iHub is an Innovation Centre dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity.

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 Pan African University Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation (PAUSTI), which is hosted at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Nairobi, prides itself as a postgraduate hub of research and innovation featuring a highly diverse faculty, and students are drawn from all over Africa.  PAUSTI incubation centre of Excellence will give students and researchers a platform to develop their skills and competencies whilst putting their theoretical knowledge into practice to create sustainable business solutions towards a better country and by extension, the continent at large.

We are looking to recruit a detail-oriented and results-driven partnership and engagement specialist to lead partnership efforts at the PAUSTI Incubation centre of excellence who will be responsible for engaging with key stakeholders within and outside the innovation 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.

Strategy Development

• Identify opportunities, deploy corporate engagement strategies and build capacity to enhance partnership engagement for PAU Innovation Centre.
• 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
• Having 2-4 years of relevant experience in building and maintaining positive community partnerships is a bonus.
• 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.