Partnerships Coordinator, Small Business enterprise growth and investments in Africa

POSITION TITLE: Partnerships Coordinator, Small Business enterprise growth and investments in Africa

POSITION LOCATION: Kigali, Rwanda

REPORTS TO: Project Director

CONTRACT TERM: 2 years, renewable

SALARY LEVEL: according to local salary scale

LANGUAGES REQUIRED: Fluency in English is required

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 28th, 2025

EXPECTED START DATE: April 2025

BACKGROUND

WUSC is a Canadian non-profit organization working to create a better world for all young people. We bring together a diverse network of partnerships with governments, businesses, civil society organizations and academic institutions who share this vision. Together, we develop solutions in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment to overcome inequality and exclusion for youth around the world, particularly young women and young refugees. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $40 million. We have 300 global staff collaborating with donors such as Global Affairs Canada, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Mastercard Foundation, and the African Development Bank.

WUSC is seeking a skilled and dynamic Partnership Coordinator to contribute to the launch and implementation of a five-year, multi-country initiative focused on empowering women-led enterprises, particularly those owned by young rural women. Funded by a philanthropic foundation, this project will provide targeted business development support and capital to foster the sustainable growth of women-owned MSMEs. Primarily targeting rural micro-businesses, the project will also assess the potential impact of supporting larger women-led enterprises on young rural women. Operating in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana, and Nigeria, WUSC will collaborate with an access to finance partner for capital deployment and local Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) for business development services. WUSC will lead a comprehensive learning strategy to evaluate the effectiveness of finance and BDS interventions for young rural women. WUSC holds overall project management responsibility.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the supervision of the project director, the partnership coordinator will act as the project country representative in Rwanda. In collaboration with the project team, the coordinator will be responsible for developing and maintaining partnerships with the local funding office as well as local Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) supporting the project implementation.

The Partnership Coordinator will be responsible for the following:

Partner Relations and Communications

• Establish and maintain effective relationships with key project partners in the geography of focus
• Develop robust relationships with country level project stakeholders, including the donor, the access to finance lead partner, relevant governments and enterprise support organisations.
• Represent WUSC among stakeholders, ensuring that the project can provide value to local actors and make a positive impact within the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Project Support

• Provide support for project activities in the geography of focus.
• Contribute to key project planning deliverables (i.e. Initiative Inception Plan, Annual Work Plans) using results based management approaches and tools;
• Support the integration of specific strategies for cross-cutting themes (capacity building, gender equality, youth and refugee inclusion, disability inclusion, enterprise support and capital allocation) for the initiative
• Share in WUSC’s commitment and approach to advance gender equality and social inclusion for all young people
• Maintain open and effective communication amongst local partners

Reporting

• Work with the project team to implement, revise and update the project work plans and strategies
• Contribute to the development of project annual work plans and annual reports for submission to the donor, showcasing success stories and highlighting key results
• Work closely with the Finance Manager to manage and monitor the budget allocated to the key activities of responsibility, and contributing to the financial reports as needed
• Work closely with the M&E manager to ensure targets are set, and results are being monitored according to the PMF, as well as identifying and highlighting any unintended results
• Work closely with the Gender Equality Manager to ensure that the GESI considerations are integrated into activities according to the GESI strategy and work plan.
• Actively participating in team meetings, stakeholder meetings and other events as required

Work environment

• Ability to contribute to WUSC’s organizational culture that respects differences, including sex, age, ability, refugee or migration status, race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and other identity factors
• Support a working environment free from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) and adheres to the corresponding WUSC safeguarding policies
• Understand own responsibilities towards ensuring high standards of prevention and response measures for SEAH

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Education

• A university degree in international development, business administration, finance or other relevant area; or equivalent work experience
• Specialized training in entrepreneurship support, financial inclusion, women’s and/or youth economic empowerment would be an advantage

Experience requirements

• A minimum of eight years of experience in economic growth programming
• Experience developing and managing complex partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Experience working with international development donor agencies – particularly foundations
• Knowledge of Results Based Management (RBM) and environmental and gender policies and reporting requirements
• Proven administrative and organizational skills
• Proven experience of adaptability to a challenging and constantly changing environment requiring iterative planning on a regular basis
• Proven knowledge of and commitment to the concepts of Gender Equality

Assets

• Experience in entrepreneurship ecosystem support, gender lens investment and financial inclusion
• Experience in capacity building with local partner organizations and participatory partnership approaches to development
• Ability to work with multiple time zone and frequent domestic and international travels

Languages

• Complete fluency in English is required. Ability to communicate in French a strong asset

WHY WORK WITH WUSC?

Join Us. Our work is important, cutting-edge, and rewarding. We encourage curiosity, innovation, and flexibility.

WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference in the lives of youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, economic opportunities and empowerment.

APPLICATIONS

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form.

WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and abilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Please note that only the candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.