Co-creation Hub is Africa’s leading technology innovation ecosystem builder on a mission to accelerate the application of science, technology and social capital for economic prosperity across Africa.

Our mandate is to build a formidable innovation ecosystem with a deeply rooted network, cultivating strategic partnerships and practical industry know-how that can support entrepreneurs and innovators in building thoughtful, relevant and scalable solutions. From our locations in Lagos, Abuja, Ijebu Ode (in Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya) and Kigali (Rwanda), we have built a vibrant community of over 81,000 people and counting and have supported to a portfolio of over 120 early-stage ventures including Lifebank, Ushahidi, Riby, BudgIT, Stutern, Kopo Kopo, Sendy, mFarm, Wecyclers and many more.

The African University of Science and Technology (AUST) is a private not-for-profit pan-African postgraduate University. It is one of the network of African Institutions of Science and Technology (AIST) established by the Nelson Mandela Institution (NMI) in 2007 with the core mandate of providing cutting-edge/world-class education and training to students from different parts of Africa to assume diverse leadership positions in various fields of science and technology in the continent. In line with this, we are establishing AUSTInspire which is a Business Incubation Center aimed at supporting Startups – young firms in the early stage, and being a channel for the University’s engagements with the private sector. This support includes the provision of affordable space, shared offices and services hand-on management, training, market survey, access to financing, and networking with the private sector.

We are looking to recruit a detail-oriented, results-driven, and innovative Incubation Manager to lead incubation and acceleration activities at AUSTInspire. The role holder will be responsible for managing all incubation programs, hackathons, and innovation design challenges and evaluating new investment opportunities for the idea proponents and startups in the innovation center.

Responsibilities

Incubation Strategy development and execution

• Develop and execute strategy for attracting and selecting deserving and qualified AUST student-led innovative startups. 
• Design and manage incubation programs.
• Provide startup support advisory to entrepreneurs through continued strategic guidance in areas such as business modeling, market analysis, financing, fundraising, overall strategy, operations etc. 
• Develop, execute and own an operational and engagement strategy for the entire community including startups, investors, corporates, mentors, advisors, and domain experts.
• Develop a community development strategy to include and guide the implementation of all community development activities such as meetups, design challenges, hackathons etc.
• Create a robust curriculum for the entrepreneurship education programs for the students.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Manage the day-to-day interaction with the incubating startups
• Provide support to entrepreneurs across ideation, acceleration, investment and scale-up stages.
• Ensure tight management of milestones and progress of entrepreneurs and start-up companies.
• Be the switchboard for entrepreneurs to access relevant resources and connections.

• Educational Qualifications: Graduation (background in IT/Computer Science/Finance/Commerce is preferred)
• Minimum of 3+ experience working in startups or with an incubator/accelerator is a bonus.
• Overall understanding of the digital technology and product landscape
• Demonstrated ability to proactively cultivate, build and maintain strong working relationships with start-ups, entrepreneurs and other necessary stakeholders.
• Fluent in written and spoken English, with the ability to speak in front of an audience as and when deemed necessary
• Experience of running multi-functional teams.
• Excellent skills in the entire Microsoft Office Suite (MS Word, Powerpoint, Excel etc.)
• Execution skill set – including a focus on data-driven decision making, comfort with ambiguity, and ability to drive rapid “learn & implement” iterations.
• Empathy - using skills that allow the Engagement Specialist to determine what is most important to their target audience, and then working to deliver on an organizational promise.

What we offer

• Paid time off
• Healthcare coverage
• A highly collaborative team environment that will support your professional and personal growth
• Work alongside great talent.
• A culture of learning and innovation. 
• Opportunities for career growth and training.
• Interaction with industry leaders and forward-thinking people. 
• A chance to make a social difference.
• Overall fun company.