Head of Department at Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies (RVIBS)

Job Purpose
To provide academic, strategic and operational leadership to the Business and Professional Pathways Department and drive its repositioning from a predominantly exam-focused academic unit into a more practical, market-facing, enterprise-linked and professionally relevant department aligned to the institution’s OGF growth pillars and Growth OS.

The role also requires the ability to help the department respond to the changing realities of business education and enterprise development, including digital transformation, artificial intelligence, innovation-led learning, online and blended delivery, dual training models, and RPL-oriented pathways.

The role holder will ensure strong academic delivery while also strengthening entrepreneurship and SME capability development, professional pathways such as CPA, SIYB-aligned enterprise training, short courses, external partnerships, learner employability and departmental visibility.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Academic Leadership and Quality Assurance

• Lead curriculum delivery, teaching quality, assessment, moderation and examination processes within the department.
• Ensure compliance with institutional, regulatory and examining body requirements.
• Maintain academic standards, learner progression, retention and completion.
• Supervise trainers and departmental staff and promote accountability, discipline and performance.
• Coordinate departmental planning for class delivery, staffing and learner support.

Departmental Transformation and Growth

• Lead implementation of the department’s transformation agenda in line with OGF and Growth OS.
• Develop and drive the departmental work plan, priorities, scorecard and review rhythm.
• Reposition the department to become more practical, visible, market-facing and enterprise-linked.
• Support the department’s contribution to learner retention, relevance and institutional growth.
• Position the department for future-facing business education, including digital business, AI-enabled enterprise opportunities, innovation-led programming, and blended or flexible delivery models.

Entrepreneurship, SME and SIYB Pathways

• Strengthen the department’s role in entrepreneurship and SME capability development.
• Support introduction or strengthening of SIYB (Start and Improve Your Business)-aligned training for students, youth entrepreneurs and SMEs.
• Promote practical business capability development through clinics, bootcamps, field-based assignments and enterprise support activities.
• Encourage supervised student involvement in real business and SME problem-solving activities.
• Support integration of dual training, supervised workplace exposure and other work-integrated learning approaches within departmental programs.
• Promote pathway thinking that can accommodate RPL-oriented learners, youth entrepreneurs and informal-sector participants with prior experience.
• Support development of a practical first-phase operating model with clear deliverables, support structures and measurable outcomes.

Professional Pathways and Market-Responsive Programs

• Strengthen and grow professional pathways such as CPA and other business-related professional programs.
• Identify, design, package and support delivery of short courses, bootcamps, business clinics and other market-responsive learning offers.
• Support curriculum innovation, program packaging and practical learning design suited to both physical and flexible delivery models.
• Ensure the department serves academic, professional and practical business learning needs.
• Identify and support future-facing business learning opportunities linked to digital enterprise, AI-enabled business practice, remote service models, innovation ecosystems, and emerging market realities
• Strengthen both physical and online/blended program pathways to widen access and relevance.

Partnerships and External Engagement

• Build and maintain strong relationships with employers, SMEs, professional bodies, KNCCI, ASSEK, SACCOs, youth groups and other ecosystem actors.
• Increase practitioner involvement in teaching and learning through guest facilitators, mentors, business owners and industry experts.
• Promote departmental visibility through practical forums, learner showcases, business-facing activities and partnership engagements.
• Support external linkages that enhance learner exposure, employability and departmental relevance.

These partnerships should primarily support academic relevance, learner exposure, professional pathways, SME capability development, and departmental visibility.

 Learner Outcomes and Employability

• Strengthen learner exposure to practical business realities, workplace readiness and enterprise pathways.
• Promote real-world assignments, supervised practice, mentorship and project-based learning.
• Support learner transition into internships, employment, self-employment and enterprise development pathways.
• Ensure the department contributes to outcomes beyond examinations.

Planning, Performance Management and Reporting

• Prepare departmental plans, budgets, reports and performance updates.
• Track departmental KPIs and participate in review forums as required.
• Use data and scorecards to monitor progress, identify gaps and drive action.
• Submit timely reports to management on departmental operations, achievements and challenges.

Person Specifications
 Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Commerce, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Management, Economics, Accounting or a related field.
• Master’s degree in a relevant field will be an added advantage.
• Training in pedagogy, entrepreneurship development, SIYB, incubation, innovation, SME development, professional program delivery, program design or blended learning will be an added advantage.
• Duly Registered and licensed by TVETA will be an added advantage
• Professional qualification or familiarity with professional programs such as CPA will be an added advantage.

b. Experience

• Experience in academic leadership, departmental coordination or program management in a TVET, college or higher education setting.
• Evidence of designing, managing, growing or supporting practical business, entrepreneurship, short-course or market-responsive learning programs.
• Experience in strengthening or managing professional business pathways such as CPA or related programs will be an added advantage.
• Experience in external stakeholder engagement and partnership building.
• Experience in supervising teams and driving performance.
• Strong implementation discipline, follow-through and results orientation.
• Practical appreciation of how SMEs, enterprises and markets operate.
• Evidence of engaging with future-facing business trends such as digital transformation, online or blended learning, innovation-led programming, AI-enabled opportunities, or platform-based business models will be an added advantage.
• Exposure to dual training, work-integrated learning, Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), or flexible pathways development will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrated success in building practical programs, partnerships, entrepreneurial pathways or market-responsive educational initiatives will be highly desirable.

Competencies

• Academic leadership and quality assurance.
• Program development and curriculum innovation.
• Entrepreneurship and SME support orientation.
• Professional pathway development.
• Partnership building and stakeholder engagement.
• Planning, execution and follow-through.
• Team leadership and supervision.
• Data use, reporting and performance tracking.
• Communication and presentation skills.
• Practical, market-facing and solution-oriented mindset.
• Appreciation of future trends in business, entrepreneurship and professional learning.
• Ability to translate digital, AI, innovation and market changes into practical educational responses.
• Ability to support flexible, blended, dual-training and pathways-based program development.

Personal Attributes

• Entrepreneurial in mindset
• Practical and action-oriented
• Market-aware
• Externally engaged and confident
• Comfortable with targets, accountability and review
• Credible in both academic and market-facing settings
• A builder, not merely a maintainer of routine

Key Performance Indicators
The role holder will be assessed against indicators such as:

• academic quality and examination performance
• learner progression, retention and completion
• development and growth of short courses and practical business offers
• strengthening of professional pathways such as CPA
• integration of SIYB or other practical entrepreneurship pathways
• practitioner and partner engagement
• departmental visibility and relevance
• learner exposure to enterprise, employability and workplace realities
• implementation of departmental scorecards and review discipline

The successful candidate should be able to combine:

• academic leadership and quality assurance
• entrepreneurship and SME development
• professional pathways such as CPA
• short courses, bootcamps and business clinics
• SIYB-aligned entrepreneurship pathways
• partnerships, employability and practical business exposure
• appreciation of digital transformation, AI, blended learning, innovation-led programming, dual training and RPL-oriented pathways

Working Relationships
CEO, Registrar, Marketing & Communications, ATS, Career/Placement function, other HODs, external partners, professional bodies, SMEs, employers, KNCCI, ASSEK, SACCOs, trainers and practitioners.

Minimum requirements
Applicants must have:

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant business-related field
• Relevant academic leadership or programme development experience
• Strong practical orientation, partnership ability and execution discipline

Added advantage

• A Master’s degree, and evidence of success in building practical programme, partnerships, entrepreneurship pathways, professional courses, blended learning offers, or future-facing business education initiatives, will be an added advantage.
• Registration and Licensed by TVETA, will be an added advantage