Entrepreneurship Advisor at TechnoServe Kenya

Main Activities and Responsibilities:

Stakeholder Engagement: Client Relationship Management

• As applicable, promote information exchange and network building by leading the hosting of 1-2 (or more) business-to-business platforms each year, with the goal of supporting entrepreneurs (e.g. women in business) secure new contractual relationships with suppliers of equipment, digital services, inputs, equipment; as well as equip them with information and contacts that will enable them to navigate regulations and certification processes.
• Identify and establish relationships with organizations with technical expertise in entrepreneurship development, supply chain and distribution, etc. that FSA can partner with to promote the role of retail in the functioning of Kenya’s Food System.
• Oversee a youth job creation ambition by identifying and engaging with at least 2 TVETS, Youth Vocational Training Institutions and or Enterprise Development Organizations (EDOs) per target county to improve curriculum offering in entrepreneurship training for youth intended to join the job market and or start their business.
• Clearly identify and document aspirations and challenges of organizations with interest in various aspects of market-led entrepreneurship development; plot a mutually agreed intended impact and route to reach it.
• Plan activities to ensure that the shared objectives are met within the set times and resources and that impact is maximized.
• Effectively manage, maintain and nurture relationships with these clients – enterprise development organisations.
• Ensure regular and responsive communication to monitor progress, identify problems at an early stage and respond to them.
• In coordination with regional implementation teams and in close collaboration with the food processing specialists, access to finance and gender advisor, support entrepreneurship development activities for mapped eligible county-based food markets for improvements in e.g. market management, etc. or needed technical assistance.

Strategic Leadership: Coordination of Technical Assistance

• Support entrepreneurs to improve their business, financial management and operations.
• Develop strategies to optimize first and last mile distribution to ensure access to and affordable nutritious food. Within the first 90 days, identify, develop and or refine new or existing entrepreneurship development curriculum.
• Clearly communicate to clients the full range of support that is available to them from TechnoServe and relevant entrepreneurship development organizations, including cooperatives.
• Explore, customize and implement TechnoServe’s cooperative hub model as a means of strengthening applicable supply chains.
• Provide on-the-ground support for implementation of technical advice, on issues identified by the business diagnostics carried out post-client mapping.
• Source and facilitate relevant technical expertise from potential partner organizations to support entrepreneurs and local food markets. Liaise relationships between identified and engaged technical experts and larger enterprises to ensure clear expectations and smooth communication.
• Ensure the FSA Technical and Regional Implementation Leads are fully informed on progress, challenges and successes assignments on the entrepreneurship work stream.
• In collaboration with other team members at country and regional level develop and deliver standardized trainings and quick win solutions to less sophisticated clients with simpler technical and business needs.
• Facilitate university student internships / apprenticeship initiative with larger business, TVETS, EDOs and as applicable whereby interns will be assigned for a defined period to provide technical support and address identified issues.

Program Management:

• Support the development (at the technical integration team) and coordination (at the regional team level) and implementation of entrepreneurship-related activities in the execution of project work plans, and budgets,
• In coordination with the Senior Food Systems Manager, design technical parameters for an open call for enterprise development organisations working in FSA’s zones of influence to receive technical or grant assistance.
• In coordination with the Senior Food Systems Manager, work closely with the CLA Unit and Finance and Admin units to ensure alignment of resources, activities, and key performance indicators related to entrepreneurship engagement.
• Support the development schedules, tools, and processes for deploying a robust entrepreneurship and food markets engagement strategy;
• Develop, design and oversee grant activities that support FSA’s entrepreneurship strengthening objective;
• Identify issues and risks related to implementation promptly, suggesting appropriate program adjustments
• Lead, or in supporting role, manage, contribute to, and provide quality control to data analysis and report writing at technical national integration team level.
• Ensure activities carried out are in accordance with TechnoServe and donor requirements.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Work with the Monitoring and Evaluation, and CLA unit, provide anecdotal evidence of impact, including success stories, case studies and lessons learnt
• Document and disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and project impacts to inform future initiatives
• Collaborate with the M&E team to monitor and evaluate program progress.
• Support or contribute to knowledge management activities including writing articles on project developments, learning or opinion pieces. 
• In coordination with the M&E Manager, manage collection of client data, review data for accuracy.
• Contribute towards explanations of metric results and provide input to recommendations to adapt program approach as necessary to maximize impact.

Sector Wide Trainings

• Support the FSA regional implementation teams, technical integration team, identified industry experts and local training institutes with technical input on identification of appropriate topics and development of curricula for sector wide training in support of broader industry development.

Innovation and Best Practices:

• Develop innovative approaches to enhance TechnoServe's work and share these innovations to promote the adoption of best practices within the organization.

Representation and Networking:

• Represent the program at networking events with private and public sector actors, as per the guidance of the COP and DCOP
• Perform other related duties as required to contribute to the program's success.

Competencies:

Strategic and Innovative Thinker

• Identifies opportunities and builds strategic relationships with other organizations to help achieve identified goals.
• Proactively takes advantage of opportunities to learn and actively applies new knowledge and skill.
• Analyses both successes and failures for clues to improvement.
• Innovative to try new ideas to find solutions
• Analytical, able to diagnose problems, identify the key issues, and think strategically to evaluate alternative courses of action and produce a logical, practical, and acceptable solution. Works persistently to overcome obstacles
• Asks questions and seeks out information from multiple sources, learns from mistakes, sees change as an opportunity.

Team Player

• Works cooperatively and flexibly with other members of the team to achieve a common goal. Ability to build and maintain effective relationships and networks.
• Effectively plans, schedules, and prioritizes activities.
• Able to take ownership of decisions on areas of responsibility but show sound judgment in escalating issues where necessary.

Effective Communicator

• Listens openly and effectively and ensures accurate understanding; able to adjust communication to the needs of the audience and work at multiple levels; facilitates the open exchange of ideas and information in individual and group situations.
• Transparent in dealings with others, admits mistakes, and is trusted. Inspires confidence in the team of honest intentions and fairness.
• Able to analyze and express themselves clearly in business writing.

Basic Qualifications and Competencies:

• Relevant educational qualification (preferably Master level) in Economics, Statistics, Agribusiness, Business Management, Marketing, Finance and Accounting or related fields
• At least 7 years’ experience working in the private sector in management consulting, market research, banking or related fields, or in an NGO/government role with strong orientation towards private sector development
• Track record of building and managing strong client and stakeholder relationships
• Proven ability to develop strategies and conduct analysis on complex commercial questions
• Experience in authoring concise and well-written reports and presentations
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing gender equality
• Experience in authoring concise and well-written reports and presentations
• Knowledge and experience in Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) is desired
• Strong gender leadership, supervisory, problem-solving, communication, and coordination skills required.
• Willingness to travel extensively within FSA’s Kenya zone of influence,
• Managing local consultants/BDS providers
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing gender equality.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and problem-solving skills
• Fluent user of MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint