VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
Job Title: Entrepreneurship Specialist
Location: Kigali
Employment status: Full-Time
Contract type: Fixed-term
Reports to: Director of Career & Alumni affairs
Deadline: 07th September 2021
Institution information
Since Kepler’s launch in 2013, we continue to build a model of accessible and quality higher education. We provide a different kind of education – one that combines in-person, online, and on-the-job learning in service of a singular goal: decent jobs for young Africans. And we have been successful with more than 90% of scholars employed within six months of graduating. Kepler, through a partnership with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), has enrolled more than 1,000 students across our campuses in Kigali and the Kiziba refugee camp in Western Rwanda. We have entered into a dynamic time at Kepler. Over the next few months, Kepler hopes to become locally accredited in Rwanda through Kepler College and we are expanding our academic offerings and programs in Rwanda and Ethiopia.
Job summary
Kepler will be piloting an entrepreneurship program that consists of an incubator as well as training, mentoring, and other types of support for beginning entrepreneurs. The pilot will start with Kepler graduates and students close to graduation. We are looking for an experienced Entrepreneurship Specialist who will manage these efforts under the direction of the Chief Innovation Officer and the Director of Careers and Alumni Affairs.
This is an exciting opportunity to build a new program that will complement existing opportunities in Kigali’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and target a broad range of possible businesses with a focus on the earliest stages of the entrepreneurial journey. We will be especially focused on entrepreneurs with marginalized backgrounds, including refugees, and women. This is a 12-month position with a possibility of renewal based on funding and the program success.
Reports to: Director of Careers and Alumni Affairs
Duties and Responsibilities
- Help design the incubator program in collaboration with other Kepler staff members.
- Design and launch an entrepreneurship competition to prepare students for entrepreneurship and choose the best candidates for the incubator.
- Use their relationships and experience to connect the incubator participants and others at Kepler to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rwanda. This will include structured partnerships with Kepler as well as case-by-case support to individual entrepreneurs. The areas of support will include mentoring, financing, legal, marketing etc.
- Personally mentor and train entrepreneurs as they grow their skills and their businesses.
- Develop key performance indicators to measure the success of Kepler’s entrepreneurship program, set ambitious goals, and implement activities to reach those goals.
- Partner with academic leadership to explore ways to include various levels of entrepreneurship education in Kepler’s curriculum.
- Build a culture of learning by doing where aspiring entrepreneurs take responsibility for their own learning, move forward to achieve their goals, and know when to ask for support to accelerate their progress.
- As needed, provide professional development to other staff members to help them support young entrepreneurs.
- As needed, investigate and pilot additional program components to support entrepreneurship among Kepler graduates and students.
Qualifications, skills, and experience
- Proven record of creating and running entrepreneurial programs.
- Hands-on experience with entrepreneurship and business creation.
- Connected with key stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rwanda.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
How to apply:
- Applicants are required to submit a cover letter, a mini portfolio of documents as mentioned here below, and cv/resume through BambooHR. Applicant link: https://kepler1.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=127
- All applicants must apply using our online application system, CVs received via email or standard post will NOT be considered. Deadline to submit the application is September 07th, 2021
- In addition to a typical CV, please provide evidence of your experience and success in activities related to the position, such as launching an entrepreneurship program, starting a company, running a company, raising funds, etc. You can submit a mini-portfolio of existing documents or other relevant evidence.
Kepler values diversity as a paramount aspect of growth and provides equal opportunities. Discrimination against employees based on gender, race, religion, physical abilities, social status, beliefs, and cultural values are strictly forbidden.
