Created in 2012, FSD Africa is a £30 million financial sector development programme or 'FSD’ based in Nairobi. It is funded by the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID). FSD Africa aims to reduce poverty across sub-Saharan Africa by building financial markets that are efficient, robust and inclusive.

Responsibilities or duties

Strategy & Programming

• Contribute to the development of FSD Africa’s ESF strategy and venture building portfolio, contributing expertise in venture development, agri-tech innovation, and climate-resilient enterprise models.
• Support the design and refinement of venture building approaches across the ESF portfolio, with a primary focus on the Agri-Tech Venture Launcher under AFIYA.
• Build synergies with other enterprise development efforts to develop a strategic continuum of support and feedback as ventures grow and scale
• Translate strategic objectives into coherent multi-country workplans, budgets, and implementation frameworks across venture building initiatives.
• Monitor ecosystem trends in agri-tech, venture building, and financial inclusion to inform programme design and adaptation.
• Contribute to the identification, design, and development of venture building initiatives aligned to ESF priorities.
• Work closely with the Development Impact team to integrate learning and evidence into programme design and strategy refinement.

Financial Management, Risks & Resources

• Ensure effective management of resources/budget for venture building projects under management, aiming to optimise impact and ensure compliance with FSD Africa and donor policies.
• Develop and manage budgets, forecasts, and expenditure tracking across venture building initiatives, ensuring value for money and alignment with approved plans.
• Support fundraising and proposal development through preparation of technical inputs, budgets, and supporting documentation.
• Oversee due diligence, risk assessment, and compliance processes for ventures and partners.
• Liaise with internal teams to ensure compliance with financial, legal, safeguarding, and donor requirements.
• Monitor financial and operational performance across the portfolio, identifying risks and implementing mitigation measures.

Project Cycle Management

• Coordinate the roll-out of a portfolio of venture building projects so that results are achieved, risks are managed, and quality programmes are delivered.
• Manage the end-to-end delivery of a portfolio of venture building initiatives, including the Agri-Tech Venture Launcher and other ESF programmes.
• Design and implement venture sourcing, selection, and onboarding processes, including open calls and targeted outreach.
• Manage referral and graduation pathways for ventures transitioning into programmes serving more mature companies and establish feedback mechanisms so that lessons from those programmes inform venture design and delivery.
• Engage alumni of enterprise development programmes as mentors, market partners and contributors to venture building initiatives
• Oversee delivery of technical assistance to ventures, ensuring structured, high-quality support aligned to programme objectives.
• Develop and maintain project plans, risk frameworks, and performance tracking systems across initiatives.
• Monitor implementation progress, reviewing performance data and adapting delivery approaches as required.
• Manage project closure processes, ensuring sustainability, learning capture, and effective transition beyond FSD Africa support.

Development Impact & Learning

• Collaborate with the Development Impact team to ensure robust management of Development Impact for venture building projects under management; ensure accurate and timely reporting on activities, milestones, outcomes and lessons learned.
• Co-design and oversee development impact frameworks, ensuring strong alignment with poverty alleviation, gender, and climate resilience objectives.
• Ensure systematic collection, validation, and reporting of qualitative and quantitative data across ventures and partners.
• Review monitoring, evaluation, and learning outputs to inform decision-making and programme adaptation.
• Generate actionable insights to strengthen venture models, programme effectiveness, and ecosystem-level impact.
• Support development of reports, knowledge products, and learning outputs for internal and external stakeholders.

Influencing and Communicating for Impact

• Actively participate in development, and lead implementation, of advocacy and communications plans for venture building initiatives under management.
• Support stakeholder mapping and engagement across venture building ecosystems, including public and private actors.
• Collaborate with communications teams to develop and deliver content, campaigns, and knowledge dissemination activities.
• Contribute to advocacy efforts that promote venture building, financial inclusion, and climate-resilient innovation.
• Participate in and represent FSD Africa at relevant forums, convenings, and networking opportunities.
• Support monitoring and evaluation of communications and influencing activities.

