Careers at GrowthAfrica

About the role 

• GrowthAfrica is seeking a dynamic, experienced and proven Innovation Lead to act as the subject-matter expert and quality guardian for the two earliest stages of the entrepreneurship journey, the Innovation Café ideation series and the incubator prototyping programme. This is a full-time role based in Nairobi, Kenya, with regular travel to Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda, reporting to the Head of Programme. 
• The role is responsible for designing, developing and continuously improving the methodologies, content and facilitation approaches used across all four countries, while directly coaching and building the capacity of the in-country Innovation Catalysts. 
• It is about designing and continuously improving the innovation curriculum, methodologies and facilitation tools used across the programme, grounded in human-centred design and lean innovation approaches. 
• It is about safeguarding quality and consistency across every Innovation Café cycle and incubator cohort, setting clear standards, running structured quality assurance reviews and coaching country teams in real time. 
• It is about building the capacity of Innovation Catalysts and local facilitators, modelling best practice delivery and creating space for continuous learning and iteration. 
• It is about strengthening the innovation ecosystem by coordinating skilled co-facilitators and technical experts who can support participants through ideation, prototyping and early venture development. 
• It is about generating reliable programme evidence, working closely with monitoring and evaluation colleagues to track participant progress and inform funder reporting and continuous improvement. 

Key responsibilities 

• Design, refine and document the Innovation Café and incubator curricula, facilitation guides, tools and templates, drawing on human-centred design and lean innovation approaches. 
• Ensure consistent, high-quality delivery across all Innovation Café cycles and incubator cohorts by setting standards, conducting quality assurance reviews and providing real-time coaching to country Innovation Catalysts. 
• Lead the facilitation of selected cohorts, particularly early cycles, to model best-practice delivery and generate learning for iteration. 
• Manage the process for recruiting and briefing local co-facilitators and technical experts for workshop delivery. 
• Work closely with the M&E Coordinator to define participant progress metrics, track prototype and MVP output quality, and capture learning. 
• Coordinate with the Grant Coordinator on innovation grant application and milestone-based disbursement processes. 
• Contribute to funder reports and learning documentation related to the innovation components. 
• Support the Head of Programme across other programme activities as needed. 
• Support the transition of responsibilities at contract end, ensuring full knowledge transfer to country teams. 

Qualifications and requirements 

• You hold a bachelor's degree in Innovation, Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Design, Engineering, Development Studies or another relevant discipline. A Master's degree or recognised professional certification in innovation, design thinking or entrepreneurship is an added advantage. 
• You have a minimum of 6 to 9 years of progressive professional experience designing and delivering innovation, incubation or entrepreneurship support programmes, with substantial experience supporting early-stage ventures from idea validation through prototype development. 
• You have demonstrated expertise applying human-centred design, lean startup and other innovation methodologies within entrepreneurship or private sector development programmes. 
• Experience working with digital entrepreneurship, digital transformation, digital products, technology startups or innovation programmes that incorporate digital solutions will be a distinct advantage. 
• You have proven experience designing practical learning curricula, facilitation methodologies, tools and participant resources for diverse adult learning environments. 
• You have a strong track record facilitating innovation workshops, incubators or similar experiential 
• learning programmes, with the ability to coach and develop facilitators to deliver consistently high-quality participant experiences. 
• You have experience working across multiple countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with a strong understanding of the opportunities and challenges involved in delivering entrepreneurship programmes across diverse operating environments. 
• You are familiar with monitoring, evaluation and learning approaches for innovation and entrepreneurship programmes, including using programme evidence to strengthen delivery quality and participant outcomes. 
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to prepare high quality technical documentation, guidance materials and funder reporting inputs. Working proficiency in French is an added advantage. 
• You are demonstrably committed to inclusive innovation, with experience designing or delivering programmes that intentionally engage women, youth and other underserved entrepreneur groups. 
• You have strong planning, organisation and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining high technical standards across geographically dispersed teams. 
• You are willing and able to undertake regular travel across Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda. 

