Project Officer (NYOTA) Kenya Dadaab

Role Overview

As a BSD Officer on the NYOTA project, you are the person who helps young entrepreneurs turn business training into a working enterprise. Day to day, you run structured one-to-one mentorship sessions, dig into the operational, financial and marketing problems holding a small business back, and connect participants to markets, finance and support networks that sit beyond what mentoring alone can provide. The role matters because business development training only becomes a durable livelihood when someone walks alongside participants as they apply it — and that is the bridge you build.

Key Responsibilities

• Deliver a minimum of four structured mentorship sessions over four months for each assigned participant, following the approved Mentorship Guide, work plans and programme objectives.
• Coach mentees on business planning, financial management and record keeping, pricing, marketing, customer relations and everyday operations, using your own enterprise experience as the basis for practical advice.
• Help participants set realistic business goals, monitor their progress, surface obstacles early and convert them into concrete action plans with regular follow-up.
• Reinforce Business Development Services training content and support mentees in applying what they have learned to their existing business or business idea.
• Identify and facilitate access to markets, value chains, financial services, cooperatives, business networks and other entrepreneurship support services, referring mentees onward when a need falls outside the scope of mentorship.
• Maintain a professional, respectful and safe mentorship environment, applying safeguarding, PSEA, confidentiality, non-discrimination, gender-responsive and disability-inclusive approaches throughout, with attention to the barriers that can keep people out of programme activities.
• Keep accurate records of sessions, beneficiary confirmations, business progress and participant feedback, and submit required reports within agreed timelines.
• Coordinate with the wider NYOTA project team, trainers, facilitators, instructors, MSEA and other stakeholders so mentorship stays aligned with the broader BDS intervention and complementary services, and contribute feedback and lessons from implementation to programme monitoring, review and learning.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Commerce, Economics, Development Studies, Livelihoods or a related field.
• At least two years' relevant experience in business mentorship, enterprise coaching or advisory services.
• Practical, hands-on entrepreneurship and business management experience of your own.
• Demonstrated experience supporting entrepreneurs through business challenges and growth decisions.
• Working knowledge of the local micro and small enterprise and market context.
• Ability to mentor and coach youth in a practical, encouraging and accountable way.
• Understanding of inclusive, gender-responsive and culturally sensitive approaches to programme delivery.
• Strong documentation, record-keeping and reporting skills, and the ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues, partners and stakeholders.
• Knowledge of the refugee and host-community context in Kakuma/Kalobeyei and/or Dadaab is an advantage.
• Willingness to provide technical guidance, coaching and capacity building to colleagues with business development and mentorship responsibilities, including contributing to the induction and development of new staff, and to represent the organisation professionally in line with its policies, guidance, procedures and Code of Conduct.