Business Associate

Acumen is looking for a new member of our global team.  This is an outstanding opportunity for someone with a few years of work experience, exceptional energy, and a commitment to global development with a passion to create positive change.

Acumen

Acumen started as an idea. 12 years later we have a proven model that combines the best of charity and investing to change the way the world tackles poverty. 

Acumen is a non-profit venture fund with a vision to help build a world beyond poverty through investing in companies that deliver critical goods and services in water, health, housing, energy, agriculture, and education; leaderswho are paving the way for new approaches to fighting poverty; and the spread of ideas that will give the world the knowledge and the understanding to change how the world tackles poverty.

Passion, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to tackling the issue of global poverty are just a few of the things that the staff at Acumen have in common. What we aim to accomplish with our work is no easy task, and we need dedicated, high-caliber people to reach our goals.

Acumen has invested more than $85 million of patient capital in more than 70 social enterprises in South Asia, East Africa and West Africa that have collectively served more than 100 million customers. We have teams on the ground in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Ghana, and New York, and we aim to build strong local structures that are deeply interconnected to the global organization through shared goals.

East Africa

Acumen’s commitment to East Africa began in 2004. Today, we have over $17.6 in approved investments and 12 portfolio companies across healthcare, energy, water & sanitation, agricultural and education. Portfolio companies like M-Kopa, Circmedtech, and Virtual City are revolutionizing their sectors and pioneering new development paradigms. The office is staffed with a full-time team of professionals from diverse backgrounds including investment banking, venture capital, management consulting, social enterprise, law, and accounting.

Acumen East Africa is well-resourced, has a strong foundation, and is ready to take our mission to the next level. Core to our success is the ability to identify, resource, and build a world class portfolio that demonstrates the power of patient capital to solve the problems of poverty in East Africa  and the world more broadly. Equally important is to leverage our experience into insights that compel this ecosystem of funders, operators, and policy makers to catalyze a broader paradigm shift in the battle against poverty.

See who is talking about us, here.   

Responsibilities

As the East Africa Business Associate, you will be an integral member of Acumen’s Business Development, Communications, Talent teams. You will work most closely with the Business Development & Communications Manager, Administrative Associate, East Africa Director, and the Communications team in New York. . The East Africa Business Associate will report directly to the East Africa Business Development & Communications Manager.

Business Development (BD) & Community:

• Prospect & meeting research to support local fundraising goals, as well as capability to individually attend and conduct fundraising meetings
• Maintain fundraising software; pipeline tracking for prospects as well as due partners, entering and managing partner data, as well as segmenting data & presenting reports
• Own regular updating and sourcing content for partner collateral generated locally
• Assist the Business Development & Communications Manager in putting together Partner and new Prospect proposals for fundraising
• Simultaneously working with the Business Development & Communications Manager to design events and activities that inspire, engage and promote Acumen with new and existing audiences
• Be well-versed with happenings, news and updates in the social enterprise and impact investing space, be a voice for Acumen and help build strategic relationships with peer organisations along with the Business Development & Communications Manager
• Ensure that Acumen is well positioned and that the brand is well represented across all media in support of business development and communications strategy set out by the Business Development & Communication Manager

Communications:

• Work with the Business Development & Communications Manager to drive communications in the region including the press relaeases for new investments to share Acumen’s impact
• Cultivate relationships with internal teams and external stakeholders  ensuring consistent and impactful communication throughout
• Identify and cultivate relationships with thought leaders, key media personalities, and publications in East Africa
• Provide support to East Africa Director with content for external presentations
• Occasionally support portfolio team with creating and curating content for external presentations
• Work directly with the Administrative Associate to create an annual conference attendance strategy that ensures our team is adequately represented in external forums
• Promote our social media presence in the East Africa regions by working closely with the Business Analyst in NY to manage our social media assets (facebook, twitter)
• Author blog posts for Acumen blog profiling portfolio companies, as well as Acumen’s work in the region
• Develop and manage library of visual assets that tell compelling stories of enterprises’ impact
• Act as a brand ambassador locally working closely with the Business Development and Communications Manager to ensure brand consistency throughout communications both internally and externally.

Talent & Leadership:

• Work with the Administrative Associate to manage the hiring and selection process for new hires and project manage any new recruitment efforts including resume screening, setting up interviews, interviewing and following up with candidates
• Support roll-out of any global Talent programs or initiatives in close coordination with the New York Talent Team, and report key Talent information where required
• Support local +acumen chapters, specifically in Nairobi  as well as investigate building new chapters in coordination with Lead Architect of +acumen community based in NY
• Provide support to the local recruitment process for our Global Fellows Program including coordinating with candidates, Partners and Advisors for annual interview process; design orientation for local fellows once they come on board
• Support the Regional Fellows Manager to launch subsequent cohorts of the East Africa Fellows Program and provide support with recruiting fellows each year

Administration:

• The Administrative Associate will have a direct line reporting to you
• Manage all banking transactions including direct liaison with the bank, petty cash management, payments to third party suppliers, monthly cash & bank reconciliations, etc 
• Manage the Annual Leave and Sick Leave processes
• Work with the Administrative Associate to organize the Annual Staff Retreat for the East Africa team
• Facilities and office premises management
• Manage the relationship with all outsourced services providers

Qualifications & Characteristics

• Authorization to work in Kenya
• A minimum of 3 years of work experience in one or more of the following functions is a must: fundraising, marketing, communications and human resources. Some experience in events planning, management and execution is a significant plus
• Bachelor's Degree is required, Masters Degree is a great plus
• A basic understanding of bookkeeping
• Some familiarity with the social enterprise sector and leadership development programs in East Africa
• Flexibility with changing job requirements as the team grows; a strong interest in learning on the job

Additional characteristics we’re looking for in all roles at Acumen:

• Commitment to, and enthusiasm for, the organization’s mission and business model, and respect for our core values: generosity, accountability, humility, audacity, listening, leadership, integrity, respect
• Moral Imagination: The humility to see the world as it is, and the audacity to imagine the world as it could be. It also includes but is not limited to the following:
  • Displaying high level of empathy in all relationships and encounters
  • Possessing deep self-awareness and ability to identify own strengths and weaknesses
  • Actively listening and focusing on hearing what others are saying
• Reasonable understanding of financial concepts and our investing model
• Solid operational skills including problem solving and project management skills, including ability to work and deliver projects independently, proactively and under pressure
• Effectively collaborates with and across teams, seeks and provides constructive feedback
• Exceptional relationship and interpersonal skills: courtesy, tact, patience and strong teamwork
• Strong communication skills and ability to be a “storyteller” of our work
• Ability to thrive when there is ambiguity, remain cool-headed when there are curve balls, and withstand the tests of a rapidly changing environment with resilience and resolve
• Curious – always questioning, always probing, and never blindly accepting
• A sense of humor (really)

Compensation
Acumen offers a competitive compensation package commensurate with experience, including full benefits

Location
Nairobi, Kenya

Application Requirements
Please submit the following materials via our applicant tracking system:

1. Resume
2. Cover letter (not to exceed one page)
3. A brief sample that portrays either your interest in this role, knowledge about the sector or your passion for social change. This can be through any medium; a blog, article, essay, poem, facebook page, video or even tweet!

Deadline
The deadline for this position is 6 pm EAT, Friday 28th June 2013. Click here to apply