Nature based enterprise & community catalyst enterprise specialist

Responsibilities

• Enterprise Incubation and Acceleration: Identify, design, and launch viable biodiversity-positive micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in sectors like sustainable fisheries, climate-resilient agriculture, and eco-value chains.
• Youth and Inclusive Livelihoods: Create tailored enterprise development pathways specifically for youth to counter unsustainable practices and natural resource degradation.
• Financial Inclusion and Services Access: Design and execute strategies that directly connect women, youth, and persons with disabilities to formal financial services, micro-loans, and community savings systems.
• Private Sector and Market Linkages: Build strategic partnerships with private sector enterprises, wholesalers, and technical agencies to secure sustainable market access and fair pricing for community products.
• Capacity Building and Business Training: Develop and deliver practical, user-friendly training modules on business management, value addition, financial literacy, and climate-smart operational practices for grassroots CMIs.
• Cross-Sector Collaboration: Coordinate closely with collaborators, civil society, and scientific research institutions to ensure community businesses are built on sound conservation science and economic sustainability.

Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of hands-on experience in enterprise incubation, rural business development, value chain development, or microfinance ideally within the conservation or natural resource sectors.

Qualifications

• Education: A Master Degree in Business Administration, Agribusiness, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Economics, Development Economics, or any related field.
• Experience: Minimum of 10 years of hands-on experience in enterprise incubation, rural business development, value chain development, or microfinance ideally within the conservation or natural resource sectors.
• Social Inclusion Focus: Proven experience designing profitable economic initiatives for youth, closing the gender wage gap for women, and mainstreaming persons with disabilities into commercial activities.
• Market Savvy: Strong understanding of local and regional market dynamics in agriculture or fisheries, with a track record of successfully linking grassroots producers to commercial buyers.

Skills