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Key responsibilities

• Plan, prepare and co facilitate all Innovation Café workshop cycles in country, including participant mobilisation, venue and logistics coordination, learning materials preparation and the delivery of eight Innovation Café cycles.
• Conduct structured participant follow up between workshops through telephone, virtual coaching sessions and in person field visits, supporting idea refinement, validating participant progress and identifying high potential innovation teams for progression into the incubator programme.
• Facilitate and support all incubator programme cohorts in country, providing practical coaching on prototype design, Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development, testing and validation, while supporting teams to achieve programme milestones across four to five incubator cohorts.
• Work closely with the Innovation Lead to implement curriculum enhancements, facilitation improvements, quality assurance recommendations and updated delivery methodologies, ensuring consistent programme standards across all countries.
• Coordinate in country outreach, participant recruitment, application review and selection processes for both the Innovation Cafés and incubator programme, working closely with the Programme Associate to attract and select high potential participants.
• Monitor and document participant progress throughout the innovation journey, capturing accurate programme data, implementation evidence and participant outcomes in line with the programme's Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework.
• Build, coordinate and maintain strong relationships with local co facilitators, technical experts, innovation hubs, co working spaces and ecosystem partners to strengthen programme delivery and expand the support available to participating entrepreneurs.
• Work with the Grant Coordinator to monitor innovation grant milestones, ensuring grant related documentation, participant compliance and implementation progress are accurately captured throughout the Incubator phase.
• Support the Programme Lead in the planning and delivery of wider programme activities, contributing to coordinated implementation across all programme components within the country.
• Capture participant stories, implementation lessons and field insights that contribute to programme learning, continuous improvement and the development of GrowthAfrica's innovation methodologies.

Qualifications and requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Design, Engineering, Development Studies or another relevant discipline.
• Minimum 4 to 7 years of progressive professional experience in entrepreneurship support, startup incubation, innovation programme delivery, product development coaching or related fields.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating participatory workshops, innovation programmes or entrepreneurship training for diverse youth and early-stage entrepreneur audiences.
• Strong practical understanding of human centred design, ideation processes, lean startup methodologies and minimum viable product development, with the ability to support entrepreneurs in applying these approaches in real world settings.
• Proven ability to coach and mentor aspiring entrepreneurs through implementation, providing practical guidance that supports continuous learning and measurable progress.
• Strong interpersonal, facilitation and relationship management skills, with the ability to engage effectively with participants, community stakeholders and ecosystem partners across diverse settings.
• Familiarity with the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem within the country of assignment, including experience working with innovation hubs, technical experts, entrepreneur support organisations or startup communities.
• Experience collecting participant performance information and contributing to monitoring, evaluation and learning processes within entrepreneurship or development programmes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to prepare participant reports, implementation updates and stakeholder communications.
• Working proficiency in relevant local languages is an advantage.
• Strong organisational skills, adaptability and willingness to travel regularly within the country of assignment to support participants, partners and programme activities.

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Key responsibilities

• Develop, adapt and support the implementation of the programme's gender mainstreaming, inclusion and participant protection approaches, ensuring alignment with GrowthAfrica, donor and partner requirements.
• Conduct gender and inclusion analysis at programme inception and periodically thereafter to identify and address barriers to participation.
• Review programme content, facilitation approaches and selection processes, and provide practical recommendations to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive delivery for women, people with disabilities, displaced youth and other underserved groups. G 2 of ender Mainstreaming & Safeguarding Associate 4
• Develop, strengthen and support safe, accessible and confidential reporting and referral pathways for safeguarding concerns across all four countries, in line with programme policies and escalation procedures.
• Build awareness among programme staff and key partners on gender mainstreaming, inclusion principles and safeguarding responsibilities.
• Track and report on gender and inclusion KPIs (e.g., percentage of female participants at each stage; gender disaggregation of outcomes) in coordination with the M&E Coordinator.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and support timely referral or escalation of safeguarding concerns, working within approved policies, survivor-centred practice, confidentiality requirements and delegated authority.
• Contribute gender and safeguarding sections to quarterly and annual donor reports