Relationship Management

• Take initiative to build relationships and ensure effective collaboration with and between all venture building stakeholders and FSD Africa colleagues; includes managing consultants deployed to the programmes.
• Build and manage relationships with ventures, implementing partners, ecosystem actors, and service providers.
• Ensure stakeholders are aligned on expectations, delivery standards, safeguarding, and reporting requirements.
• Foster collaboration across FSD Africa pillars and programmes to leverage synergies and strengthen delivery.
• Manage consultants and technical partners, ensuring high-quality outputs and effective performance.
• Engage stakeholders continuously to strengthen partnerships and support successful delivery of venture building initiative.
• Carry out any other duties or special assignments as assigned by the Management.

Qualifications or requirements (e.g., education, skills)

Qualifications and Education

• Master’s degree and 6 years of experience or Bachelor’s Degree and 8 years of experience
• Relevant postgraduate qualifications preferred
• Excellent skills in written and spoken English

Essential Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

• At least 6 years of experience in venture building, startup acceleration, or agribusiness/innovation programmes in emerging markets, particularly in Africa
• Strong experience in designing and delivering venture support or enterprise development initiatives, ideally within agri-tech, climate resilience, or financial inclusion
• Good understanding of early-stage finance, innovation ecosystems, and venture development approaches
• Excellent grasp of Project Cycle Management, with a proven track record of adaptive delivery
• Experience managing multi-country programmes or portfolios of projects
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across diverse partners
• Experience managing consultants and coordinating technical delivery
• Ability to manage programme budgets and resources effectively
• Strong digital literacy and ability to manage data and documentation systems

Desirable

• Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment
• Understanding of environmental and climate-related risks in development contexts
• Experience working with donors and knowledge of donor compliance requirements
• Previous experience working on FCDO-funded programmes
• Languages: French, Portuguese, or other African languages

