Job description

AMI is expanding rapidly. We have raised investment, opened offices in Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Kigali, and trained over 27,000 people in 30+ African countries.

AMI is now looking for a senior ambitious and entrepreneurial Francophone West Africa Regional Representative (country flexible) to build new relationships as we expand across West Africa, with a view to transforming the impact of business support services to SMEs in your Francophone West Africa.

This is a senior entrepreneurial business development role, and the candidate will report to AMI’s global Director of Partnerships, while also working closely with the CEO. 

The successful candidate will play an instrumental role in a dynamic, international team focused obsessively on results. This is a great opportunity for candidates with a passion for entrepreneurship and/or workplace learning to play a part in Africa’s transformation.

The Regional Representative will be an entrepreneurial leader responsible for establishing AMI’s presence in new countries or the region through strategic partnerships. There are three core components of the role:

• Define a strategy for building AMI’s presence in the country/region, and how this presence will support growth at the global level
• Develop relationships - both revenue-generating and strategic - with local partners in the development community, government, business, as well as the SME support and skill-building ecosystems 
• Work with our Global Partnerships team to support proposals to international development partners where there is a component that relates to your country/region
• Work with our marketing team to expand AMI’s Thrive community for entrepreneurs and managers locally within your country/region 
• The Regional Representative role may evolve into a Country/Regional Manager role if/when we decide to build a local team, with staff management and governance responsibility

Skills and Competencies:

• Entrepreneurial energy - you should have started or contributed to the start-up of an organisation, or launched a new market, product or project within an existing organisation
• Excellent local networks in your country at a senior level in development circles and/or government (critical) and business (preferred)
• Ability to cultivate strong relationships with external clients at a very senior level
• Outstanding written, verbal, and interpersonal communications skills, and gravitas with senior stakeholders
• High levels of personal energy and drive, excellent judgement and ability to work independently to build a market
• Creative thinker with a "get things done" mindset, who can quickly adapt to new ideas and pivot based on the situation on the ground 
• Fluent English required for all roles. Fluent/native French speaker required for the Francophone role.
• Preference will be given to local candidates, although we are open to receiving applications from all nationalities, providing you have extensive experience working in the relevant country

Experience

• 10+ years of experience with at least 5 years in business development or partnership management, more recently at a senior level and ideally in an entrepreneurial environment (essential)
• Direct experience of launching something new - a business, project, product or market
• Experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders, such as local NGOs, government officials, donor representatives, and local and international staff as well as private sector 
• Masters degree or equivalent experience with strong academic background
• Experience working outside the home country and/or in an international organisation (preferred, not essential)