About
Village Enterprise is a non-profit dedicated to ending extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship and innovation. Established in 1987, Village Enterprise is active in the poverty reduction and micro -enterprise development fields, targeting people living below the extreme poverty level, especially women and youth. Their areas of work include conservation, youth, women businesses and financial initiatives. Village Enterprise currently works in remote, rural areas of Africa where more than half of the population lives below the extreme poverty line. We have a field team of over 200 employees, 95% of whom are East Africans, in Uganda and Kenya where we deliver our model with our own feet on the ground.
The Role
Village Enterprise is looking for a dynamic and passionate Director of Technology Solutions, with the desire and skills to lead a growing organization through transformational technological change. This position will report directly to the Chief Operations Officer and will be responsible for defining the ICT roadmap for increasing the scale and impact of our program and building and managing a functional team that supports the organizations ambitions around using technology and innovation to end extreme poverty across sub-Saharan Africa.
This position will be based in Kampala, Uganda or Nairobi, Kenya and will require travel to field offices in Kenya and Uganda to provide support to Village Enterprise’s program teams. The position will coordinate regularly with the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Chief Scaling Officer (CSO), Kenya and Uganda Country Directors, other Director-level positions across the organization, and IT support staff.
Person Specification
Village Enterprise is looking for an individual with a deep understanding of available,cutting-edge technologies in digital training, financial services, etc, and direct experience delivering technology solutions to the extreme poor. They should have a track record of evaluating customer/program participant needs and managing innovation delivery from ideation to implementation. They should enjoy being a technology ambassador and cultivating a culture of trust and excitement around technological changes.
They will need to be a true enterprise ICT architect with a vision for how technology affects the delivery and effectiveness of our entrepreneurship training and mentoring program. They will also need to have deep understanding of how to deliver appropriate solutions, tools, and training that are beneficial to our staff and business owners living in remote and rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Required Skills and Qualifications
- Minimum of 7 years of related professional experience, post-undergraduate experience providing technical assistance for ICT interventions; demonstrated understanding of the constraints to introducing and sustaining ICT interventions in low income rural settings.
- Bachelor’s degree in relevant computer science, information systems or other related fields. Preferred Master’s degree in relevant IT field
- Demonstrated experience in assessing organizational needs and developing and implementing technology plans, policies, and systems
- Ability to develop, promote and work through cross-functional teams. Strong ability to manage in all directions including with direct reports, other staff, supervisors, and lateral directors.
- Demonstrated leadership, organizational and interpersonal skills with the ability to mentor and grow staff.
- Deep knowledge of non-profit enterprise solutions and ability to quickly evaluate new tools
- Knowledge of best practices for IT infrastructure management and digital security
- Vast experience with hardware and device management strategies, both on premise and remote
- Passionate about ending extreme poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Experience working in international development, preferably serving vulnerable populations
More Information
- Job City Kenya, Uganda
