Job Description

Digital Green is seeking a Nigeria Country Director to lead its long-term growth and operations in Nigeria.

The role focuses on scaling FarmerChat, an AI-enabled agricultural advisory platform, across one of Digital Green's most important markets. It suits a senior leader with deep Nigerian agriculture knowledge, strong stakeholder networks and experience managing strategy, partnerships, fundraising and teams.

About the Role

The Country Director will shape Digital Green's Nigerian strategy and represent the organization with government, donors, agribusinesses and technology partners. The position combines external leadership with responsibility for program delivery, product adaptation, fundraising and team development.

The role reports directly to the CEO. It is designed as a long-term country leadership position rather than a short-term setup or consulting assignment. The successful candidate will also help ensure that FarmerChat reflects the realities of Nigerian farmers and local operating conditions.

Key Responsibilities

The role spans five major areas:

• Build strategic relationships across government, donors, agriculture and technology.
• Lead FarmerChat's Nigerian strategy, delivery and farmer-level impact.
• Guide product localization, user research, agronomic content and language adaptation.
• Identify funding opportunities and lead donor engagement and proposals.
• Recruit and develop a lean, high-performing Nigerian team.
• Oversee regulatory, compliance, budgeting and operational requirements.
• Bring Nigerian market insights into global product and program decisions.

The indicative workload is weighted toward partnerships and ecosystem development, followed by product and program adaptation, fundraising, team leadership and country operations.

Who This Job Is For

This position is aimed at an established country or regional leader with substantial experience in international development, agriculture or technology-for-development. Strong relationships with Nigerian government, donors, agribusinesses and development organizations are important.

The strongest candidates will understand both Nigerian smallholder agriculture and technology-enabled development. They should also be comfortable discussing digital products, data and AI with technical teams.

Candidates with experience managing large program portfolios, building lean teams and developing multi-year partnerships will be particularly relevant.

Requirements

Essential

• 12+ years of experience in international development, agriculture or technology-for-development.
• At least five years in country or regional leadership.
• Experience with accountability for strategy, delivery and growth.
• Strong current networks across Nigerian government, donors, agribusiness and development partners.
• Track record of building and leading high-performing teams.
• Fundraising experience and experience managing multi-million-dollar program portfolios.
• Experience with technology-enabled agriculture, ICT4D, digital advisory or data-driven farmer engagement.
• Ability to work effectively with product and technical teams.
• Comfort discussing product, data and AI decisions.
• Deep knowledge of Nigerian agriculture and rural livelihoods.
• Strong strategic and operational capabilities.
• Ability to work independently in a globally distributed organization.
• Cultural fluency across Nigeria's regional and linguistic contexts.

Preferred

• Experience establishing or operating a country office.
• Multi-state or Northern Nigeria experience.
• Working knowledge of Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo or West African Pidgin.
• Experience with multilingual or voice-based digital tools.
• Advanced degree or equivalent experience.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary: Competitive salary and benefits package.

The vacancy does not provide a specific salary range or detailed breakdown of benefits. Candidates should confirm the applicable compensation package during the recruitment process.

Location and Work Arrangement

Location: Abuja, Nigeria
Work arrangement: Not specifically stated in the vacancy.

The role operates within a globally distributed organization and requires significant engagement with Nigerian stakeholders. Candidates should confirm the expected office, travel and remote-working arrangements during recruitment.

Why This Opportunity May Be Worth Considering

The position offers an opportunity to shape Digital Green's presence in Nigeria at a significant stage of FarmerChat's development. The organization aims to reach millions of Nigerian farmers through AI-enabled agricultural advisory.

The role also sits at the intersection of government systems, agriculture, technology and AI. It offers substantial influence over country strategy, partnerships, product adaptation and team development.

What to Check Before Applying

This is a senior leadership position, so applicants should assess their experience against the 12-year overall requirement and five-year country or regional leadership expectation.

Pay particular attention to your Nigerian stakeholder network, fundraising record, portfolio-management experience and understanding of smallholder agriculture. Experience connecting technology with agricultural development will also be important.

Candidates should also consider whether they can operate effectively across Nigeria's different regional and linguistic contexts.

How to Apply

Digital Green's exclusive recruitment partner for this position is Shortlist.

Applications should be submitted through the recruitment platform specified for the vacancy. Applications are considered on a rolling basis until the position closes, so early applications are encouraged.

About the Employer

Digital Green is a global non-profit focused on improving livelihoods for smallholder farmers. Its work combines agricultural extension expertise with digital technology and AI.

Its flagship FarmerChat platform provides multilingual agricultural advice covering areas such as climate resilience, pest management, agricultural inputs and market access. The platform currently operates across India, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Brazil.

AscendurePro Application Notes

Before you apply:

• Position yourself as a country-level strategic leader.
• Quantify the size of programs or portfolios you have managed.
• Highlight Nigerian government and development-sector relationships.
• Show evidence of successful fundraising and partnership development.
• Demonstrate experience building and leading lean teams.
• Highlight agricultural or rural-development expertise.
• Explain how you have worked with technology or product teams.
• Include examples of using technology to improve development outcomes.
• Mention relevant Nigerian regional or language experience.
• Demonstrate your ability to operate with significant autonomy.

CV focus: Lead with country leadership, strategy, partnerships, fundraising and measurable program results. For this role, your ability to connect Nigerian market realities with technology and organizational strategy should be immediately clear.