- Role: Innovation Engineer
- Venture: Mountain Harvest
- Location: Mbale, Uganda
About Mountain Harvest
Mountain Harvest is a young, innovative coffee production company that works to raise the quality of life for smallholder Arabica coffee farmers on Mt Elgon in eastern Uganda, by increasing incomes, helping build farm and household assets and enhancing farmer resilience to shocks on a commercially and environmentally sustainable basis.
Mountain Harvest believes such change can only be achieved by unlocking and monetizing unrealized potential of the farmers coffee and farms. Our approach involves three major interventions:
- Elevating quality into the premium segment of the specialty coffee market,
- Disconnecting pricing from the commodity and Fair Trade markets through a relationship-based trade with roaster-retailers that pay substantially higher prices for quality and impact (social and environmental)
- Using the additional margin generated from higher prices to invest at the farm level through an intense, service-oriented engagement with farmers.
As Innovation Engineer, you will work with the Mountain Harvest team in Uganda, to elevate the high quality but under-appreciated coffee from Mt Elgon into the premium segment of the specialty coffee market worldwide.
About You
Mountain Harvest works to open new possibilities for coffee farmers on Mount Elgon by elevating their coffee to the highest standards using ecological, climate-smart methods and improved processing. To improve coffee processing, Mountain Harvest is investing in the prototyping of small-scale, modular coffee washing stations. The main purpose of a washing station is to remove the coffee seed from the skin and fruit and dry out the seed in preparation for hulling and export.
We are looking for an innovator, eager to collaborate with the Mountain Harvest team in testing, making iterative improvements, and replicating efficient coffee washing stations and a dry mill, designing improved infrastructure for coffee hand-sorting and the production of compost and biochar.
Responsibilities
As a Innovation Engineer for Mountain Harvest, your responsibilities will include:
- Execute detailed improvements to the structural design of the small-scale modular coffee washing stations, engineering for cost savings
- Designing wastewater structures that prevent downstream water pollution
- Prepare technical designs and accompanying memos on the relevant design elements, specifications, and provisions based on the prototyping process
- Ensure efficient operational flow of the system
- Design improved infrastructure for coffee hand-sorting
- Review existing infrastructure to ensure alignment with updated protocols
- Designing infrastructure for community-based composting and to produce biochar
- Participate in decision making processes regarding technical approach, cost and scheduling performance
- Manage and mentor junior staff on assignments
- Other related duties assigned
Sound exciting? Here’s who we are looking for.
Skills & Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Civil, Structural, Environmental Engineering
- A minimum of 3-5 years’ relevant work experience
- Experience in the design of infrastructure including steel structures and water systems (supply and waste treatment)
- Proficient in the full range of design activities including preparation of functional and detailed design drawings and reports
- Experience in project coordination
- Excellent analytical skills
- Ability to work in a fast paced, team-based environment
- Proven ability to multitask, appropriately prioritize workflow and complete tasks
- Committed team player with strong organizational skills
