Policy & Partnerships Manager (Nairobi) at Bridge International

Bridge Kenya is a life-changing community school program. It is one of four community school programmes run as part of NewGlobe’s education portfolio. Bridge Kenya opened its first school in Nairobi’s Mukuru Kwa Njenga, in 2009. Now, it supports community schools across 43 of the 47 counties. Bridge Kenya partners with communities, parents and teachers to deliver life-changing education and provide a gateway to success for underserved families. Since 2015, Bridge Kenya’s national (KCPE) exam results have continued to prove academic excellence, significantly outperforming national averages. Community school graduates have gone to top secondary schools and universities; both within Kenya and the US.

Policy & Partnership Department

The Policy & Partnerships team (P&P) leads our movement to transform the lives of millions of children through education. We lead pioneering efforts to revitalize Government-led delivery of education across the world. We engage with visionary political and Government leadership to help shape policy, strengthen delivery and impact complex education systems through public private partnerships.

About the Role

As the Policy and Partnership Manager, you will play a substantial and crucial role in growing and driving partnerships with the organization. The manager will use policy skills and experience to establish, develop and harness collaborative relationships with internal movement and external partners to develop an exciting and innovative project pipeline of partners. This will involve coordinating complex interactions with our regulators, including but not limited to, legislators, Members of Parliament, Local Government Officials, Ministry officials, and support the identification of potential partners in the Non-governmental sector. This position will be the focal point of communication between the government and the organization in issues related to Licensing and registration of the school.

Responsibilities

• Report to the Director, Policy & Partnerships (P&P) to help design policies, build partnerships, and execute strategy to advance Bridge’s goals in Kenya.
• Manage broader strategic stakeholder management with NGO/ donor/ think tank/ academic and other important ‘influencers’ to unlock new funding and advance Bridge’s standing with these important communities;
• Utilize lead management techniques and maintain a detailed and dynamic database of these key influencer communities while tracking progress;
• Network with new and unfamiliar audiences while preparing for and understanding your audience;
• Work with local, regional and national officials and groups with respect to the Bridge International Academies’ registration, strategic efforts, and related activities;
• Work in partnership with the ministry to ensure all Bridge schools become registered.
• Work with key stakeholders on consultative efforts to drive reforms in delivery of education to underserved communities;
• Identify opportunities and work with partners in the private sector to drive efficient service delivery with government schools;
• Identify CSR partners in the private sector to strengthen Bridge International Academies’ market presence and delivery;
• Identify the larger contours of PPP and CSR relationships and be responsible for structuring PPP and CSR contracts;
• Plan, develop, administer and evaluate programs, activities and daily operations related to the governmental affairs support function
• Coordinate complex interactions with legislators, legislative staff, other state officials, county and national government officials/staff;
• Establish and implement short- and long-range goals, objectives, policies and operating procedures for the government relations support function; monitor and evaluates program effectiveness; effects changes required for improvement; and
• Policy and pipeline development including the creation of a Private Public Partnership (PPP) in education.
• Identifying and closing on sponsors for Bridge pupils.
• Undertake any other specific partnership projects as necessary. 

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with superior academic performance;
• Experience in government program delivery or working in account management or as an engagement manager;
• In depth experience building and systematically managing key complex relationships and accounts to ensure program delivery in a complex, multi-stakeholder program or project;
• Previous experience working with a Ministry of Education on program delivery, preferred; If not within education, experience with another government delivery program or project, such as in health or ICT;
• Knowledge of education sector and specifically the provision of primary education in Kenya would be an added advantage;
• Ability to balance commercial interests and social benefits – a blend across business and political acumen, but also high emotional intelligence and relationship-building skills;
• Highly capable and thoughtful problem-solving skills; able to act as an intermediary and a solutions driven lead, to ensure effective collaboration and communication between the Government client and our organization;
• Prior experience within a fast-paced, high-growth, metric-driven operational organization will be an advantage;
• Excellent writing skills including the ability to draft press releases, statements, talking-points, and opinion pieces in partnership with the Bridge communication team.
• Experience working for a political, non-profit, or other social campaigns that concern an idea or a movement rather than a product.

Other requirements

• A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
• A creative problem-solver – Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, Bridge works in often fragile, sometimes volatile low-resource communities and with complex government systems. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand.
• A relentless advocate – The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like. Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
• A malleable learner – You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.
• A data-driven decision-maker – When making decisions, you don’t rely on your intuition alone. You collect data, you analyze it and make decisions with clear justifications.
• A curious investigator – You ask why a lot. You don’t just take what you see and accept it. You wonder why it is that way, and are aware that the world we see is created by human choices and actions – and it could be different. You wonder, and see the world as wonderful even when you want to change a part of it that is unjust.