• Contribute to the development of FSD Africa’s ESF strategy and venture building portfolio, contributing expertise in venture development, agri-tech innovation, and climate-resilient enterprise models.
• Support the design and refinement of venture building approaches across the ESF portfolio, with a primary focus on the Agri-Tech Venture Launcher under AFIYA.
• Build synergies with other enterprise development efforts to develop a strategic continuum of support and feedback as ventures grow and scale
• Translate strategic objectives into coherent multi-country workplans, budgets, and implementation frameworks across venture building initiatives.
• Monitor ecosystem trends in agri-tech, venture building, and financial inclusion to inform programme design and adaptation.
• Contribute to the identification, design, and development of venture building initiatives aligned to ESF priorities.
• Work closely with the Development Impact team to integrate learning and evidence into programme design and strategy refinement.
• Ensure effective management of resources/budget for venture building projects under management, aiming to optimise impact and ensure compliance with FSD Africa and donor policies.
• Develop and manage budgets, forecasts, and expenditure tracking across venture building initiatives, ensuring value for money and alignment with approved plans.
• Support fundraising and proposal development through preparation of technical inputs, budgets, and supporting documentation.
• Oversee due diligence, risk assessment, and compliance processes for ventures and partners.
• Liaise with internal teams to ensure compliance with financial, legal, safeguarding, and donor requirements.
• Monitor financial and operational performance across the portfolio, identifying risks and implementing mitigation measures.
• Coordinate the roll-out of a portfolio of venture building projects so that results are achieved, risks are managed, and quality programmes are delivered.
• Manage the end-to-end delivery of a portfolio of venture building initiatives, including the Agri-Tech Venture Launcher and other ESF programmes.
• Design and implement venture sourcing, selection, and onboarding processes, including open calls and targeted outreach.
• Manage referral and graduation pathways for ventures transitioning into programmes serving more mature companies and establish feedback mechanisms so that lessons from those programmes inform venture design and delivery.
• Engage alumni of enterprise development programmes as mentors, market partners and contributors to venture building initiatives
• Oversee delivery of technical assistance to ventures, ensuring structured, high-quality support aligned to programme objectives.
• Develop and maintain project plans, risk frameworks, and performance tracking systems across initiatives.
• Monitor implementation progress, reviewing performance data and adapting delivery approaches as required.
• Manage project closure processes, ensuring sustainability, learning capture, and effective transition beyond FSD Africa support.
• Collaborate with the Development Impact team to ensure robust management of Development Impact for venture building projects under management; ensure accurate and timely reporting on activities, milestones, outcomes and lessons learned.
• Co-design and oversee development impact frameworks, ensuring strong alignment with poverty alleviation, gender, and climate resilience objectives.
• Ensure systematic collection, validation, and reporting of qualitative and quantitative data across ventures and partners.
• Review monitoring, evaluation, and learning outputs to inform decision-making and programme adaptation.
• Generate actionable insights to strengthen venture models, programme effectiveness, and ecosystem-level impact.
• Support development of reports, knowledge products, and learning outputs for internal and external stakeholders.
• Actively participate in development, and lead implementation, of advocacy and communications plans for venture building initiatives under management.
• Support stakeholder mapping and engagement across venture building ecosystems, including public and private actors.
• Collaborate with communications teams to develop and deliver content, campaigns, and knowledge dissemination activities.
• Contribute to advocacy efforts that promote venture building, financial inclusion, and climate-resilient innovation.
• Participate in and represent FSD Africa at relevant forums, convenings, and networking opportunities.
• Support monitoring and evaluation of communications and influencing activities.
• Take initiative to build relationships and ensure effective collaboration with and between all venture building stakeholders and FSD Africa colleagues; includes managing consultants deployed to the programmes.
• Build and manage relationships with ventures, implementing partners, ecosystem actors, and service providers.
• Ensure stakeholders are aligned on expectations, delivery standards, safeguarding, and reporting requirements.
• Foster collaboration across FSD Africa pillars and programmes to leverage synergies and strengthen delivery.
• Manage consultants and technical partners, ensuring high-quality outputs and effective performance.
• Engage stakeholders continuously to strengthen partnerships and support successful delivery of venture building initiative.
• Carry out any other duties or special assignments as assigned by the Management.

• Venture building
• Startup acceleration
• Agribusiness/innovation programmes in emerging markets
• Designing and delivering venture support or enterprise development initiatives
• Agri-tech
• Climate resilience
• Financial inclusion
• Early-stage finance
• Innovation ecosystems
• Venture development approaches
• Project Cycle Management
• Adaptive delivery
• Managing multi-country programmes or portfolios of projects
• Stakeholder management
• Influencing skills
• Managing consultants
• Coordinating technical delivery
• Programme budget and resource management
• Digital literacy
• Data and documentation systems management

• Master’s degree and 6 years of experience or Bachelor’s Degree and 8 years of experience
• Relevant postgraduate qualifications preferred
• Excellent skills in written and spoken English
• At least 6 years of experience in venture building, startup acceleration, or agribusiness/innovation programmes in emerging markets, particularly in Africa
• Strong experience in designing and delivering venture support or enterprise development initiatives, ideally within agri-tech, climate resilience, or financial inclusion
• Good understanding of early-stage finance, innovation ecosystems, and venture development approaches
• Excellent grasp of Project Cycle Management, with a proven track record of adaptive delivery
• Experience managing multi-country programmes or portfolios of projects
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills across diverse partners
• Experience managing consultants and coordinating technical delivery
• Ability to manage programme budgets and resources effectively
• Strong digital literacy and ability to manage data and documentation systems
• Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment (Desirable)
• Understanding of environmental and climate-related risks in development contexts (Desirable)
• Experience working with donors and knowledge of donor compliance requirements (Desirable)
• Previous experience working on FCDO-funded programmes (Desirable)
• Languages: French, Portuguese, or other African languages (Desirable)