Lead the strategic delivery and growth of the Financial Inclusion Fund - SBDC Pilot Programme, driving impactful support for high-potential entrepreneurs across Uasin Gishu, Nyeri, and Mombasa counties while building a scalable model for national expansion across Kenya.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership: Provide strategic leadership and oversight for the successful implementation and scale-up of the SBDC Pilot Programme across Uasin Gishu, Nyeri, and Mombasa counties.
Stakeholder Management: Manage high-level relationships with the Financial Inclusion Fund, Livelihood Impact Fund (LIF), government stakeholders, development partners, and other key institutional partners.
Programme Execution: Oversee programme execution, ensuring timely delivery of milestones, quality outputs, budget accountability, and compliance with donor and institutional requirements.
Team Supervision: Supervise and support the Project Manager and wider programme team, fostering a high-performance and impact-driven culture.
Monitoring & Evaluation: Lead programme monitoring, evaluation, learning, and adaptive decision-making to strengthen evidence generation and inform national scale-up.
Quality Assurance: Ensure the quality and integrity of programme deliverables, reports, communications, and stakeholder engagement activities.
Representation: Represent the programme in high-level forums, policy engagements, and strategic partnerships, positioning the SBDC model as a leading MSME development approach in Kenya.
Resource Mobilisation: Drive resource mobilisation and strategic growth opportunities to sustain and expand the programme beyond the pilot phase.
Risk Management: Identify and manage strategic, operational, and financial risks to ensure effective programme delivery and long-term impact.
Job Requirements
15+ years of senior leadership experience managing large, complex development or donor-funded programmes.
Master’s degree in a relevant field such as International Development, Public Administration, or Economic Development.
Strong experience (7+ years) in building and managing multi-stakeholder partnerships across government, donors, private sector, and civil society.
Proven expertise in programme leadership, including financial management, contract oversight, and team management.
Experience in donor-funded programme compliance, reporting, and results-based management.
Willingness to travel as required for programme delivery and stakeholder engagement.
How to Apply
If you are interested in the position and have the skills we are looking for, please forward an application letter together with a copy of your updated resume quoting 'Project Director' to the Hiring Team, Strathmore University Business School, on careerssbs@strathmore.edu.
