Team Leader, Jobs For Youth Programme, Kenya at RTI International

RTI's Governance and Economic Development (GED) Division pursues innovative approaches and builds on best practices to create the foundation for and to promote democratic governance and economic development. Working alongside global partners, public institutions, the private sector, and civil society, we help build more effective, accountable, and responsive institutions and policies at the national, regional, and local levels of government.

The GED Division is currently accepting applications for Team Leader for an anticipated DFID-funded Kenya Jobs for Youth Programme. The UK will provide up to £5M over 3 years to support an innovative, market-led youth employment programme that seeks to improve economic opportunities for youth in Kenya. Through a flexible fund facility, the programme will test innovative projects that show potential for large-scale impact in creating new productive jobs for young men and women, with the ambition that proven concepts will be scaled-up either by DFID under a subsequent business case, or by other stakeholders.

Responsibilities 

• Establish programme’s strategic vision and core principles with the field management team and home office, and ensure these are communicated and reinforced throughout the organization
• Responsible for leading the day-to day operations of a challenge grant in support of demand driven youth employment
• Responsible for ensuring quality control and overall responsiveness of grant implementation and technical assistance provided under the programme, including harmonization and effective coordination across components
• Serve as primary liaison with donor, government counterparts, sector stakeholders and RTI home office and adjust programme operations to ensure flexibility, adaptability and responsiveness with technical direction.
• Actively manage performance of grantees and programme portfolio including fiduciary risk strategy; financial management checks on grantees; verification of grantees’ achievements and approval of disbursement based on results-based milestones
• Assess grantee capacity building needs on an ongoing basis and provide direct or facilitated technical assistance on a range of topics including industry- specific expertise, business operations and scaling strategy, fiduciary risk management, etc.
• Support monitoring and evaluation of grant portfolio and individual grants to identify and facilitate technical assistance, to initiate course corrective actions and to generate knowledge

Qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience managing social venture capital funds or a donor-funded challenge fund programmes.
• Proven experience working in or with private sector actors to stimulate job creation and market development through innovative approaches.
• Verbal and written fluency in the English languages along with strong communications, interpersonal, and presentation skills.
• Strong conceptual and analytical skills, and an ability to apply these in continually improving programme activities and performance.
• Outstanding leadership and team building skills
• Highly dynamic networking and relationship building skills including experience building consensus among diverse actors.
• Position is contingent upon award and funding.