ICCO is an international development cooperation (www.icco.nl)). 335 people work in 44 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We operate from 7 regional offices and 15 national offices. We work towards a world without poverty and injustice. We do this together with civil society organizations, private sector and governments. We believe in the enterprising power of people. We aim to implement a systemic change and successful, sustainable and equitable development in low and middle income countries.
ICCO Country Office in Rwanda is looking for a proactive and dynamic staff with a proven track-record in business development to join our team as a Business Acceleration Expert (BAE).
The ICCO Agribusiness Booster works with SME (agri-) businesses to grow them stronger to economic sustainability for social impact. ICCO AbB as a participant in the venture assigns the Business Acceleration Expert to the business for providing and organizing agreed packages of support in the areas of business planning, marketing, systems, financing, coaching, and which are structured as investments in the company.
The business acceleration experts works closely with the entrepreneur and the company’s management team, as well as with hired external service providers in the realization of the support packages agreed.
Job title:Business Acceleration Expert
Reporting to: Technically reports to the Regional Business & Economic Development Advisor and Administratively to the Deputy Regional Manager
Organization:ICCO-Cooperation
Terms of Employment:Full time with three month probation period
Salary and Benefits:As per the organization scale
Location:Kigali Rwanda
Job purpose
Grow businesses to economic sustainability for social impact by organizing and providing a tailor-made package of support to these companies.
Profile
Business Degree from an Accredited University strongly preferred to be completed in English; an advanced degree in sustainability, ethical business or similar area is considered an asset. Knowledge of regional or global sustainability topics, trends and opportunities is important. Proven expertise in Agri-business development from investor/program pitches, proposal writing, ongoing relationship building, and contract signing. Ideal candidates would have a minimum of 5 years’ experience working in Agri-business development or related function, with a preference for more years, or be equipped with an impressive substitute. Previous work or substantial knowledge in Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) value chain development in agriculture, Inclusive Business and Sustainable Development Dynamics fields will considered as strong assets.
- Background in private sector, entrepreneurial mind-set, risk-taker and strong business acumen
- Creative, curious, pro-active
- Impact-driven, strong set of ownership for every deliverable
- Able to attract investors and partners and have strong network capabilities
- Can work in a team as well as individually, ability to work under minimum supervision
- Good communicative skills
- Know how in agriculture, agribusiness and SMEs
- Proven expertise with SME admin, finance, management and systems
- Proficiency in English and French languages
Responsibilities
Identification:
- Scouting of potential SME (agri-)businesses for business acceleration & investment in the relevant (sub-)sectors set by ICCO
Business Incubation/ Acceleration:
- Assist the entrepreneur/ businesses in turning ideas into viable businesses by developing the concept, the business case, identifying the impact, the market, and finding partners
- Support to validation and proof of concept of starting businesses
- Provide business development services to entrepreneurs/ businesses as mutually agreed
- Organize outsourced parts of the package, manage and follow up on the results
- With the entrepreneur, develop business plans looking at different scenarios of growth, quantitative achievements, and short, medium, and long term financing needs
- Identify investors and financing institutions, and raise optimum financing mix of debt and equity for the businesses
- Contribute to the regular reporting to stakeholders and investors on improvements in the business and help company management to plan the next steps
Other:
- Build networks of coaches and mentors as well as service providers for supporting the entrepreneurs/ businesses
- Identify legal and regulatory issues and address them
- Contribute to the development and branding of the ICCO AbB and raise funds as per requirement of the organization and the enterprises
Positioning, key contacts and reporting
The Business Accelerator Expert is assigned by ICCO AbB to the portfolio of businesses. For each business s/he works within the package of support agreed with the company under the overall investment deal. S/he is working on a limited number of cases at the same time and will divide attention and presence over these cases.
The Business Acceleration Expert technically presents progress reports and new or follow on deals to the ICCO Regional Business Advisor for follow up on decision-making and negotiation with Deputy Regional Manager.
HOW TO APPLY:
How to Apply
Please send your CV of not more than 3 pages and a motivational letter of not more than 1 page to Netlyn.Bernard@icco-cooperation.org as only email applications shall be considered.
All applications should be clearly marked: “ICCO Cooperation - Business Acceleration Expert” and no email should exceed 2MB
We thank all applicants for their interest but please note that only those selected will be contacted and any form of lobbying will lead to automatic disqualification.
