Supervisor: CEO
Location: TBD
Start Date: ASAP
Contract: Full-Time Employee
Travel: up to 25-50% to Latin America & the Caribbean
About Acceso:
Acceso is an award winning, market-driven social enterprise with operations in Colombia, El Salvador, Haiti and Guatemala with mission to alleviate poverty at scale. They build farmer-first food systems from seed to market by providing smallholder farmers with a “one-stop shop” for technical assistance, financing, market access, and logistics, ensuring fair, sustainable trade opportunities.
Acceso is revolutionizing food systems with over 600 local team members supporting over 48,000 smallholder farmers and improving their income by an average of 250%. Acceso’s revenue model includes sales of 185+ fruits, vegetables, fish and seafood to 240+ multinational and local buyers, as well as sales of seed, seedlings and other inputs. In 2027, their goal is to be a $75m social business, serving over 100,000 farmers and present in 8+ food systems. This includes expanding to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras.
About this role:
The Chief Operations Officer (COO) will lead Acceso’s seed-to-market strategy, driving farmer engagement, supply chain operations, and market expansion. This role ensures that Acceso’s impact-driven agribusiness model delivers both financial and social outcomes.
Working closely with the Chief Commercial Officer(CCO) and General Managers (GMs) in each country, the COO will oversee:
- Field innovations (climate-smart ag, regenerative practices, ag-tech)
- Smallholder farmer integration (recruitment, training, input access)
- Supply chain operations (aggregation, processing, logistics)
- Market strategy & sales alignment (matching farmer supply to buyer demand)
- Data-driven decision-making (monitoring, evaluation, and learning – MEL)
Key responsibilities:
- Leadership & Team Engagement
- Lead and motivate regional teams, including:
- General Managers & country teams
- Programs & Technical Assistance team
- Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) team
- Data & Systems team
- Foster cross-functional collaboration between country teams, program managers, and commercial operations to scale Acceso’s impact.
- Align daily operations with Acceso’s mission to create sustainable, market-driven solutions for smallholder farmers.
- Lead and motivate regional teams, including:
- Market Strategy & Supply Chain Development
- Oversee the implementation of Acceso’s market strategy in each country, ensuring:
- Farmer production targets are met
- Supply chain efficiencies drive cost savings
- Farmer-to-market linkages result in successful sales & impact
- Work closely with the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and General Managers to ensure demand-supply alignment:
- Sales forecasts match smallholder production
- Farmers receive price transparency & fair trade opportunities
- Drive logistics optimization for farmer aggregation, product processing, and buyer fulfillment.
- Oversee the implementation of Acceso’s market strategy in each country, ensuring:
- Agricultural Program Implementation
- Lead smallholder farmer engagement strategies and services, including:
- Recruitment, training & technical assistance programs
- Input provision (including credit & financial solutions)
- Implementation of climate-smart & regenerative agriculture practices
- Ensure the integration of sustainable practices into Acceso’s food systems model.
- Lead smallholder farmer engagement strategies and services, including:
- Data-Driven Decision-Making & Impact Measurement
- Oversee the Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) team, ensuring:
- Farmer & market performance data drives decision-making
- Supply chain & market trends are analyzed for optimization
- Lessons from MEL are integrated into future strategies
- Utilize business intelligence tools to improve operational efficiency, market insights, and data transparency.
- Oversee the Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) team, ensuring:
- Private-Sector Integration & Innovation
- Champion ag-tech & digital innovations (e.g., Extensio platform) to enhance:
- Farmer training & extension services
- Supply chain traceability & logistics optimization
- Real-time data collection for market adjustments
- Drive climate resilience initiatives, ensuring Acceso stays at the forefront of sustainable agricultural development.
- Leverage private-sector best practices to improve logistics, procurement, and cost efficiencies.
- Champion ag-tech & digital innovations (e.g., Extensio platform) to enhance:
Key Qualifications & Skills:
- Required Experience
- 10+ years leading agriculture, food systems, or market access programs
- 5+ years in a senior leadership role (Director, VP, or C-Suite level)
- Proven track record in smallholder farmer integration, supply chain management, and market-driven agriculture models
- Experience in both private-sector agribusiness and NGO/social enterprise models is highly desirable
- Strong financial acumen, including budgeting, cost efficiency, and revenue modeling
- Experience balancing financial sustainability in an impact-driven organization, ideally with exposure to both nonprofit and commercial agribusiness financial models
- Experience with business intelligence, operational KPIs and monitoring & evaluation (MEL),
- Experience with digital supply chain innovation is a plus.
- Industry Expertise
- Expertise in sustainable agriculture, regenerative practices, and climate-smart solutions
- Strong understanding of global food systems, supply chain logistics, and value chain development
- Extensive experience with business financial and operations reporting
- Data & Analytics Skills
- Solid experience with business intelligence tools, data collection systems, and impact measurement
- Familiarity with tech solutions for farmer training, logistics, and market insights
- MEL experience a plus
- Private Sector & Market Experience
- Experience in agriculture, food systems, or agribusiness is required.
- Preferred backgrounds:
- Commercial agribusiness & food supply chains
- Sustainable agriculture & regenerative farming
- Social enterprise & market-based development models
- Private sector logistics & supply chain optimization
- Language & Location
- Fluency in English & Spanish is required (French or Haitian Creole a plus)
- Ability to travel up to 25-50% to Latin America & the Caribbean
- Preferred locations: El Salvador, Colombia or Mexico. Can be remote and other locations (US, Canada) will be given consideration depending on the candidates qualifications.
Why Join Acceso?
- Be a part of a mission-driven team working to revolutionize smallholder agriculture.
- Shape the future of sustainable food systems in Latin America & the Caribbean.
- Lead high-impact agricultural and market access programs at a global scale.
- Competitive salary & benefits package, including a 401(k) with a 100% employer match up to 6%.
Exact salary offers will be determined by factors such as the candidate’s skills, qualifications, and experience.
Application Instructions:
For immediate and confidential consideration please contact: Christine “Chris” Jeffreys, Executive Search Consultant ([email protected]; mobile: +1-714-403-1513)
For more information about Acceso and careers with us, please visit Acceso.org/careers.
Acceso is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.
