Program Manager Congo

About SeedstarsSeedstars is a group headquartered in Switzerland / Geneva on a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging and frontier markets through technology and entrepreneurship. We operate 3 main activities to achieve our mission: (A) We work in partnership with development agencies, governments, corporate partners, and private donors to develop entrepreneurship ecosystems, create jobs, and fuel income growth. (B) We invest in high-growth technology companies in impactful sectors (fintech, ed-tech, agritech, health tech, etc) in emerging markets. (C) We support education providers, governments, and development agencies to provide learners with 21st-century skills in high demand on the market.

Seedstars Talents

Seedstars Talents’ mission is to support top talents from emerging markets to get access to and acquire 21st-century skills to help them shape their career in a meaningful way. The Talents team partners with development organisations, governments, investors and higher-education institutions on finding and providing solutions to mitigate skill imbalances by bridging labor market skill shortage gaps through its core activities:

• Academy - Equipping the education sector with gamified tech and entrepreneurial EdTech platforms and science-backed innovative pedagogies. 
• Talent Agency - Discovering and preparing Academy talents and landing them in meaningful professional opportunities.

About the Program

The is a holistic technical assistance upskilling program to develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Congo, and enhance the capacity of entrepreneurs to run and grow successful digitally-enabled businesses to minimize the digital divide, catalyze economic growth, and create jobs. 

Seedstars is leading two key tracks of the larger program: training first-time entrepreneurs on sustainable business creation and management and, implementing capacity building programs. 

About the Role

As a program manager you will be in charge of delivering both training and pre-incubation / incubation and accelerations tracks. Program Manager’s serve as a coach and facilitator, the key point of contact with partners, oversee the curriculum roadmap, run all program meetings and reports, and serve as a conduit between business units across the group. Your main objectives will be to ensure: (1) our beneficiaries gain value, (2) partner satisfaction and coordination, (3) the program is being delivered successfully. The Program Manager will report to the Heads of Operations for Seedstars Talents.

We are hiring for the first 8 months of the project with the possibility to extend based on performance and partner’s feedback needs. 

This is an onsite program in Congo. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

Responsibilities 

Project leadership

• Full cycle program delivery across multiple simultaneous programs: From program design, implementation, to reporting.
• Ensure programs stay on budget and time. 
• Identify areas of improvement for programs and share best practices. 

Platform management

• Setting up Seedstars edtech online platform together with the central product team.
• Managing the platform throughout the program. 
• Collecting learnings and working with central team on improving the platform. 

Stakeholder Engagement 

• Develop and maintain strong relationships with key partners to foster collaboration and support the program's objectives.
• Serve as a point of contact with project funders.
• Identify and assess potential partners and stakeholders, including government entities, NGOs, women's associations, ecosystem enablers, and private sector organisations.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment between partnership activities and program milestones.

Analysis & insight

• Lead analysis from programs to assess the effectiveness of opportunities, and clearly communicate with reports, slides, and visualizations to diverse groups.
• Synthesize market intelligence to optimize project and program design efforts to strengthen programs and ensure they are consistent with the mission.
• Track, monitor and evaluate program metrics and milestone completion. 

Your profile

• Your Mindset 
  • Passion for problem solving and striving for excellence. 
  • Knack for coordination.
  • Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multicultural and fast-paced environment.
  • Excellent team player with high levels of empathy.

• Your Experience 
  • At least 2-3 years in operational positions, such as running entrepreneurial innovation programs, supporting startups, developing startup ecosystem.
  • Deep knowledge and experience with our target client groups and donors (bilateral & multilateral organizations, NGOs, private sector foundations, etc.) 
  • Excellent communication, negotiation and relationship management skills.
  • Strong project management, organizational and time management skills.
  • A track record in Project Management with strong hands-on technical acumen.
  • Experience managing online educational platforms.
  • Fluent French with a strong command of English.
• Nice to have 
  • Deeply involved in and knowledgeable about the startup ecosystem in your country or region with a strong network. 
  • You are either a local entrepreneur or innovation enthusiast.

 Why our employees love working with us:

• We are on a mission that is bigger than all of us: to impact people’s lives in emerging markets.
• You get many growth and learning opportunities early on, including impactful and skills-enhancing roles in innovative programs.
• Robust onboarding to translate our values and ways of working into successful outcomes.
• Excellent networking opportunities, including exposure to thought leaders and SMEs in the field of entrepreneurial support.
• An entrepreneurial culture where you’re surrounded by a vibrant and diverse team.
• Autonomy and flexibility with a flat hierarchy and a strong belief that responsible people should have the freedom to do their work when and how they want.
• We were awarded as one of the most democratic workplaces in the world due to our freedom-centered practices. 

We are an equal opportunity employer with a diverse mix of nationalities and backgrounds represented in our company. We truly value diversity and believe that the cultural landscape of our organization should reflect the types of work that we engage in and the places that we do it. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status and strongly encourage women, people from emerging markets, and those from historically underrepresented groups to apply to all of our roles at SAFEEM and Seedstars.