Summary
Date Posted: Tuesday, May 24, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Managing Director
Reports To: Chief Operating Officer
Location: Country HQ office, with frequent travel across the country

About The Organization
African Entrepreneur Collective leverages private sector approaches to help communities thrive.
Through direct support to entrepreneurs – training, consulting, and access to finance – as well as through market-systems approaches and advocacy for financial inclusion, we seek to improve livelihoods and create jobs across East African communities.

Founded in 2012, AEC now has 180 staff in 13 offices in Rwanda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. In the past decade, we have supported more than 35,000 micro and small businesses to grow, many of whom are refugee entrepreneurs. In our recently adopted strategic plan, AEC will expand in the coming years into five additional countries, to serve more than 535,000 entrepreneurs, creating market linkages among them for a benefit to all. As a social enterprise, we balance financial sustainability with social impact, and we operate a values-driven company culture.

AEC in Rwanda is known as Inkomoko, and we have 100+ staff in 8 offices across the country. Operating in Rwanda since 2012, we continue to grow, and have had a 50% compound annual growth rate since 2016. In the past few years, we’ve had active partnerships with the Government of Rwanda, MINICOM, MINEMA; annual partnerships with MTN and Bank of Kigali for the BK Urumuri Initiative; and we have been a UNWomen, Mastercard Foundation, UNHCR, and GIZ partner on a range of entrepreneurship initiatives. Inkomoko is also the largest provider of business development services to refugee entrepreneurs in Rwanda, serving more than 14,000 refugee and host community entrepreneurs a year; more than half are women. Recently, AEC disbursed $2.3M USD to 3,500+ businesses across Rwanda to support COVID-19 economic recovery, all while taking our content digital.

The Job Opportunity & Responsibilities
Reporting to the AEC Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, the Managing Director is the most senior leader for each country of operations, responsible for driving AEC’s competitive advantage to meet and exceed our strategic goals across the country. To do so, the MD will need to work effectively with a range of stakeholders both inside and outside the company – the co-founders who serve as CEO/COO, prominent government and strategic partners, donors, and AEC’s talented regional leads for program, finance, HR, MEL, etc. Specific Managing Director responsibilities include:

STRATEGY & MANAGEMENT (30% Time)
• Be a leader among leaders in maintaining the organizational culture, professionalism, and results
• Set and implement AEC’s growth strategy in the country in alignment with the company’s comprehensive strategic plan.
• Lead annual goal-setting for country growth, ensuring that KPIs across colleagues align with the country-wide strategy
• Consistently advance, analyze, and adjust as necessary the country-wide strategies to reach those goals, based on changing market conditions, new opportunities, and insight from company operations
• Manage all country-wide contracts, including regular review with AEC’s legal advisors
• Ensure adherence with all relevant local laws and regulations
• Understands corporate risk – legal, financial, the safety of staff, reputational, etc. – across the company and develops strategies to keep the company and its staff and clients safe
• Be a phenomenally proactive and transparent communicator with other colleagues- Directors, C-level colleagues, and regional leaders from AEC - ensuring smooth coordination of company resources for country-wide objectives

Financial Management & Revenue Generation (25% Time)
• Develop and manage the annual and multi-year company budgets, ensuring resources are strategically allocated, in partnership with the Finance Director and CFO
• Actively solicit profitable contracts and grants, and work with fundraising team to produce proposals and budgets to secure these resources
• Review and manage the company’s finances to stay within budget – both for revenue and expenses – and make decisions as needed to ensure fiscal sustainability
• Work with CEO’s office to fundraise – relationship building, donor engagement, reporting, presentations
• Participate in the annual audit process and other financial compliance requirements

Partnerships & External Relations (25% Time)
• Serve as a spokesperson in relevant local and international media, panels, conferences
• Seek new opportunities to expand the company brand, reputation, and services
• Serve in a lead role in government relations, developing respectful and mutually beneficial engagements/MOUs/collaborations with ministries, national and local secretariats, and bi-lateral donors (UNHCR and UNWomen, for example)
• Enhance and engage the Advisory Board of leaders from across the country
• Develop and maintain relevant collaborations with funders and high-level program partners
• Work closely with the Communications Director to ensure messaging meets AEC’s country objectives

PROGRAM IMPACT & EXPANSION (20% Time)
• Coordinate with Regional Business Growth Services directors to ensure that AEC services are consistently meeting programmatic deliverables and impact objectives
• Lead in-country geographic expansion, including market-entry strategy, partnerships development, resource allocation, and operations
• Advise Regional Business Growth Services Director and Innovation Lab on strategic programmatic initiatives/products needed to maintain competitive advantage, add increased value to our core clients, and reach social impact
• Serve as a point-of-contact with institutional clients, supporting positive relationship management.
• As AEC establishes advocacy approaches for inclusion of refugees, take a lead role in facilitating conversations on systemic change for the benefit of refugee entrepreneurs.
• Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning department to generate insights, and action those for the benefit of the company and clients.

The Successful Candidate Qualifications
The Managing Director role is diverse and ever-changing. While the description above provides an overview of some key areas of focus, we’re looking for a seasoned leader who can continue to grow the organization, its impact, and has the drive and flexibility to adapt themselves to the goals at hand. In that vein, the Managing Director will be:
• Passionate about improving lives and communities across Rwanda through entrepreneurship
• Commitment to equity, inclusion, and fairness, and demonstrates those values in all decisions
• Experienced leading executive teams to meet strategic objectives
• Both strategic and operational – needs to develop the big picture and manage operations to get there
• Comfortable with ambiguity – does not ask for clarity, but rather helps create it
• Skilled in business management – including good working knowledge of business finance, negotiation, team building, IT, and communications
• Skilled in fundraising and new business development, with a network of relevant partners
• Excellent in interpersonal relationships, with an ability to establish rapport, collaborate, and build trust through both words and actions
• Excited to give and receive authentic feedback to/from a diverse range of colleagues
• Proven ability to build partnerships with government and other significant stakeholders
• High levels of discretion, diplomacy, and sophistication when engaging key stakeholders
• Impeccable integrity, trustworthiness, and professionalism – be true to your word, accountable, and deliver high quality work
• Excellent written and verbal communication in English; Kinyarwanda also strongly preferred
• Advanced education qualification (relevant masters or MBA strongly preferred)
• Experience working with refugees or entrepreneurship is beneficial and appreciated, but not required

AEC seeks to reflect the communities we serve and is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. Refugees, women, people with disabilities, and persons who reflect the diverse communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply. We have inclusive company policies in place to ensure that we are also a good employer to those with a variety of backgrounds and life situations (it’s not enough to ask you to apply, but we also have to make sure you can thrive at AEC when you do).

Company Values
Our leaders embody the key tenants of the company’s culture. In addition to the skills above, all candidates must demonstrate our core values:

• Purpose: we are solutions-oriented and produce high quality work to be a global leader.
• Achievement: we push ourselves to reach beyond what we previously thought possible.
• Improvement: we are humble and committed to continuous learning and growing. We improve through giving and receiving open and accurate feedback.
• Bravery: we are willing to take risks and create a safe space for others to take risks. We are compassionate and inclusive.
• Turikumwe/Tuko Pamoja (“We are together”): we take time to appreciate colleagues, celebrate success, and hold each other up in hard times. We eat goat.

Compensation
Compensation includes competitive salary and potential KPI-based bonus, healthcare, flexible annual leave, international travel in East Africa, professional development opportunities, and the chance to connect with colleagues across East Africa. In addition, this role is a tremendous opportunity to work in a high-growth, mission-driven organization that will challenge you every day.

Job Experience: No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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