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 and results-driven partnership and engagement specialist to lead partnership efforts at AUSTInspire. The role holder will be responsible for engaging with key stakeholders within and outside the business incubation centre and will work together with the team to achieve goals and objectives as well as identifying strategic partnership opportunities and growth of the community.

Responsibilities

Strategy Development

• Identify opportunities, deploy corporate engagement strategies and build capacity to enhance partnership engagement for AUSTInspire.
• Contribute to the strategic portfolio planning with inputs related to resource mobilisation. 

Engagement & Relationship Management

• Create a framework that guides engagement between the university and private sector organizations (corporates, chambers of commerce, trade associations and more)
• Identify specific research projects by partner organizations that can be executed in partnership with the university
• Organize design thinking workshops that helps understand areas of alignment and also expose university staff and students to other innovation clusters within the country and in other regions.
• Manage the process of connecting students to private sector companies for the purpose of research and internships 

Event Planning & Stakeholder Communication Management

• Develop cutting-edge presentation and engagement materials, working closely with the communications team where necessary
• Act as focal point for identification and pursuit of opportunities for outreach and collaboration, including on how to anticipate and respond to partners’ concerns and priorities and ensure the innovation centre is well-positioned and represented in relevant forums
• Identify thematic priorities that align with partner interests and develop standardised concept notes for pitching to multiple partners
• Curate relevant activities, stakeholders, events and workshops that will drive innovation in the selected thematic areas
• Develop written content for tailored proposals and concept notes in collaboration with the programme team, ensuring that the content is engaging and well-aligned with partner interests.

• Bachelors Degree in education, social sciences, public administration, communication, or any related field
• Relevant experience building and maintaining positive community partnerships is a bonus.
• Having 3+ years of relevant experience in a project management role or similar position 
• Having 3+ years of relevant experience in stakeholder management/engagement.
• Experience working effectively with and understanding the needs of culturally and ethnically diverse populations
• Proven skills in project management
• Creativity skills - in developing programs and methods for engaging an audience toward the success of a goal
• Relationship-building skills - with business leaders, the community, and the target audience of employees, clients, or others
• Organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects and tasks simultaneously
• 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
• Engaging - having a natural like of people, a knack for leading, and sales skills that help engage others in goals.
• Strategic - Able to create strategies for improvement of partnership & stakeholder engagement.

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.