Qualifications and requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Gender Studies, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Social Work, Law or another relevant discipline. A recognised professional qualification in gender, safeguarding or inclusion is an added advantage.
• Minimum 5 to 7 years of progressive professional experience in gender mainstreaming, inclusion, safeguarding, social protection or related work within development, entrepreneurship, education or similar programmes.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing gender-responsive and inclusive programme approaches, including translating policies, tools or technical guidance into practical implementation.
• Strong working knowledge of safeguarding principles, safe reporting and referral pathways, confidentiality requirements and donor expectations.
• Proven experience conducting gender and inclusion analyses and using evidence to strengthen programme design, participant engagement and implementation quality.
• Experience designing and delivering training (including training of trainers), coaching and capacity building initiatives for multidisciplinary teams and programme partners.
• Strong understanding of the barriers affecting women's economic empowerment and the participation of underserved groups, with demonstrated experience designing practical solutions within African contexts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to prepare high quality technical guidance, policy documents and donor reporting inputs.
• Excellent knowledge of gender-responsive programme design, inclusive facilitation approaches and safeguarding good practice.
• Ability to navigate sensitive issues with discretion, empathy and cultural competence across diverse African contexts.

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Key responsibilities

• Design, implement and continuously strengthen the programme's monitoring, evaluation and learning framework, including the log frame, indicator reference sheets, data collection protocols, reporting tools and quality assurance processes, ensuring alignment with donor requirements.
• Establish and manage the programme's digital and, where necessary, paper-based data management systems, ensuring they are accessible, reliable and fit for purpose across country teams with varying digital capacities.
• Develop and maintain programme reporting systems that enable the timely consolidation, analysis and interpretation of programme performance data across all four countries.
• Build the capacity of Programme Leads, Associates and technical specialists through training and ongoing technical support on data collection methodologies, reporting requirements, data quality standards and the effective use of M&E tools.
• Conduct regular data quality assessments, validation exercises and verification visits across programme countries, identifying gaps and implementing corrective actions to strengthen data integrity.
• Lead programme learning processes, including periodic learning reviews, after action reflections and evidence synthesis, ensuring lessons learned are translated into practical programme improvements.
• Produce high quality dashboards, data visualisations, learning briefs and analytical reports that communicate programme performance and support evidence-based decision making by programme leadership and donors.
• Coordinate the preparation of programme wide quarterly and annual reports by consolidating country level data, analysing trends and developing clear, compelling performance narratives.
• Support external evaluations, donor reviews and organisational learning initiatives by coordinating documentation, facilitating evaluator access and ensuring the availability of complete, accurate and well organised programme data.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of GrowthAfrica's organisational monitoring, evaluation and learning practices by documenting methodologies, tools and implementation lessons generated through the programme.

Qualifications and requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Statistics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Economics, Research or another relevant discipline. A postgraduate qualification in Monitoring and Evaluation, Data Analytics or a related field is an added advantage.
• Minimum 5 to 8 years of progressive professional experience in monitoring, evaluation and learning, impact measurement or programme performance management within development, entrepreneurship support, social enterprise or related sectors.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing comprehensive M&E frameworks, including logframes, indicator frameworks, data collection systems and reporting architectures for complex, multi country programmes.
• Proven experience establishing and managing digital data management systems, with proficiency in tools such as KoBoToolbox, ODK, Microsoft Excel, Power BI or equivalent data collection and visualisation platforms.
• Strong understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, data quality assurance processes and evidence-based programme management.
• Experience training and supporting nonspecialist staff in data collection, reporting and quality assurance, particularly within geographically dispersed or resource constrained operating environments.
• Demonstrated ability to analyse complex programme data and translate findings into clear reports, compelling narratives, dashboards and practical recommendations for diverse audiences.
• Experience supporting donor reporting, programme reviews and external evaluations, including the preparation of technical documentation and evidence for verification processes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, with the ability to produce high quality analytical reports and learning products. Working proficiency in French is an added advantage. 3 of M&E/Data Coordinator 5
• Strong planning, organisational and stakeholder management skills, with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities while maintaining high standards of data quality and integrity.
• Willingness and ability to undertake periodic travel across Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda. Why GrowthAfrica