Senior Business Development Advisor - Market Linkage (Eldoret) at Inkomoko

About the Opportunity

Inkomoko is seeking an exceptional Senior Business Development Advisor- Market Linkage to help drive our market linkages services to our more than 40,000 MSME clients.  This role will entail building strategic relationships with buyers in different industry sectors, including INGOs, public institutions, and private organizations. 
The Senior Business Development Advisor - Market Linkage will be responsible for interact with the local business community, look out for market opportunities suitable for our clients, and build lasting relationships with local buyers, engaging with existing and new buyers, and connecting them with our MSME clients. S/HE will also support tender distribution service and help to integrate 50 MSMEs into value chains, with a focus on helping micro and small-scale producers acquire product certification from relevant government institutions.

The Senior Business Development Advisor Market Linkage will join a growing start-up team with core responsibilities as follows:

Responsibilities

• Buyer engagement: Identify and cultivate relationships with existing and new buyers to expand sales opportunities for our MSME clients; facilitate connections between buyers and our MSME clients.
• Tender distribution oversight: Manage the pilot tender distribution service for small and medium clients. This will include providing training on bid preparation and application.
• MSME integration into formal value chains: Lead efforts to integrate MSMEs, especially micro and small-scale producers, into formal value chains; this will involve collaborating with relevant government institutions and stakeholders to facilitate the acquisition of product certification  for select- MSME clients.
• Supervise market research: Oversee and manage market research activities, providing guidance and support, and ensuring the team's performance is up to standards; and ensures that all research activities adhere to organization standards and best practices while upholding data privacy and ethical guidelines.
• Manage and coach a team of Business Associates and graduate trainees and ensure service quality: Give direction, support, and advice to ML team Business associates and graduate trainees to develop their skills, knowledge, and abilities essential to deliver higher-quality market linkage services to clients.
• Collaboration with Programs Manager: Work closely with the Programs Manager to align market linkages activities with the overall Business Growth Services strategy; generate and share insights and recommendations to contribute to the development of meaningful market linkages services for our clients.

Minimum Qualifications

The ideal candidate will fulfill the following requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, Business, Economics, or related field
• 5+ years of work experience in relevant or applicable field
• Strong leadership and team management skills
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills
• Exceptional business acumen
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain partnerships with buyers.
• Experience providing market linkages services to MSMEs, preferably including refugee owned.
• Experience working with MSMEs, fostering value chain integration.
• A strong understanding of tender and procurement processes - bid preparation and application process
• Previous strong sales experience would be a huge plus.
• Previous experience managing people.
• Strong work and collaboration skills

What You'll Get

This role is inside a high-growth, mission-driven social enterprise. By joining, you’ll access:

• Competitive salary, and potential Goal-based bonus
• Incredible company culture, including deep investment in your learning and growth
• Diverse colleagues and policies that show our commitment to equity and inclusion 
• Talented, passionate, and committed team colleagues across the region
• Ability to make a significant social impact to your community
• Generous health insurance, staff savings, parental leave, sabbatical, and more benefits.