Senior Programs & Operations Director Village Enterprise Fund Kenya

Village Enterprise Fund is an innovative microenterprise development organization working in East Africa to reduce poverty. Their mission is to equip people living in extreme poverty with resources to create sustainable businesses. Village Enterprise Fund provides business training, seed capital, and on-going mentoring to new entrepreneurs. Village Enterprise Fund began in 1987 and, since then, has started over 20,000 microenterprises. During the next five years, it plans to significantly expand its program, evaluation and innovation efforts to increase the impact of microenterprise development in rural East Africa.

About the Job:
Village Enterprise Fund is seeking an exceptional professional with leadership and management experience and a passion for microenterprise development, poverty reduction and social entrepreneurship in Africa to become the Senior Director of Programs and Operations.

Tasks and Responsibilities:

* Oversee management and delivery of Village Enterprise’s Microenterprise Development Program, which will involve starting 2,000+ microenterprises and identifying, training and supporting 6,000+ new clients in 2011;
* Lead the Programs and Operations team, which consists of a US-based Director of Africa Operations, a Kenya Country Director, a Uganda Country Director, associated field operations staff, 60-70 community-based business mentors, and 3-4 East Africa-based fellows;
* Oversee hiring, training, and development of field staff and fellows;
* Oversee development and delivery of new, innovative pilot projects and programs to increase the impact and scalability of program;
* Manage partnerships with other community-based organizations in the field;
* Manage monitoring and evaluation programs and team;
* Prepare annual field operations budget; manage the budget;
* Play a lead role in defining and implementing our strategic plans in East Africa;
* Support the development team as they create workable proposals and accurate donor materials.

Qualifications:

* Significant (2+ years) leadership and management experience; an individual who can oversee all phases of field program, prepare the budget, mentor senior field staff, think strategically and work both independently and as a member of a team;
* Significant leadership experience required:2+ years demonstrated success in a leadership role managing a staff and directing an organization, a program, or an enterprise, in either the for-profit or not-for-profit sectors; demonstrated success in a start up environment; experience creating and managing a business, a non-profit, a new program, or a large project;
* 5-7 years of work experience required;
* Proven ability to manage programs and people, and to mentor staff;
* Experience working in a developing country or emerging economy required; experience in East Africa preferred;
* Experience in the international development field required, experience in the poverty reduction, microenterprise and/or microfinance fields preferred;
* A minimum time commitment of two years, three years preferred;
* Willingness to live and work in rural East Africa;
* Critical thinking and analytic skills; must be a very strong critical thinker with the ability to both analyze organizational dynamics and contextual threats, changes, and opportunities, and to develop and apply performance metrics;
* Experience developing and analyzing business and program effectiveness data, budgets and financial models is required;
* Communication skills: strong writing and communication skills required, as this role will involve preparing reports and presentations; experience communicating with and managing cross-cultural teams is preferred; fluency in English is required; working knowledge of Swahili is strongly preferred;
* BA/BS required; MA/MS/MBA desired;
* Passion for innovative approaches to poverty reduction around the world, including but not limited to social entrepreneurship and business development in Africa.


Interested candidates can send cover letter, resume, a writing sample and three references (contact information of references only) to:
Lyndsay Holley Handler lyndsayh at villageef.org


Please mention "VEF Job Application" in the subject line.
Your cover letter should address the following topics: why do you want this position; what specific leadership or management experiences have you had that will prepare you for this role; describe something you have started - a project, program or business, and so on; describe a major hurdle, challenge, or setback that you helped an organization, program, or enterprise address and overcome in your work experience; what will be the biggest challenge for you in this role and how will you overcome it; If you had $10,000,000, what would you do to reduce poverty in East Africa (be as specific as possible about your idea).