STEP Project Manager

Role Overview

The STEP Project Manager leads the project’s field implementation from Nairobi, turning strategic plans into coordinated economic inclusion activities across Kakuma, Kalobeyei and Dadaab. You will guide teams and local partners to connect displaced and host-community youth with employer-led training, jobs and enterprise opportunities, while ensuring project resources and activities meet donor, inclusion and safeguarding requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Convert the approved annual work plan into practical quarterly plans for field teams and partners, resolving operational barriers as activities progress.
• Build relationships with employers, buyers, aggregators, business process outsourcing providers and financial service providers to expand opportunities in refugee-hosting areas.
• Confirm that real employer demand, buyer commitments or client work pipelines exist before approving training cohorts, business support or capital.
• Apply STEP’s staged business financing approach, verifying business diagnostics, customer testing and at least 30 days of business records before capital is released.
• Manage and coach Economic Inclusion and Livelihood Officers in Kakuma and Dadaab, as well as the Nairobi Operations Officer; support coordination meetings and joint planning.
• Provide technical direction to local implementing partners and strengthen the organisational, administrative and delivery capabilities of refugee-led, host-community, women’s rights and disability organisations.
• Integrate gender equality, disability inclusion, safeguarding, environmental screening and workplace safety into activity design and delivery; maintain accessible complaint and survivor-referral processes.
• Work with the Project Director and MERL Officer on governance, expenditure controls, partner compliance and results tracking, including income transitions, earnings and business survival.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Master’s degree in business administration, economics, international development, commerce, agribusiness or a related discipline. A bachelor’s degree combined with at least 12 years of highly relevant experience may be considered.
• Seven to ten years of experience in corporate management, enterprise development, supply-chain logistics, business incubation, commercial finance or a closely related area.
• At least five years of practical experience designing and delivering Market Systems Development or inclusive market systems programmes, including market facilitation and strategies that encourage lasting participation by market actors.
• Demonstrated experience managing economic inclusion, TVET or enterprise initiatives in refugee settings, arid and semi-arid regions or other thin markets in Kenya; experience in Turkana or Garissa is particularly relevant.
• Experience supervising multidisciplinary teams and managing agreements or subcontracts with grassroots organisations, including refugee-led, women’s rights, community-based and other civil-society organisations.
• Working knowledge of Kenya’s refugee policy and the Refugees Act (2021), the Shirika Plan, refugee documentation and work authorisation processes, and county integration plans such as KISEDP and GISEDP.
• Strong commercial negotiation skills, with the ability to make a compelling case for inclusive employment and business partnerships to private-sector decision-makers.
• Familiarity with Global Affairs Canada requirements, results-based management, eligible-cost rules and Feminist International Assistance Policy priorities. Experience with KoboToolbox, Mural and financial tracking systems is required or highly relevant.
• Professional fluency in spoken and written English and Kiswahili. Somali or Turkana language skills are an advantage.
• Sound judgement, integrity, cultural awareness, collaborative leadership and the ability to negotiate sensitively with diverse partners and stakeholders.