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Senior Manager, Enterprise Creation and Business Accelerator

Supervisor: LAC Regional Director
Location: Central America, either Managua, Guatemala City or Tegucigalpa
Travel: International up to 50%    Domestic up to 50%I. TechnoServe Background:
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 more than four decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.

II. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

The creation and growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is indispensable to promoting inclusive economic growth in developing countries. In Central America, South America and Africa, TechnoServe has developed a methodology, based on the implementation of business plan competitions, to promote entrepreneurship and accelerate the growth of SMEs in poor countries, creating jobs and increasing incomes.  With the support of a private foundation, TechnoServe is leveraging this methodology to encourage the growth of SMEs in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Burkina Faso and develop a strategy to ensure the sustainability of this growth. From inception, this Regional Accelerator Program shall incorporate activities to capture lessons learned and create and implement a vision that promotes entrepreneurship in the medium and long term. In addition, the program seeks to strengthen the ecosystem of entrepreneurship support in each of the countries by strengthening institutional ties between the various actors.

III. POSITION DESCRIPTION:

Provide overall supervision of the Business Accelerator Program by developing and executing strategies that optimize the sustainability and replicability of the program, including deeper coordination with and capacity building for key stakeholders and knowledge development in enterprise creation across TechnoServe.
  • Supervise the implementation and impact of the Central America and Burkina Faso Program
  • Develop a broader vision, in coordination with diverse partners and the Accelerator management team, to maximize the impact of the Accelerator Program
  • Lead the development of a multi-year strategy to achieve that vision, including resourcing, defining activities and milestones, governance, partnerships, risk and risk management, monitoring and evaluation, and scaling up
  • Collaborate with other entrepreneurship leaders across TechnoServe and externally, to maintain a continuous feedback loop regarding best practices and lessons learned in entrepreneur development and support
  • Conduct robust analyses of the Program’s impact and methodology, for both internal learning and external publication, assessing the effectiveness of various models and engaging top resources (e.g. Harvard, IPA, Yale) to ensure a data-driven approach
  • Work with implementation teams to build the program’s overall M&E capacity and optimize the effectiveness of M&E approaches and quality of impact indicators
  • Work with Program management to establish mutually-beneficial partnerships in each country and regionally that will accelerate the impact of the program, including the development of strong entrepreneur networks that live beyond TNS’ direct involvement and will serve to continue to nurture the pools of entrepreneurs benefitting from this program.
  • Develop a clear approach to engagement with financial institutions, understanding their specific barriers to SME lending and working with them to address them where possible
  • Lead the strategic design and delivery of capacity building services to local partner institutions, enabling them to carry out improved entrepreneurship development activities, such as business plan competitions, recruitment and support of high quality mentors, linkage to financial services and development of high quality networking practices - to ensure sustainability beyond the Accelerator’s intervention
  • Consult regularly with Accelerator funders and provide regular updates
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
  • Annual program indicators achieved
  • Donor satisfied with performance of Senior Manager as measured by an annual formal review process
  • Sustainability plan for the Business Accelerator Program developed and revised annually
  • Plan for external validation of Business Accelerator Program results defined, with annual milestones, and implemented (subject to approval of resourcing)

IV. REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE:

  • Master’s Degree in Business or closely related field
  • 5+ years of experience with entrepreneurial activity, either as an entrepreneur and/or involved in entrepreneurship support programs
  • 5+ years of experience in strategy, management consulting, business education, and/or business management
  • Strong analytical skills, including proficiency with statistical methodology
  • Excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Proven ability to work in multi-cultural work environment
  • Strong diplomatic skills to support effective work through donors, implementing partners and other stakeholders and cohesion around common objectives
  • Self-starter, ability to work with substantial autonomy and influence others with minimal supervisory authority
  • Spanish fluency required, French proficiency a plus
  • A mix of broad business experience and the facilitation and strategic skills required to empower partner institutions and enhance the long-term impact of the accelerator program.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Qualified and interested applicants should submit a Word formatted resume and cover letter with salary history to jobs@tns.org. Please identify the position for which you are applying in the subject line.
Only applicants meeting minimum qualifications for the position will be considered. No phone calls please.

TECHNOSERVE IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.