Head of Strategic Partnerships Job in Kenya

Vacancy: Head of Strategic Partnerships

The iHub, an innovation hub and hacker space for the technology community in Nairobi, is considered the most successful tech hub in Africa and one of the most recognizable brands in the world.  

It has played a pivotal role in growth of the tech community outside of Nairobi through advisory services resulting in the establishment of hubs in Mombasa, Kisumu, and Rift Valley. 

Moreover, the iHub has also supported establishment of hubs in several African countries (Botswana, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe) and is a founding member of Afrilabs, the umbrella body of innovation hubs on the continent. 

This incubator space represents a vibrant community of tech innovators and entrepreneurs looking to build and scale tech startups. 

Over the past few years, iHub has cemented itself as the nexus point not just for the Kenyan tech community, but the world.

The iHub’s vision is to create an ecosystem for innovation and technology to solve pressing issues in which those innovations spur entrepreneurial ventures that create jobs and promote human capital development and opportunity. 

We believe that our collective experience can usher in a paradigm shift of innovation-led development that gives people the tools to invent solutions to the pressing issues they face each day, such as access to quality education, healthcare, food security, and poverty. 

We aim to provide the capacity, education, and services needed for these inventions to turn into entrepreneurial organizations that can scale up to increase employment opportunities, capacity building, and knowledge exchange. 

Today, the iHub is entering a new chapter where they will sharpen their service offerings, become more profitable, and find and grow leading, innovative and forward thinking start-ups.  

To this end, the iHub is expanding their leadership team and is seeking to hire a Head of Strategic Partnerships.  

The role is responsible for leading the expansion of the iHub through key strategic relationships, generating leads and promoting the iHub’s services.

Job Summary:
 The Director of Sales and Strategic Partnerships position requires a leader with a presence and creative vision, highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, demonstrable ability to influence senior stakeholders, both internal and external, and innate drive to meet targets and objectives.  

This position plays a critical role in the development of our overall partnership and sales strategy, and s/he will be responsible for the execution and ongoing optimization of a broad range of partnerships and leads. 

Therefore s/he must be a keen strategic thinker with a passion for leading innovation, advancing the impact of the iHub’s community team, business development, and driving the growth of the iHub services.  

S/he will be able to build trusting and productive relationships across all areas and levels as well as also hone and deepen existing ones.  

The candidate will report to the CEO and work closely with the senior management team.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities of the Director of Sales & Strategic Partnerships are outlined below:

Senior Leadership Team Responsibilities
  • In conjunction with the Board and senior management, develop a partnership strategy designed to maximize revenue by securing new partners for long term, mutually beneficial, relationships;
  • Develop systems and procedures in support of the identification, engagement, and development of strategic partnerships;
  • Work closely with a broad range of cross-functional stakeholders and understand the full scope of iHub’s services and potential while bearing in mind industry trends and strategic opportunities to partner;
  • Contribute to a thriving culture for the entire organization and positively promote the iHub’s strategic objectives internally and externally;
  • Contribute proactively to, shape and successfully implement strategic and annual plans;
  • Cultivate and offer focused strategic thinking, planning and decision making that accomplishes strategic objectives;
  • Lead, manage and develop assigned staff to meet strategic sales and annual goals;
  • Create messaging, talking points and scripts for the iHub team to communicate the broader impact of the iHub and to communicate the types of services offered;
  • Develop and implement a pricing and discount strategy to maximize iHub profits while maximizing the iHub’s impact; and
  • Manage the related budgets and responsible for meeting fiscal goals
Lead Generation
  • Create and implement a plan to generate enough leads to support significant growth;
  • Identify target markets, create a marketing plan, budget appropriately, and work effectively with the Marketing team to implement sales messages based on overall strategy;
  • Track the results of lead generation activities and recommend changes based on what is working most effectively to generate quality leads that convert to new groups; and
  • Maintain a long term perspective, understanding the sales cycle and the number of leads needed to meet current and future goals.
Strategic Relationships
  • Create and implement a strategy to identify and pursue partners with the capacity to greatly impact the iHub community and contribute to increase in sale of iHub services;
  • Initiate relationships by scheduling appointments, identify the mutual win, make initial presentation, and engage the team as needed;
  • Develop partner networks and strategic partnerships locally, regionally, and internationally;
  • Coordinate the management of ongoing relationships with existing partners and where relevant, leverage those relationships to greater collective impact;
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams within the iHub to structure and execute business initiatives, lead analysis and develop and communicate final recommendations for growing partner relationships;
  • Provide timely and accurate reporting of pipeline, strategic partnerships and management activities;
  • Drive the process of establishing Memo of Understandings between the iHub and the strategic partner by building rapport; defining success; overcoming objections; preparing contracts;
  • Manage existing and new strategic relationships by reporting, fostering excitement and expressing appreciation on behalf of the iHub; and
  • Deliver professional sales presentations to potential partner organizations and clients with the ability to persuade and close business.                                                                       
Sponsor Relations
  • Create strategy to acquire, retain, and grow sponsor relationships bearing in mind annual revenue and expense budgets;
  • Oversee sponsor communication and processes to ensure quality service and aid in retention;
  • Integrate sponsor relationships throughout the organization as needed and ensure clear communication; and
  • Execute strategic sponsorships; host and speak at key startup events, dinners; and create mini-events as needed.
Job Requirements
  • Bachelor’s Degree in related field;
  • Minimum of seven years (7)  professional experience;
  • At least three to five years(3-5) of experience in strategic sales or business development;
  • Knowledge and understanding of the context in  Kenya and Africa as it relates to innovation, start-ups and the tech industry;
  • Self motivated team player with a proven ability to work with aggressive individual and team sales goals;
  • Superior knowledge regarding the practices and principles related to the sale and implementation of corporate partnership;
  • Ability to establish and maintain strong working relationships with clients, investors, donors, and colleagues;
  • Proven ability to find strategic partnerships that have led to increase revenue and contracts and leveraged further opportunities;
  • Proven ability to negotiate and work with high level executives, both internally and externally;
  • Strong analytic skills (financial, budgeting, planning,  and operational);
  • Demonstrated drive to solve problems in a matrix team environment and leading with high energy and a positive attitude;
  • Demonstrated success in that role and tangible experience of having expanded and cultivated existing partnerships over time;
  • Experience of working as part of a senior management team and leading organizational strategy;
  • Strong relationship building skills and an entrepreneurial approach that leverages further opportunities;
  • Strong executive presence with excellent oral and written communication skills;
  • Experience working in and interest in startups and the startup community with a strong understanding of technology trends and innovation;
  • Supervisory and teambuilding experience with the ability to engage, mentor, lead, and motivate team members; and
  • Ability to plan, effectively, and to delegate.
How to Apply

If you believe you qualify for this position, please apply for the position by sending your CV to recruitment@dpckenya.com 

Only shortlist candidates shall be contacted

Candidates are reviewed immediately and interviews will be conducted on an ongoing basis until a candidate is secured.