About OpenTrace Africa

OpenTrace Africa is an agricultural intelligence platform transforming how data is used across African food systems. Our mission is to make agriculture visible, trusted, and investment-ready by aggregating and validating fragmented data, from satellite imagery to field surveys, and powering it with an AI-driven insight engine.

At the heart of this is Ask ADZA, our user-facing tool that allows governments, institutions, and agri-actors to ask complex questions like: – “Which LGAs in Nigeria have the largest yield-risk gaps for maize?” – “How do cassava prices correlate with rainfall patterns in Eastern Uganda?” – “Which counties saw the largest youth exit from agriculture in the last five years?”

We are already collaborating with institutions across five African countries, and as we prepare to scale, institutional partnerships are critical. Every deployment of OpenTrace is built on relationships, with ministries, research networks, statistical bureaus, and frontline actors who shape how agriculture functions on the ground.

We are looking for a strategic and grounded leader to help us deepen those partnerships and expand the network that powers our intelligence infrastructure.

What You’ll Do

As Head of Ecosystem & Institutional Partnerships, you will:

• Lead OpenTrace’s national and institutional partnership strategy across Africa
• Drive collaboration with ministries, government agencies, statistical bureaus, technical bodies, and research institutions
• Co-develop MOUs and partnership frameworks that enable deployments, data-sharing, and validation workflows
• Represent OpenTrace at regional and national-level forums, stakeholder meetings, and technical working groups
• Lead in-country engagement efforts to support pilot development and strategic expansion
• Work with the technical and data team to ensure that partner input and ground realities inform platform architecture
• Build strong feedback loops with existing and future partners to ensure long-term collaboration and shared outcomes

Who You Are

• You have 10–15 years of experience in institutional partnerships, stakeholder engagement, or government-facing program leadership
• You have a strong network across public institutions, technical ministries, regional development agencies, and ecosystem partners
• You are confident in public speaking and facilitation, whether in a ministerial boardroom, at a pan-African forum, or during a co-design session with local actors
• You are organized, diplomatic, and action-oriented, with an ability to move from high-level strategy to operational delivery
• You care deeply about systems change, agricultural transformation, and building African-owned data infrastructure
• You thrive in ambiguity, value mission over ego, and believe in building something that lasts

Why This Role Matters

We can’t build data systems for Africa without building with the institutions that shape the continent’s agricultural future. From validating datasets to unlocking national deployment, our partnerships are what turn technology into infrastructure. You will sit at the center of that effort, enabling scale, shaping trust, and ensuring that what we build is real, grounded, and used.

Compensation & Structure

This is not a salaried position at this stage. OpenTrace is still operating on a lean, founder-backed model and our current team is contributing in exchange for equity. As such:

• This role is structured as a part-time strategic leadership position, with a meaningful equity stake offered based on contribution and commitment
• There is flexibility in work hours and structure, with room to grow into a larger operational role as funding expands
• We believe in transparency, and this role reflects our current phase: high ownership, long-term vision, and shared upside

If you’re motivated by long-term impact and ready to help shape the next phase of African agricultural intelligence, we’d love to talk.