Partnerships Manager at African Management Institute (AMI)

Responsibilities

•  Build long-term relationships with major pan-African development and intermediary partners to position AMI as a leading impact player in the skills and enterprise development space.
•  Leverage strong existing personal network within funding partners for skills and enterprise development to generate new partnership opportunities.
• Develop strategic implementation partnerships with relevant peer organisations for co-proposal on funding opportunities.
• Continually scan the market in this segment to identify business opportunities, relationships and RFP windows across the continent, including opportunities for new products and segments.
• Contribute to strategic thinking around funders and segments of focus for AMI in the future.
• Generate strategies to raise AMI’s profile in skills and enterprise development, and work with the communications team to implement. This could include writing/co-writing white papers, opinion pieces, blogs, keeping track of new research in the sector and speaking at conferences etc.
• Lead proposal development and negotiations on large pan-African partnerships. Work with other members of the team to design, scope and budget complex multi-million dollar projects, and manage robust handover process to programme implementation teams.  
•  Keep strong ongoing relationships with existing partners, in order to expand scope of partnerships

Requirements

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Master’s Degree is an added advantage  
• At least 7 years’ experience in business development, fund-raising or partnership management, with at least 2 years in international development, including proposal development (essential)
• Experience working in an entrepreneurial environment, ideally within Africa’s SME/entrepreneur support ecosystem
• Sophisticated understanding of Africa’s SME support/ skills development ecosystem, and deep networks with both funders and implementers.
• Ability to think strategically and creatively, and to execute methodically.
• Excellent proposal writing and presentation skills with the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively across different levels
• Ability to scope, plan and budget for complex, multi-million-dollar skills/enterprise development projects, often in multiple markets.
• Confident networker and relationship builder; Able to represent AMI at international events and conferences with gravitas and charisma.
• Demonstrated ability to tell powerful stories and develop strategic recommendations. 
• Thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
• Enthusiasm and commitment for AMI’s vision of transformation through skills and enterprise development.
• Willingness to engage in robust debate alongside deep respect for others with rock-solid integrity