DRC Social Enterprise Director 95 views0 applications

JOB DESCRIPTION

DRC Social Enterprise Director, Eastern Congo Initiative

October 2020 — Full time | Bukavu, South Kivu | Reports to ECI Executive Director

Hello hello!

Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) is recruiting a Social Enterprise Director to manage the Asili enterprise in delivering exceptional services to customers and direct the expansion of the platform within the Democratic Republic of Congo.

ECI was founded by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams ten years ago to advocate for the boundless potential of the Congolese people, strengthen markets for Congolese goods, and invest directly in the community-based organizations that are rebuilding Congolese society from the ground up.

Starting in 2019, ECI became part of Alight, a team with deep experience in co-designing solutions that create new value around the world. As part of that merger, ECI acquired Asili, a revolutionary social enterprise platform that reinvents humanitarian aid as startup capital for self-sustaining businesses, operated by and for the communities who need them.

Together, ECI and Asili are making international development funds go farther than ever before — and fundamentally change how the world thinks of humanitarian aid. ECI does advocacy and grantmaking help build a thriving civil society in ways markets can’t, and we’re building a sustainable local marketplace to strengthen local economies in ways philanthropy can’t.

Here are three core beliefs that guide our work:

● We know we need to always be better, and we believe in the power and abundance of everyday people, everywhere, to change the world with us.

● We have a culture of radical accountability to our customers –as we help build a meaningful life for and with the people of eastern Congo, we ask them what they want and then deliver on it.

● We refuse to settle for anything less than delivering human-worthy services.

About Asili

Asili is a business startup co-created by Alight, USAID, IDEO.org, international partners, and Congolese families. Asili works to create a sustainable and scalable model to build enterprises that strengthen the communities in which it operates within fragile contexts. The team is impatient with the status quo and rolls up their sleeves to make a difference in people’s lives through entrepreneurship.

About the role

ECI is looking for an exceptional individual to manage the Asili enterprise in delivering exceptional services to customers and direct the expansion of the platform within the Democratic Republic of Congo. Asili is dedicated to delivering essential services in the world’s most fragile communities and aspires to transform the model of humanitarian aid across the world. The growth and evolution of Asili depends on your ability to effectively manage competing priorities and stakeholder interests – never sacrificing on delivering social impact in some of the most resource deprived places in the world.

Essential Responsibilities and Duties:

The responsibilities of the Social Enterprise Director are divided into five general categories, in which you will be supported by both global support/operations teams, key line managers.

Strategy & Vision – 10%

• You will develop and refine a long-term vision and five-year plan for the Asili enterprise across DRC, ensuring a stable enterprise which is desirable to all customers, technically feasible and financially viable.
• You will draft and execute annual goals, which should include: service team priorities, service/operations improvement projects, enterprise expansion, investments in management tools and practices, sales and impact targets.
• Work with Asili leadership and support teams to best leverage their support in accomplishing annual goals and fulfilling financing requirements
• You will identify risks and remove roadblocks to the success of Asili; ensuring that decision-making is aligned with local customers, staff, and prioritizes data-centered decision-making.

People Management – 25%

• You are an ambassador for the ECI values of Clarity, Consistency, and Community, and will inspire staff to live these core values at every level of the organization.
• Recruit and retain a high performing team – the team that will grow with ECI to serve more customers and craft new services.
• Create pathways for team members to grow and realize their own leadership potential within ECI .
• Build and maintain strong collaborative working relationships with shared services across global support teams, subject matter-experts, and start-up/project teams.

Financial Management – 25%

• You will have P/L accountability and responsibility for the entirety of the social enterprise across both earned income and philanthropic/donor capital. You will lead the annual and quarterly budgeting process for the DRC territory.
• Supervise the operation of business and financial controls that are commensurate with the commercial and grant-based activities of ECI and Asili within your territory.
• Monitor the financial sustainability of enterprise operations and implementations based upon boundary value analyses and data-centered forecasts, from both the earned income and grant-based income.

External Relations & Partnerships – 20%

• You will work with the Asili team to meet fundraising objectives set on an annual basis. This will include at a minimum the targets established by the current USAID GDA.
• Manage the network of key and intense relationships that make up Asili – these include the faith-based partners, USAID, Congolese authorities and other interested donors.
• Maintain an environment of openness and collaboration across the Asili web of relationships.
• You will represent and be the face of Asili with donors, whether they are donating their farm-land for a water point or funding for an entire zone, and with governments from national leaders in DRC to village chiefs.

Operations – 20%

• Manage line managers directly, guide their decision-making and ensure that the strategic priorities are achieved.
• Lead Asili to make meaningful impact in the lives of customers and ensure that the impact is lasting by focusing on the viability of services offered. This will entail a particular focus on the business metrics of the Asili enterprise

Other duties as assigned by supervisor. **

Skills and experience we’re seeking

• Managed internationally based enterprises or programs for at least 5 years. If you’ve done this for USG funded programs or social impact investments that’s spot on!
• Been exposed to business principles or start-up environments.
• Professional proficiency in French and English is a must, ability to speak Swahili is a plus
• The skills to successfully manage a large team and work with matrixed international support functions.

Qualities top candidates will possess

• A problem solver and a forward thinker, you take a positive approach to making things happen!
• Ambitious. You have the skills and drive to make a transformational difference.
• Always on move networking and meeting people – hustle.
• An amazing listener – you know how to really hear other people and understand their meaning. You get that people are looking for a way that they can make impact in the world.
• Flexible, flexible, flexible. We respond to opportunity as it arises and it rarely fits our schedule or is in our plans.
• A creative problem solver. You have the ability to apply sound judgment and innovative ideas to meet challenges presented.
• Detail oriented AND see the big picture.
• Able to meet deadlines and keep a cool head under pressure.

Benefits

Borderless Team of 2,500 staff worldwide that sees possibility, celebrates moments of abundance, shares new ideas, and strives to do a better thing every day.

Learning & Development – Access thousands of free online learning courses to take at your own pace and tailor to your professional goals.

Health, dental, and MedEvac Insurance – We strive to offer the best-in-class healthcare plans to our staff each year. We cover 100% of the cost for your health premium and 75% of the cost for coverage for your spouse/dependents.

Retirement – We contribute 6% of your salary regardless of your contribution amount, after one year of service.

Generous Leave Time – Between vacation days, personal leave days, and holidays, you have ample opportunity to take time off when you need it.

ECI is an Equal Opportunity Employer offering employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, citizenship, physical or mental disability, or protected veteran status. ECI complies with all applicable laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.