Pilot Manager

Job Description

Position: Pilot Manager

Tenure: Fixed Term (6 months)

Reporting to: SunCulture's Head of Sales & Culture and TechnoServe's Inclusive Business Director for Delivery

About SunCulture

Founded in 2012, SunCulture's vision is to build a world where people take control of their environment in rewarding and sustainable ways. SunCulture does this by developing and commercializing life-changing technology that solves the biggest daily challenges for the world's 570 million smallholder farming households. We are the largest distributor of solar water pumps / solar irrigation for smallholder farmers in Africa and were selected by Fast Company as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies. Here is a good explainer video made by CNBC. Over the last 5 years the company has grown significantly and now employs 400+ people around the world. 

In March 2025, SunCulture partnered with TechnoServe — a non-profit economic development organization operating in 29 countries — to design a Technical Assistance (TA) package aimed at enhancing the performance of SunCulture's rural agent salesforce (Field Sales Agents, or FSAs). The goal: to accelerate growth, improve profitability, and deepen impact among smallholder farmers (SHFs).

Additional Technical Assistance is now needed to assist in piloting the solution, incorporating feedback from the field to refine and optimize the solution, and provide continued support during the nationwide rollout. 

About the role

The Pilot Manager will provide day to day operational support and will oversee critical activities throughout the project's implementation period. The Consultant will report jointly to SunCulture's Head of People & Culture and TechnoServe's Inclusive Business Director for Delivery. Responsible for day-to-day project management, maintaining a close working relationship with TechnoServe, and ensuring close coordination with SunCulture Management.

Key Responsibilities:

Project set up and management 

• Serve as the primary point of contact for Technical Assistance delivery. 

• Develop a project work plan covering all deliverables. 

• Establish weekly check-ins with SunCulture and Technoserve team members to ensure activities are on track.

• Support Technoserve in managing and developing content for Steering Committee meetings with SunCulture senior management and partner investors. 

• Submit monthly progress reports on activities completed, challenges, risks and KPIs achieved. 

Pilot management and coordination

• Oversee day-to-day project activities, including hands-on coaching of Team Leads and Field Sales Agents, monitoring the support provided by Regional Training Teams, and assessing the effectiveness of newly implemented sales and training material (including e-Learnings). 

• Coordinate with cross-functional teams (training, sales, marketing, field engineers, etc.) to ensure effective implementation. 

• Allocate resources efficiently to meet project needs and adjust plans as necessary 

• Maintain consistent communication with SunCulture management and the Technoserve team to keep them informed of progress and challenges.

• Pilot monitoring & evaluation 

• Coordinate ongoing pilot analysis to generate insights for continuous refinement of the model, ensuring responsiveness to pilot outcomes and enabling timely course corrections 

• Manage the effectiveness of the digital learning component ) by providing feedback to the Curriculum and Training Advisor, identifying what's working and what isn't, and making improvement recommendations to SunCulture management and the Curriculum Training Advisor.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree with a minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience with at least five years of business or project management in a similar context.

• Advanced degree in business management or other relevant field preferred.

• Proven experience managing pilot projects or other complex, short-term initiatives 

• Experience supporting organisations establishing high-performing salesforce preferred

• Experience supporting introduction of digital learning platforms preferred

• Experience supporting organisations or sales agents adopt productivity improvement techniques preferred

• Full professional language proficiency in English required. Full professional language proficiency in local languages preferred

• Strong leadership skills, with experience leading cross-functional teams

• Excellent organizational and problem-solving abilities

• Ability to work independently, flexibly, and responsively

Interested?

Please apply online via this job portal. We respond to all candidates; however only shortlisted candidates will be interviewed.

Please Note

SunCulture is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances.