Description

About us
BFA Global is an impact innovation firm that combines research, advisory, venture building, and investment expertise to build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient future for underserved people and the planet. We partner with leading public, private, and philanthropic organizations, both global and local, to catalyze innovation ecosystems for impact across emerging markets.

About the Role

We seek a detail-oriented and strategically minded professional to serve as the Project Manager for a key SME support program. The Project Manager (PM) will lead the day-to-day execution and coordination of the project. The PM will drive implementation of approved Annual Work Plans, budgets, procurement plans, and M&E frameworks, ensuring delivery of program outputs (SME pipeline building, cohort acceleration, milestone-based grants, venture-building support) while maintaining full compliance with donors' guidelines and fiduciary standards. This role is central to ensuring strong governance, reporting, risk management, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based learning throughout the project lifecycle.

This high-impact, cross-functional role is best suited for someone with a blend of operations, analytical, and stakeholder-engagement skills, and a strong desire to support mission-driven work.

It is ideal for someone with a strong background in project execution and stakeholder management. It is well-suited for someone who thrives in fast-paced, cross-functional environments and has experience managing innovation, entrepreneurship, climate, or SME support programs.

What You'll Do

Day-to-day project delivery & coordination

• Lead execution, ensuring milestones, targets, and outputs are met on time and within budget.
• Coordinate internal teams, consultants, subcontractors, and technical experts; track deliverables and ensure quality control.
• Serve as the central point of coordination between program teams, leadership, partners, vendors, and beneficiaries.
• Organize and facilitate regular team meetings, webinars, workshops, stakeholder sessions and events.
• Proactively identify operational bottlenecks and implement practical solutions to ensure smooth delivery.

Cohort & Venture Support Management

• Support the design and execution of cohort-based SME acceleration programs.
• Coordinate sourcing & selection and technical assistance for SMEs.
• Track SME progress, grant milestones, and technical support deliverables.
• Ensure strong communication and engagement with supported SMEs and ecosystem partners.

Budgeting and Reporting

• Support preparation and periodic review of annual budgets; develop cost estimates for planned activities.
• Track burn rate vs budget; flag variances early; propose corrective actions.
• Lead technical project reporting, coordinate inputs for annual reporting and maintain audit-ready documentation (invoices, contracts, POs, receipts, attendance lists, etc.).

Administration & Project Management

• Design and implement simple, agile tools (e.g., spreadsheets, Slack task lists, Polly polls) to manage workflows and project deliverables.
• Develop and refine internal processes to enhance team collaboration and performance.
• Tailor administrative and project tools to fit different task types, timelines, and stakeholder needs.

Risk, compliance, safeguarding, and grievance mechanisms

• Maintain and update the project risk matrix at least every 6 months (or more frequently if needed), tracking mitigation actions and promptly escalating significant risks to the project lead.
• Coordinate with all project team members to ensure grant proposals and SME support processes align with donor safeguards requirements (screening, mitigation, documentation).

Stakeholder engagement & coordination

• Keep all stakeholders updated on project progress and flag risks.
• Coordinate relevant stakeholder participation for demo days, webinars, ecosystem partners, national institutions, CSOs, and learning events.
• Support donor engagement needs by preparing briefs, stakeholder maps, meeting agendas, and follow-ups.

Qualifications & Experience

Education & Background

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as business, economics, or management. Master's preferred (public policy, development, business, climate, finance, or related).
• At least 5-7 years of experience in project management, preferably in a consulting or related role.
• Strong project management skills, including project planning, budgeting, and risk management.
• Prior experience working with donor-funded programs, donor reporting, or programmatic operations is highly desirable.
• Experience managing innovation, entrepreneurship, accelerator, or venture-building programs is highly desirable.
• Experience working with SMEs and startups is an added advantage.

Certifications

• Project management certification, e.g. PMP, Prince2 - Preferred

Skills & Competencies

• Excellent operational leadership: planning, execution, discipline, prioritisation, and problem-solving.
• Strong written communication: ability to produce high-quality reports, action trackers, and stakeholder communications in English.
• High attention to detail and documentation rigor.
• Strong stakeholder management across governments, SMEs, donors, and technical partners.
• Systems mindset: able to design and run practical tracking tools and reporting workflows.
• Collaborative leadership style; able to influence without authority across teams.

Tools & Platforms

• Proficiency in project management and collaboration tools such as Excel/Google Sheets, Slack, and Trello/Asana/Polly.
• Experience with reporting tools, knowledge-sharing platforms, or CRM systems is an added advantage.

Anticipated Start Date: April 2026

Preferred location: Nairobi, Kenya

Contract Type: Full-time, Five-Year Fixed-Term

Candidates must have local work permits. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.

Only shortlisted candidates who provide the required information will be contacted for follow-up.

At BFA, we are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and teammates without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions), national origin, age, physical and mental disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military, and veteran status, and any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

BFA believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates are critical to our success as a global company. We seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool and to carry out the best inclusion work we undertake.

*BFA will not sponsor work permits.

**BFA will not pay for relocation expenses.