Info About the Organization:
Village Enterprise is a microenterprise development organization working in East Africa. Its mission is to equip people living in extreme poverty with resources to create sustainable businesses. It provides business training, seed capital/start-up funds, and on-going mentoring to new entrepreneurs to start businesses.
Info About the Job:
Village Enterprise is seeking an exceptional professional with leadership and management experience and a passion for microenterprise development, poverty reduction and social entrepreneurship in Africa to become the Senior Director of Programs and Operations. S/he will report to the president/CEO. The position is based in Hoima, Uganda with travel in East Africa.
Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Oversee management, delivery and monitoring/evaluation of Village Enterprise Microenterprise;
- Development Program, which will involve starting 3,000+ Microenterprises and identifying, training and supporting 9,000+ new Clients in 2014; we anticipate that this number will grow each year;
- Lead our Programs and Operations Team, which currently Consists of A US-based Director of Africa Operations, a Uganda-based Program Director, Kenya and Uganda Country Directors and Assistant Country Directors, a Director, associated field operations staff, 70+ community-based business mentors and field coordinators, a SMART consultant, and three-four East Africa-based fellows;
- Oversee hiring, training, and development of field staff and fellows;
- Oversee development and delivery of new, innovative pilot projects and programs to increase the impact and scalability of our program;
- Manage Partnerships with other community-based organizations in the field;
- Manage our extensive Monitoring and Evaluation programs and team;
- Prepare annual field operations budget; manage to budget;
- Play a lead role in defining and implementing our strategic plans in East Africa;
- Support the U.S. Development team as they create workable proposals and accurate donor materials.
Significant (2 + years) leadership and management experience. We are looking for an individual who can think operationally, innovatively and strategically, and oversee all phases of our field program, prepare the budget, mentor senior field staff, and work both independently and as a member of a team.
- Significant leadership experience required;
- Two+ years demonstrated success in a leadership role managing a staff and directing an organization, a program, or an enterprise, in either the for-profit or not-for-profit sectors;
- Demonstrated success in a start up environment; experience creating and managing a business, a non-profit, a new program, or a large project;
- 5-7 years of work experience required;
- Proven ability to manage programs and people, and to mentor staff;
- Experience working in a developing country or emerging economy required; experience in East Africa preferred;
- Experience in the international development field required, experience in the poverty reduction, microenterprise and/or microfinance fields preferred;
- We require a minimum two year time commitment; three years preferred;
- Willingness to live and work in rural East Africa Critical;
- Must be a very strong critical thinker with the ability to both analyze organizational dynamics and contextual threats, changes, and opportunities, and to develop and apply performance metrics;
- Experience developing and analyzing business and program effectiveness data, budgets and financial models is required;
- Strong writing and communication skills required, as this role will involve preparing reports and presentations;
- Experience communicating with and managing cross-cultural teams is required;
- Fluency in English is required; working knowledge of Swahili is helpful;
- Education: BA/BS required; MA/MS/MBA desired:
- Passion for innovative approaches to poverty reduction around the world, including but not limited to social entrepreneurship and business development in Africa.
- Competitive compensation package based on education and experience; includes the following benefits:
- Comprehensive health insurance in Kenya/Uganda, International travel and Emergency evacuation insurance, Flying Doctors insurance coverage in East Africa;
- Kenya and Uganda visas;
- All in-country travel, phone, internet and accommodations related to work;
- Four weeks of paid time off/year;
- Two international roundtrip flights to/from East Africa and the U.S. each year.
- This is a career-track role in economic development and social business, offering significant opportunities for advancement at Village Enterprise and other organizations working in the fields of poverty reduction, international development, microenterprise and Small to Mid-Sized Enterprise (SME) development, microfinance and social entrepreneurship.
How to Apply:
Interested candidates can send their cover letter, resume, a writing sample, and three letters of references to Konstantin Zvereff and Anne Olson
Please mention “Village Enterprise SDPO Application” in the subject line.
The cover letter should address the following topics:
- Why you want this position?
- How you will contribute to the growth of Village Enterprise?
- Note where you found this job posting.
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