.

Application Deadline

17 November 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.