7 Volunteer Jobs in Kenya - Business Mentors

Practical Action
Volunteer Business Mentors
7 Positions
LOCATIONS: Kisumu (1 post), Siaya (1 post), Homabay (1 post), Busia (2 posts), and Bungoma (2 posts)
INTRODUCTION: We are an international development organisation putting ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world. We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Challenges made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality.

We work with communities to develop ingenious, lasting and locally owned solutions for agriculture, water and waste management, climate resilience and clean energy. And we share what works with others, so answers that start small can grow big.
We’re a global change-making group. The group consists of a UK registered charity with community projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, an independent development publishing company and a technical consulting service. We combine these specialisms to multiply our impact and help shape a world that works better for everyone.
OUR AIMS
We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems, made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality.
Our aims are to:
·         Make agriculture work better for smallholder farmers, many of them women, so they can adapt to climate change and achieve a good standard of living
·         Help more people harness the transformational effects of clean affordable energy and reduce avoidable deaths caused by smoke from indoor stoves and fires.
·         Make cities in poorer countries cleaner, healthier places to live and work.
·         Build disaster resilience into the lives of people threatened by hazards – reducing the risk of hazards and minimizing their impact on lives and livelihoods.
PRACTICAL ACTION IN EAST AFRICA
In East Africa, Practical Action has a long history of addressing systemic barriers that prevent people from accessing energy that transforms their lives, helping communities and government make cities healthier and safer, making agriculture and markets work better for small holder farmers and supporting communities and government to become more resilient.
We use a mix of programming with communities and consultancy services with shapers of policy and practice to achieve our aims in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The project dubbed Alternative Fuels involves working with women entrepreneurs to address the challenges they face and support the promotion of quality products, sustainable financing and market development in order to promote women’s economic empowerment while increasing availability of clean sources of energy for consumers
The specific project objective is to increase access to alternative fuels for cooking and productive use through market development support for alternative fuel entrepreneurs (briquettes, pellets and ethanol) and to help them grow sustainable businesses while at the same time, increase access of the alternative fuels for households and institutions.
The project rates mentorship to women entrepreneurs as one of its most effective and valued intervention areas in helping the women realize the full capacity they need to confidently run their enterprises for success; hence the motivation to recruit business mentors.
The project dubbed Alternative Fuels involves working with women entrepreneurs to address the challenges they face and support the promotion of quality products, sustainable financing and market development in order to promote women’s economic empowerment while increasing availability of clean sources of energy for consumers
The specific project objective is to increase access to alternative fuels for cooking and productive use through market development support for alternative fuel entrepreneurs (briquettes, pellets and ethanol) and to help them grow sustainable businesses while at the same time, increase access of the alternative fuels for households and institutions.
The project rates mentorship to women entrepreneurs as one of its most effective and valued intervention areas in helping the women realize the full capacity they need to confidently run their enterprises for success; hence the motivation to recruit for this position
Based either in Kisumu, Siaya Homabay, Busia and Bungoma Counties, the Business Mentors are responsible for providing customized one-on-one business mentoring support to women entrepreneurs in micro and small renewable energy enterprises in the project area. Using participatory approaches, the business mentors will train women entrepreneurs on: basic business skills, business records and book keeping skills, costing and pricing of the energy products being produced and sold by the entrepreneurs, marketing skills and market linkages etc.
As an experienced professional, you will be a holder of a graduate degree in a business related discipline, sales and marketing or any other relevant field with at least 2 years’ working experience or a Diploma with at least 3 years working experience in business development services for small and micro enterprises. Experience in household energy value chains (Solar, Briquettes and Improved Cookstoves) and Agency Empowerment programs for women entrepreneurs will be an added advantage.
TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) FOR CARRYING OUT BUSINESS MENTORSHIP
·         Provide customized one-on-one business mentoring support to women entrepreneurs in Micro and Small renewable energy Enterprises in the project area.
·         Using participatory approach mentor women entrepreneurs on
·         Basic business skill
·         Business records and book keeping skills ensuring that the entrepreneurs have the relevant and updated business records
·         Costing and pricing of the energy products being produced and sold by the entrepreneurs
·         Business plan development; ensuring that each entrepreneur has a working viable business
·         Marketing skills and market linkages
·         Source of business finance and financial linkages
·         Organizing for group networking and information sharing sessions at least once in every three months.
·         Make regular monitoring of Micro and Small Enterprises to ensure implementation as per the project goal
·         Capture and share strategic issues that may arise during the project implementation
·         Coordinate field interventions for data collection from beneficiaries and stakeholders through survey interviews; focus group discussion using the provided appropriate tools.
·         Organise meetings in liaison with project implementation staff for documentation of case stories.
·         Collect data/information for regular monitoring of project indicators and information dissemination.
·         Coordinate generation of draft and subsequent reports from women entrepreneurs in respective regions.
·         Any other task that may be assigned by Project Manager/Senior Project Officer-Enterprise Development
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
·         A graduate degree in Business related discipline, Sales and Marketing or any other relevant field with at least 2 years’ working experience or a Diploma with at least 3 years working experience in business development services for small and micro enterprises.
·         Experience in household energy value chains (Briquettes, Pellets and Ethanol Stoves) and Agency Empowerment programs for women entrepreneurs will be an added advantage
·         The incumbent will have strong communication skills in English, Swahili and local language, training and coaching skills as well as excellent time management, organizational, networking and liaison skills
·         He/she will also have In-depth knowledge and understanding of the off grid renewable energy sub-sector of Kenya
·         He/she will be proficient in Computer application with knowledge in use of online reporting platforms and report writing. In addition, the incumbent will be self-motivated and with the ability to work under minimal supervision
·         The person will have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with stakeholders across different sectors
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested candidates are invited to submit their letter of interest and CV to recruitment@practicalaction.or.ke on or before 14th February 2020 with subject line “Volunteer – Business Mentor Opportunity” and your preferred location (county) in the email subject line.
We treat all applications for employment on their merits and do not take into consideration any factors that are not relevant to the job such as disability, race, age, religion, gender, gender reassignment or sexual orientation.
Practical Action is committed to safeguarding and protecting children and vulnerable adults and as such candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks.
The successful applicant must have the pre-existing right to both live and work in Kenya