General Manager at Goodhire Consultants

Purpose of the Role

Kenswed is an NGO in registration process in Kenya aiming to eradicate the root cause of poverty in Kenya through quality education and health care. Kenswed is locally owned and driven, but the main funding for all its operations are international. The Kenswed team consists of teachers, health officers, support staff and management. We are in an expansion phase and searching for a capable individual who can develop Kenswed towards sustainability and self-sufficiency and to increase the number of employable students graduating from Kenswed. 

The purpose of the role is to strengthen Kenswed’s long term stability and self-rule by building strong leadership structures, expanding capacity for its operations and increasing programs’ efficiency. 

Job Responsibilities

Overseeing operations

• Working with the headquarter team to deliver optimal support to different Kenswed Programs in order to improve their quality of operations and financial sustainability.
• Evaluating and optimizing operations, ensuring quality and cost-effectiveness.
• Ensuring our information management systems are optimally functioning and our data is relevant to measuring our organizational performance and outcomes.
• Deriving actionable plans for Kenswed Vocational Training Centre, Kenswed Hospital from the overall strategic plan.
• Coordinating, managing and supporting team members and activities to ensure we are delivering our goals effectively and efficiently.
• Building structures for a good and reliable impact monitoring and evaluation system

Oversee fund raising, management and reporting

• Taking lead in budgeting and spending - Vetting investment opportunities based on likely impact on communities and the organization.
• Managing relationships with funders, legal and integrity compliance.
• Building capacity for both local and international fundraising (Applying for donations, Writing grant proposals, Building partnerships with businesses and other organizations to raise consistent funds for Kenswed)  
• Identifying new activities for income-generation, creating strategies and actioning together with the team
• Evaluating management reports created from the accounting data and drawing insights on income, identifying big expense drivers, cashflow etc.
• Making sure our processes and SOPs are preventing mismanagement and fraud.
• Establishing networks and partnerships that can contribute to Kenswed’s growth through resources, materials, internships and jobs for Kenswed graduates.

Growth and strategy development

• Innovate and creatively initiate Programs geared towards Kenswed’s self sustenance and Projects to increase Graduates’ employability.
• Strengthen Kenswed’s community of alumni and other beneficiaries to build a reliable pool of ambassadors and future donors.
• Creating strategic plans, projections, and engaging and informing all relevant stakeholders, including funders and board members.
• Implementation of these plans on the team side, including frequent meetings with staff.
• Oversee geographic expansion where required.
• Interfacing with the senior management on fundraising, partnerships and communications strategy and support implementation of the same.
• Coaching and mentoring the team members to deliver their full potential in their daily work for the organization.

External representation and management of key stakeholders

• Creating awareness of Kenswed Organization’s Mission, Values and Projects.
• Managing relationships with board members, including board reporting and decision implementation.
• Representing Kenswed at strategic forums and to key stakeholders as needed.
• Building relations with donors and funders in order to communicate.
• Kenswed’s vision and strategies to attract funding in collaboration with the board.
• Building reports and being able to explain results to all key stakeholders, in particular funders and donors. 

Job Requirements and Qualifications

• You are excited about taking a non-profit organization to the next level, a demanding job with a lot of responsibility.
• You have been part of a rapidly growing organization, ideally with a network across the country/region.
• You can easily combine your strong for-profit mindset with your passion for social advancement.
• You are resourceful and willing to roll up your sleeves to get things done.
• You have a track record of successfully managing diverse stakeholders.
• You have a track record of delivering an organization’s growth with clear and impressive measurable outcomes (in indicators like social impact, graduates’ placements, people management, program reach).
• You are very comfortable with quantitative approaches and making decisions based on numbers and data.
• You know how to create and implement standard operating procedures that help an organization grow.
• You take a developmental approach to managing people while being firm in pushing for and ensuring targets are met.
• You thrive in environments where there are a lot of moving parts. You adjust quickly and incorporate new developments into your strategies.
• You have the ability to manage multiple stakeholders and be fluidly accountable to them.
• Having exposure in East Africa beyond Kenya is highly desired.
• Highly preferred to have a background in financial management.
• An undergraduate degree is required, a Master’s is desired.

You would be a good fit for our organizational culture if;

• You have strong interpersonal communication skills, with a high degree of empathy.
• You are dynamic and excited to pivot when necessary to deliver the best possible outcomes.
• You pursue learning outcomes for yourself and your team on every occasion, and pride yourself on being flexible and adaptable to changing circumstances.
• You have a passion for social change through businesses-oriented interventions, and have a keen interest in keeping up-to-date with the latest innovations.