Job Description

About TechnoServe:

At TechnoServe, we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better life. For over 50 years, we have given smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs the skills, connections, and confidence to lift themselves out of poverty. We leverage the power of markets and the private sector to create sustainable economic growth to benefit people and the planet. Our unique mix of business solutions, deep knowledge of local contexts, and data-driven insights is helping to fight poverty across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

TechnoServe staff are local–95% are from the countries in which they work. We put a high premium on collaboration and entrepreneurship. We hold ourselves and each other to the highest standards of integrity and transparency. And we focus on delivering lasting impact for our mission.

TechnoServe is seeking a Program Director to provide overall strategic, technical, and administrative leadership for the 5-year FemFocus program across Kenya and Nigeria.

FemFocus is primarily a grant mechanism and the Program Director for FemFocus will be responsible for overall management of the portfolio of grants that TechnoServe will award to local civil society organizations (CSOs) in Nigeria and Kenya. The Program Director’s responsibilities include overseeing grants awarded to CSOs and liaising with the Dutch government, coordinating with in-country CSO partners, supervising the project team, and overseeing implementation across multiple countries. This role includes financial and administrative oversight, reporting, and monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Program Overview:

TechnoServe is pursuing the FemFocus program funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). TechnoServe will act as the support/intermediary partner between MFA and in-country CSOs. Under instrument 1: “Encouraging Women’s Entrepreneurship,” TechnoServe will strengthen women’s entrepreneurship at the individual level while reducing socio-cultural and institutional barriers at the societal level.

As a grant mechanism, FemFocus is designed to strengthen the capacity of the ecosystem for women entrepreneurs. These grants aim to build capacity and finance for local partner ESOs, which will improve their effectiveness and sustainability to benefit women entrepreneurs at-scale. Women entrepreneurs will benefit from scaled models for business skills, training, and coaching opportunities and expanded connections to markets, services, and networks. At the same time, activities aimed at strengthening advocacy and dialogue will shift norms, attitudes, and policies to benefit women entrepreneurs.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic oversight and facilitation for pass-through support to CSO partners through grant-making and capacity building mechanisms, including fixed-price grant agreements, comprehensive partner due diligence, facilitation of annual work plans, ongoing fiduciary oversight, and timely disbursement of funds
• Coordinate with TechnoServe’s global technical practices to ensure alignment with best practices in women’s economic empowerment and enterprise development
• Lead overall implementation and management of the program, from inception to close-out, ensuring that the program achieves established goals, objectives, and targets in line with donor and TechnoServe policies and procedures
• Oversee the development and submission of project deliverables on time and within budget
• Recruit, lead, manage, and supervise delivery teams comprising long- and short-term team members and consortium partners
• Serve as the primary liaison with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Kenyan and Nigerian Government entities and all counterparts, implementing partners, and stakeholders involved with the program
• Act as a spokesperson for the program and present its work regionally/globally
• Develop a strategy for the project's locally led development vision by integrating local CSO and women's voices throughout design, grantmaking, and implementation
• Apply and uphold robust safeguarding and do-no-harm practices that are integrated across partners and program delivery
• Identify issues and risks related to implementation in a timely manner, and suggest appropriate program adjustments

Basic Qualifications:

• A master’s degree or equivalent in business administration, economics, or another relevant field with eight years of experience in relevant roles, ideally within the development sector managing donor-funded grand programs or other relevant field (or a bachelor’s degree with twelve years of experience.
• Experience leading and managing complex economic growth and enterprise development programs and large teams as Team Leader, Chief of Party, or other Program Director-level role

Required Languages: Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal skills, including fluency in English. Understanding of Swahili is an advantage.

Travel: Full-time, on-site leadership for the life of the project. FemFocus budgeted staff and leadership travel for field engagement (project planning/budget assumes regular field missions). (Program travel expectations and field presence to be agreed with Country Director.)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience designing and managing complex grant portfolios of CSO partners, including competitive partner selection, grant agreement negotiation, due diligence, financial controls, monitoring, and capacity building
• Strong experience successfully implementing programs focused on women’s economic empowerment and gender equality, and strengthening service delivery models that improve business skills, coaching, access to finance, and market linkages
• Experience leading Dutch or other bilateral-funded projects
• Prior work experience or collaboration with private sector companies and businesses
• Proven track record in designing and implementing programs with advocacy or policy-influencing elements (e.g., coalition building, stakeholder engagement with governments, policy briefs, etc.)
• Experience working in Kenya and Nigeria or in the region is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to interact effectively and collaboratively with a broad range of public and private sector counterparts and other key stakeholders

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong grant management skills with demonstrated ability to manage awards and pass-through funding, including financial oversight, compliance, and partner capacity development
• Proven ability to provide high-level technical assistance to CSOs or enterprise support organizations serving women entrepreneurs
• Practical advocacy skills that include stakeholder mapping, coalition facilitation, and monitoring of advocacy and policy influences
• Strong communications and interpersonal skills with evidence of ability to lead diverse teams and achieve results
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate and engage with a wide range of organizations (Private sector, government, NGOs)
• Ability to effectively motivate and manage teams
• Ability to work under tight deadlines while managing multiple tasks and activities
• Ability to develop well-written, cohesive analyses and reports
• Ability to clearly communicate a high-level strategy to internal and external stakeholders, while driving execution of a work plan and achievement of short-term milestones
• Ability to use adaptive management principles to make strategic, data-driven decisions in the face of uncertainty and complexity

Supervisory Responsibilities:

The Program Director will directly supervise the program leadership and will be supported by a full program team, including (budgeted roles): Senior Grants Manager (Kenya), Senior Technical Managers (2) in both Kenya and Nigeria, Senior MEL Manager (Kenya). The Program Director will be supported by a regional Program Manager, and shared support functions (finance, procurement, and Grants & Contracts support) will ensure consistent program operations, compliance, and cross-country coherence.

This position is pending the awarding of funding and donor approval. Candidates must have valid, unrestricted work authorization in Kenya. TechnoServe will not provide sponsorship for this position.

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 at recruitment@tns.org or call +1 202 785 4515.