Training & Coaching Officer at Educate!

Job Description

Educate! currently achieves impact on youth life outcomes through direct delivery of our model in schools (what we call “School Solutions”) and through the integration of our model into national education systems (“Education System Solutions”). In addition to these two solution areas, in 2019 Educate! is exploring a new and innovative pathway to sustainably impact out of school youth (OoSY) livelihoods at scale through Learning Point.

Learning Point is seeking a Training & Coaching Officer with great people skills and confidence to mentor, coach and support young and upcoming entrepreneurs in the bodaboda industry. As a mentor, you will provide a confidential sounding board, thinking room, and support for working through crucial and often complex decisions related to the mentee’s business.

The programme will be based on an integrated approach, with a comprehensive package of services to address barriers to development, growth and diversification of the mentees businesses. Our model is based on the idea that, with the right support and opportunities, the mentees would be able to receive practical advice that enables them to run their businesses successfully, access industry specific learning content, access loans, save and invest. The mentor will be making and receiving phone calls from youth to mentor and provide feedback on a regular basis for the duration of 6 – 9 months within which period, the mentee should have been able to practically apply business advice to enable them to increase their daily income and access a loan.

You will help the mentee to understand and find ways to overcome some of the daily challenges they encounter in income generation, understand some of the more informal ways of getting things done and some of the unwritten and unstated ways of working, and therefore develop the mentee’s business expertise. As a business mentor, you should bring a wider perspective that may help the mentee to recognise what is happening and identify the culture that is right for them.

Qualifications

• Have a strong desire to help others to grow and develop – you are more of a “gardener”
• You have an understanding of how businesses work (formally and informally), and ideally a knowledge and understanding of the key players in the mentee’s business area
• You feel that you have more to offer than you are currently contributing
• Have the ability to relate to young people and act as a role model
• Have strong listening skills, interpersonal skills and communication skills
• Patient and resilient with a non-judgemental approach
• Ability to customize responses to mentees to meet their immediate needs in terms of simplicity and language
• Ability to follow processes, while also thinking creatively
• Ability to work on multiple tasks simultaneously with minimal supervision
• Undergraduate degree or proven and successful entrepreneurial experience of at least 2 years in the relevant business industries i.e. bodaboda or kiosk
• At least 2 years of relevant experience in successfully providing practical support and training to youth or small and micro enterprises
• Good business management, analytical and problem solving skills
• Good understanding of challenges faced by informal businesses in Kenya
• Excellent organizational and planning skills
• Excellent communication, oral and writing skills, and preferably able to speak the local language(a mix of English and Swahili-Sheng) and adapt to the target audience

Responsibilities

• Mentor, coach, and give advice on all aspects of business management on a regular basis referencing the training manual as your guide. This includes: identifying the mentees’ challenges and barriers, identifying their capacity building needs and providing immediate practical solutions where possible
• Provide support in preparing and documenting related business tools as well as practical solutions to address barriers to growth at all stages of their business development
• Support the mentees to identify opportunities to diversify their businesses through the use of marketplace applications, and follow up with them on application of advice given in relation to increasing daily income
• Identify relevant e-learning content on NawiriPro.learn mentees can access to address mentee knowledge gaps based on pain points shared for additional practical content application to improve their skills and support their income diversification efforts
• Help the mentees in identifying relevant stakeholders, suppliers, etc. and helping them create sustainable business relationships between the parties
• Work in close collaboration with the product team on any product related issues, improvement of the training manual and ensure that these aspects are taken into account during the design and development process
• Collect M&E data on a regular basis as required to measure the performance of the businesses for reporting purposes – feedback from this data will be used in making decisions on what needs to be done to help mentees improve their businesses
• Document compelling stories and case studies from the mentees
• Provide advice and support in designing business mentoring methodologies that are the most appropriate for the target audience