Senior Business Incubation Officer – Zantchito Entrepreneurship

Job Description

Cadmus International UK Limited in partnership with Imani Consultants Limited, commenced implementation of Zantchito Entrepreneurship and Access to Finance in October 2022. Zantchito Entrepreneurship and Access to Finance (hereafter Zantchito Entrepreneurship) is a business incubation support programme under the Zantchito Skills for Jobs apex programme. It is financed by the European Union (EU) in Malawi and coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Malawi office and the Government of Malawi. The objective of the programme is to promote entrepreneurial culture, sustainable enterprise creation and decent, formal jobs.

Zantchito Entrepreneurship aims to enhance pre-incubation, incubation, post-incubation support and the provision of Business Development Services (BDS) to Technical, Entrepreneurial, and Vocational Training (TEVET) graduates and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs).

Reporting to the Team Leader, Zantchito Entrepreneurship is looking to recruit one (01) full time Senior Business Incubation Officer and one (01) Business Incubation Officer to be based in Lilongwe and in Blantyre – to support the on-going implementation of the programme.

Senior Business Incubation Officer: What you’ll contribute:

Reporting to the Cadmus Team Leader and working with and supporting Business Incubator Officers within the team, the Senior Incubation Officer, based in Lilongwe will undertake the following:

Strategic Development of Incubators

• Support the work of the programme’s Business Incubator Officers, and work with the business incubator management to refine and revise the current business plan. This will ultimately lead to a change in the “Terms of Tenancy” that incubators provide including duration, shared facilities, fee-paying services, access to BDS, and other unique features & services available.
• Undertake due diligence where required of Business Incubators (BIs) that are likely to be onboarded into the programme including assessing financial and operational capabilities, strengths and capacity gaps
• Work with the wider Zantchito team and external short-term consultants to revise capacity development plans for the assessed incubators to fulfil market requirements and match the current needs to the demand of small-scale enterprises.
• Working with the team leader and external Cadmus consultants, support the development and regular refinement of Business Plans for the Incubators that are deemed eligible for support.
• Working with the Zantchito team support the refinement of the application package for new incubation cycles including application templates, eligibility criteria, selection methodology to access the pre-incubation, incubation, and post-incubation support, targeting TEVET graduates and MSEs (potential and existing).

Monitoring and evaluation support

• Working with the Zantchito team and guided by the team leader document on an annual basis the learnings stemming from the implementation of the initiative in order to continuously respond to market needs by adjusting the implementation structure.
• Monitor the disbursement of grant funds to incubates through individual incubators as per the incubate support plan.
• Provide input and ensure regular collection of data with the M&E Expert to ensure that it fits into the Zantchito traceability system which provides donors and stakeholders with real-time data of applicants being supported and the level of growth of their individual businesses.

Wider Ecosystem Development

• Determine the business standards for incubation that are aligned with the National Business Incubation Strategy, with a clear segmentation of the incubation process, pre-incubation and post-incubation, for quality delivery of services to entrepreneurs.
• Support in collaboration with the Team Leader and the Cadmus team to assess the potential to create a platform that formalizes a network of incubators for networking, exchanges, peer to peer learning, coaching and mentoring.
• Work with external consultants hired by the Zantchito programme and guided by the team support the implementation and refinement of a standardisation of Entrepreneurship Education and Training across providers through developing a contextualised Training of Trainers
  curriculum/model in partnership with capacitated BDS providers.

Support to implementation

• Undertake verification of milestone claims submitted by the incubator (as set out by the UNDP contract) and ensure documentation complies with contractual requirements.
• Support the development of the incubate support plan and provide inputs for the revision of the incubate business plan.
• Support the reconciliation of funds requisitioned for disbursement to incubates against actual expenditures incurred.
• Support in the preparation of requests to UNDP for disbursement of the funds by the selected financial service provider including whether funds should be paid in line with incubate support budget.
• Review the performance of the incubator to ensure compliance with service delivery agreements.

Who we’re looking for:

• Minimum of a Master’s Degree in a related field (such as International Development, Economics or a relevant subject).
• 5+ years of experience working with early-stage entrepreneurs, MSMEs or in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Experience in project management, including financial management (specifically creating and adhering to budgets, cashflow forecasting, financial documentation).
• Ability to monitor risks and provide timely solutions.
• A track-record of working within the entrepreneurship/business environment in Malawi with proven business development dynamics.
• Understanding of project monitoring and evaluation processes, including data collection, review and integration into programme logframes.
• Ability to write and communicate with a range of stakeholders – from rural entrepreneurs to organisation management – clearly and concisely.
• Competency in research, reporting and the presentation of results for both programme management purposes and analytical studies.
• Proactive, highly motivated and able to work with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrated proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite – Word, Excel, PowerPoint is essential. Experience with data collection software such as CommCare / Kobo is beneficial.
• Spoken and written fluency in English is essential.

If you might be the right fit:

Please submit your CV and a cover letter to info.zantchito@cadmusgroup.com by Monday the 20th of
January 2025. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.