INNOVATION CATALYST

Start date

As soon as possible

Location

Mbarara, Gulu, Mbale, Kampala/Masaka

Compensation

Commensurate with Experience

About Outbox

At Outbox, our mission is to bring together the infrastructure, people, knowledge and capital that supports entrepreneurs through the growth of inclusive communities that foster talent and create value where we operate. We take a deliberate approach to how we support Small and Growing businesses, by differentiating our programs based on their unique needs, walking the lonely entrepreneurship journey with them, and capturing our learnings for the benefit of the next entrepreneur we might meet.

We have the best learning communities in the startup ecosystem in Uganda and utilize that competency to distribute our expertise beyond our walls. We strongly believe in the potential of technology to provide an unfair advantage to any business when used for good, and as such focus on supporting digital entrepreneurs first.

Over the last eight (8) years, we have brought together the best people, companies, development partners, Government and knowledge (best practice) for our entrepreneurs to succeed – which is why we believe we are best placed to guide our ecosystem forward. Various partners have trusted us to lead our ecosystem and enabled us to continue our work of ensuring that every young person in Uganda has an opportunity to have dignified work.

The Role

As an innovation catalyst, you are responsible for providing operational support to our youth entrepreneurship programming in the region within which you are stationed.

The primary emphasis of the role is to support our regional entrepreneurs and replicating partners during the implementation of our youth employment programmes. You will ensure that our replicating partners are equipped with the knowledge and tools to conform to our standardised programming, the entrepreneurs in your location have access to the support they need and other partners that include private businesses, local Government are engaged on a regular basis on our activities. You will work closely with the venture development associates on a day to day basis.

We are looking for innovation catalysts to represent us in Western, Northern, Eastern and Central Uganda. You are expected to be permanently residing in those regions full time.

Core Responsibilities

• Engage and manage relationships with various stakeholders that include the local Governments, universities, replicating partners, etc. Act as a liaison between the stakeholders and the Outbox team. This will include setting up and attending coordination meetings, inter-agency meetings and various activities within your region;
• Support with the logistical aspects of our entrepreneurship programming. This will range from reserving accommodation for participants, communicating with our participants to show up, to securing venues for training to mention but a few;
• Provide follow-on support to the teams and young people accepted into our programmes/projects as per the planned activities. This will involve following up with spot check visits to track implementation, following up to ensure they are sharing any deliverables requested from them among others;
• Provide support on work plan monitoring as part of our monitoring and evaluation activities
• Participate in the generation of activity reports as per the work plan and templates provided;
• Support with the delivery of training to our participants as and when required;
• Support with the development and management of our communities of practice in your region;
• Other duties as assigned

Job qualifications

Minimum qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree in business, development economics/financial inclusions, finance;
• At-least 3 years work experience in community based field work, building and managing volunteer communities/communities of practice;
• Experience with using modern digital tools for documentation and project management, include G-suite, slack, JIRA,
• Strong understanding of MSME segmentation (from early stage startups to growth stage SMEs and the systemic challenges affecting their growth with a particular understanding of Uganda’s context;
• Experience with supporting youth employment initiatives;

Preferred qualifications

• Experience in at-least two fields that include Agribusiness, Health systems, Financial inclusion, tourism, education , ICTs ;
• Experience in supporting large donor programming including UN initiatives;
• Strong ability to communicate progress and learnings from projects to colleagues
• Strong listening, documentation and presentation skills;
• Demonstrated strong relationship management skills;
• Excellent project management skills, including handling multi-stakeholder projects
• A self-starter with the ability to work independently and as part of a team
• You are flexible, adaptable and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities;
• You pay attention to the various sensitivities of various cultures;
• Ability to hold self and others accountable for work related commitments and deliverables, and consistently and all the time follow through on such commitments;
• You are fully resident in your proposed duty station;
• Ability to speak other regional local languages an added advantage