Global Entrepreneurship Practice Manager

Job Description

Global Entrepreneurship Practice Manager

Global

About TechnoServe:

TechnoServe is a leader in harnessing the power of the private sector to help people lift themselves out of poverty. A nonprofit organization operating in 29 countries, we work with enterprising men and women in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. By linking people to information, capital and markets, we have helped millions to create lasting prosperity for their families and communities.

Founded over 50 years ago, TechnoServe has been named the #1 nonprofit for fighting poverty by the ImpactMatters charity ratings agency.

Job Summary:

The Manager will join TechnoServe’s Global Entrepreneurship Practice to facilitate knowledge exchange, train and advise program development and implementation staff in connection with the practice strategy to scale TechnoServe’s impact among Micro and Small Growing Businesses (MSGBs) in developing countries. This strategy is sustained in the following four pillars:

• Improve return on investment across TechnoServe entrepreneurship programming
• Increase TechnoServe’s influence in the global entrepreneurship development sector
• Increase and diversify funding for TechnoServe entrepreneurship initiatives
• Insure financial sustainability of the practice

Practice Overview:

There are more than 300 million small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries, which contribute up to 40% of national GDP. They are operated and often founded by women and men aiming to provide greater life opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities. These businesses promote inclusive development, serving as the main providers of jobs for many low-income individuals; the main suppliers of basic goods and services in poor or isolated communities; and very often the best market alternative for farmers. Entrepreneurship also provides critical opportunities for women and youth to earn their own incomes.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Participate in the execution of a knowledge management strategy for the entrepreneurship practice, including activities such as
  • Support peer learning and networking among entrepreneurship practitioners inside the organization
  • Support the development and update of key knowledge products that will facilitate program development, program implementation, internal knowledge sharing and the influencing agenda.
  • Implement systems and processes to share best practices among key entrepreneurship practitioners and stakeholders (virtual library, webinars, workshops, etc.)
• Advise, train and steer entrepreneurship program implementation teams for program quality
  • Provide advisory and support during project set-up (onboarding, planning, etc.)
  • Provide advisory to develop training and advisory materials (content prioritization, incorporating adult learning methodologies, etc.)
  • Training of trainers and other capacity building initiatives for entrepreneurship projects staff
• Support technical design of TechnoServe entrepreneurship programs
• Participate in other initiatives of the Entrepreneurship Practice to scale TechnoServe’s impact through entrepreneurship projects

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Education, Development or closely related field
• Minimum of seven years of experience in entrepreneurship development programs as manager and/or methodological lead, or master’s degree and five years of experience
• Demonstrated track record in leading change management through influence.
• Strong capacity building skills: entrepreneurship training delivery, building facilitation and advisory skills
• Strong curriculum development skills
• Strong listening skills and ability to communicate clearly both verbal and written
• Strong critical thinking and problem solving skills
• Service-oriented, with ability to work in multi-cultural environment
• Self-starter, ability to work with substantial autonomy and influence others without supervisory authority
• Ability to meet travel requirements (estimated at 35% of time)
• Proficiency in English. Other relevant language on TechnoServe operations strongly desired (Spanish, French, Portuguese, Swahili, etc.)

Preferred Qualifications

• Candidates located in Sub-Saharan Africa, or
• Experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa

Required Languages

Proficiency in English

Travel

Up to 35% internationally

Supervisory Responsibilities

None

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe’s vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.

With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.

We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.

If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources department at recruitment@tns.org or call +1 202 785 4515.

About the Organization

TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. We are a nonprofit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hardworking men and women in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs and wealth for their families and communities. With five decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.