Business Mentor & Consultant

CORE CONSULTANCY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Business Assessment & Needs Identification

• Engage in intensive, one-on-one virtual discovery meetings with assigned young entrepreneurs to assess their baseline business health and operational bottlenecks.
• Conduct a diagnostic evaluation of the venture's current stage (Idea vs. Build stage) and identify areas requiring critical development.
• Formulate an initial Assessment Report highlighting strategic focus areas where your mentorship will yield the highest impact.

Hands-on Technical Assistance

Provide practical, tailored advisory support across critical business functions to assist founders in utilizing their FAST grant funding effectively:

• Business regulations: Support the entrepreneurs in navigating country-specific business regulations, including taxes and licenses.
• Business Modeling & Strategic Planning: Refine value propositions and develop actionable plans for long-term sustainability.
• Financial Management: Guide founders through basic budgeting, cash flow forecasting, and managing early-stage capital.
• Sales & Marketing: Aid in building target customer acquisition strategies, digital positioning, and localized revenue growth.
• Product & Market Development: Offer strategic insights on Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development, localized market research, and supply chain/inventory management.
• Investment Readiness: Prepare young founders to structure their operations to become attractive for follow-on funding.

Connection Facilitation

• Actively bridge connections between your assigned mentees and external industry experts, regional corporate networks, and potential ecosystem partners.
• Maintain a structured log of these introductions, updating the program team on the progress and outcomes of each network connection.

Group masterclass & Workshops (Optional / Separately Billed)

• Participate occasionally as an expert guest speaker or facilitator in cohort-wide webinars or workshops.
• Note: Leading these broader group learning experiences is optional and will be contracted and compensated under an independent billing structure separate from 1-on-1 mentor sessions.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES & TIMELINE

All deliverables must be completed and submitted directly to the Program Manager according to the schedule below:

• Tailored Mentorship Plan (End of Week 1): A customized roadmap for each assigned mentee detailing identified gaps, strategic goals, and execution steps for the 6-month period.
• Monthly Progress Reports (Monthly): Concise updates tracking milestone achievements, tracking metrics, business challenges, and suggested course corrections.
• Final Consultancy Report (End of Month 6): A comprehensive closing evaluation detailing the overall development of the enterprise, goals achieved, and explicit next-step recommendations for the entrepreneur’s continued growth.

Requirements

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

• Established Entrepreneurship Background: Must be a founder, co-founder, or prominent leader of an established, operating business. Real-world experience building and scaling a company is required.
• Passion for Youth Development: A demonstrable motivation to give back, coach, and champion young African leaders, especially those from marginalized backgrounds.
• Empathy & Cultural Agility: Prior experience or high comfort working with diverse, vulnerable populations—specifically youth, women, refugees, displaced communities, and people with disabilities.
• Regional Context: Deep familiarity with the socio-economic, business regulations, and market dynamics of the East & Horn of Africa region (specifically across the 7 target countries).
• Reliable Remote Infrastructure: Since this role is 100% remote, consultants must possess stable internet connectivity and the hardware required to conduct consistent weekly virtual meetings.
• Language: Fluency in English is required; knowledge of regional languages (such as Swahili, Amharic, Luganda, Kinyarwanda, or Arabic) is a major asset.

Benefits

WHAT YOU’LL GET:

This consultancy is inside a mission-driven social enterprise, with an incredible team across Africa. By joining, you’ll access:

• The chance to create meaningful results for a high-impact organization at a moment of critical growth
• Incredible company culture – casual yet hard-working environment with plenty of autonomy 
• Diverse colleagues and policies that show our commitment to inclusion
• Talented, passionate, and committed team of colleagues across Africa.