Business Development and Entrepreneurship Officer (Consultant) at Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development

Responsibilities Shall include

• Identifying and facilitating access to technical assistance (internal and external) by project participants interested in entrepreneurship initiatives
• Co -designing key context-specific initiatives with staff, program participants and other stakeholders as part of capacity strengthening mentoring and support.
• Supporting project participants to develop and implement business plans.
• Participating in the selection of women entrepreneurs.
• Identifying mentors and alumnus that can provide mentorship support
• Conducting Business Start Up Workshops for youths & Entrepreneurship training
• Facilitating Business Support systems for youths venturing into business including monitoring the business
• Identify opportunities for young people to engage in product development to increase the possibilities of youths running their own business and utilizing skills gained to produce products
• Documenting the journey of selected women entrepreneurs to identify strengths and lessons to learn about the efficiency of the approaches and content provided, but also on persistent and emerging barriers in the ecosystem.
• Supporting network building and identifying potential for collaboration within the local entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem, including across CCGD projects with similar initiatives and objectives.
• Developing timely and quality progress reports, public information items and/or publications for the project.
• Providing up-to-date information on the progress of the project implementation including successes, risks, and challenges with sound recommendations for response.
• Promoting gender-sensitive, inclusive, and active community participation in the development and implementation of the project activities.

Job requirements

• A Degree in business management/development, entrepreneurship, innovation management, climate finance, social impact investing or any other relevant qualification.
• Minimum 3 years’ experience working within the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem (preferably in Kenya).
• Experience working with and supporting women entrepreneurs/innovators, with demonstrated knowledge of their specific challenges and efforts to mitigate or eliminate said challenges.
• Good knowledge of the local innovation/entrepreneurship ecosystem and its actors.
• Excellent conceptual, research and analytic skills
• Demonstrated ability to identify and manage successful business and project partnerships.
• Competent in the use of MS Office software (Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint, etc).
• Knowledge of digital data collection, information, and community of practice platforms is an advantage.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills – proficiency in English and Kiswahili is mandatory.
• Self-motivated, good organization and management skills including a demonstrated ability to prioritize workloads.
• Ability to work with multiple tasks, demands and deadlines, with a positive and constructive attitude under minimal supervision.
• Able to learn from and adapt to complex situations.
• Able to work both independently and within a team, in person and remotely.