Summary
Date Posted: Friday, October 21, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Director of Entrepreneurship
Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) is seeking a Director of Entrepreneurship to lead strategic planning, organizing, and directing all phases of our Entrepreneurship programs with a focus on managing its incubator (the Industrial Innovation Laboratory or IIL) and building a robust ecosystem around it. Success will require leveraging Carnegie Mellon University’s research and engineering strengths, as well as building strategic partnerships with entrepreneurs, investors, members of the local start-up community, industry partners, and government agencies. The Director will be responsible for marshalling CMU-Africa’s resources, together with those of industry partners and affiliated universities, to support profit-seeking technology-based entrepreneurs. The Director will collaborate with faculty, staff and external partners to strengthen entrepreneurship education, mentorship and training of IIL companies and CMU-Africa students. The key metric for assessing the Director’s performance will be the number of profitable startups nurtured by the IIL. CMU-Africa and the IIL are located in Kigali, Rwanda. The position reports to the CMU Africa Executive Director and supervises entrepreneurship program staff.

Responsibilities
The CMU-Africa’s Director of Entrepreneurship will be a key leader and technical advisor, assisting entrepreneurs with business assessment, customer discovery, capital access, talent acquisition, space selection, strategic introductions, and peer-to-peer networking. The scope of responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

Lead a process to define CMU-Africa’s strategy for nurturing profit-seeking technology-based entrepreneurs
• Engage faculty, staff, CMU-Pittsburgh Swartz Center, AFRETEC Opens in new window partner universities, government, and local and global companies in the definition process
• Learn from the best practices of other African and other incubators (particularly in India and the Middle East) and adopt them to the IIL
• Ensure that CMU-Africa’s IIL is differentiated from other Kigali-based incubators by maximally leveraging CMU’s unique strengths

Once developed, lead implementation of the strategy to develop the IIL to create a robust entrepreneurship ecosystem at CMU-Africa. Managing the IIL’s operations is an important part of this position
• Define IIL operating processes, including how IIL recruits and selects firms and how they will be held accountable once admitted
• Work with management to define budgets and then manage to them
• Identify needed IILtools, supervise their installation, and incorporate them into the IIL’s operations
• Set high standards, create a sense of urgency, and instill a delivery-oriented culture
• Serve as the first line mentor for entrepreneurs in the IIL. This includes providing basic advice on their business model, customer acquisition strategy, fundraising options, intellectual property strategy, etc.
• Build a diverse mentor network to assist IIL firms. The mentor network should provide the breadth and depth needed to support a wide range of tech-based entrepreneurism, especially with respect to digital technologies
• Develop and implement training and programs to benefit IIL firms, leveraging existing training tools and programs
• Support faculty to enhance curriculum at CMU-Africa to develop entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial mindset
• Promote engagement between entrepreneurs and established African and global industries. Build an industry partner network. Organize and conduct IIL/industry events as appropriate to enhance the prospects of IIL firms
• Work to generate interest among potential investors in IIL firms, holding events as necessary
• Engage with AFRETEC network universities to promote entrepreneurship across the continent through sharing and integration of proven practices in university-based entrepreneurship and technology commercialization
• Understand Rwanda’s legal and regulatory landscape with respect to entrepreneurship and assist IIL firms in their navigation of it. Organize and conduct events as necessary.
• Think globally. Promote pan-African and international business opportunities whenever possible in order to maximize the profitability of IIL firms. African job and wealth creation are key societal goals, as well as ensuring that the IIL is open to all qualified participants, regardless of their background.

Qualifications
Education and experience
• A bachelor’s degree in business administration or other relevant field required; master’s degree is preferred
• We anticipate that the successful candidate will hold a degree in business with an emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation management (e.g. an MBA), engineering, or a technical field. However, this isn’t mandatory. The critical requirement, regardless of the degree, is a proven track record establishing a candidate’s ability to perform the above responsibilities.

Skills and competencies
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Fluence in English (French a bonus)
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and lead a group of strong-minded independent thinkers to a consensus
• Senior managerial experience
• Past participation at the executive and/or board level
• Comfortable reading and negotiating contracts

Experience negotiating and implementing partnership agreements
• Managing to a budget
• Knowledge of standard financial documents

P&L statement, balance sheet, etc.
• Personnel management

Hiring, motivating, performance management, etc.
• Data-oriented decision making

Defining, collecting, and analyzing the data needed to improve
• Project management skills

o Defining schedules, establishing milestones, motivating teams, presenting to management and clients, dealing with pop-ups, etc.
• Prior experience working in or consulting for technology start-ups
• Experience mentoring professionals, preferably entrepreneurs
• A solid network of potential mentors and investors

o Prior experience growing and maintaining such networks
• Ability to thrive in uncertain environments that require self-motivation and goal setting
• A passion for entrepreneurship and building an incubator ecosystem

Job Experience: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure
Send your CV and cover letter to africa-jobs@andrew.cmu.edu  on or before October 30, 2022. Please use the subject header “Director of Entrepreneurship” and be sure to highlight relevant experience and your goal in applying for this position.

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