Acumen is looking for a community manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience in building communities and developing programs for community members. This role sits in our East African office, will collaborate closely with the global Academy Team, and reports to the Acumen East Africa Fellowship Manager.

About Acumen
Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing in companies, leaders and ideas. We invest patient capital in businesses whose products and services offer important opportunities to people living in poverty. To date, Acumen has positively impacted over 500 million lives by investing $154.4M in 167 innovative, early-stage companies in Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States. But investment isn’t only about capital, we’ve been investing in innovators for years, connecting with emerging leaders around the world and engaging them in collective dialogue, moral inquiry, and skill building.

About Academy
Acumen Academy is the world’s school for social change. We’re looking to support a new generation of social innovators and leaders with the character and competence to solve problems of poverty and build a world based on dignity. We seek to inspire a new generation by sharing stories of visionary role models and business models with the world.

About the Foundry
Through the Fellowship program, Acumen invests in developing the moral leadership skills of social builders. Acumen Fellowship graduates enter the Foundry, a global community with a shared ethos and vision: to build a world based on dignity that centers people and planet. The Foundry is the alumni community for the +1,600 graduates of our Fellowhsip or Accelerator Programs. The East Africa Fellowship Program launched in 2012; the community includes 326 Foundry members across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

About the Role
The Foundry Associate will be responsible for executing the East Africa Foundry Strategy, including events, communication and programs. They will play a critical role in “animating” a community of 326 Foundry Members in the region, connecting them to each other and opportunities to amplify their impact. We want to take the number of scaled organizations in the Foundry (defined as those serving 1 million people/year) from 50 to 150 over the next 3 years and to build a connected community of leaders with a shared commitment to each other and Acumen’s mission.

Key accountabilities include:

• Design and Execute East Africa Foundry Plan. Adapt and execute a local Foundry Strategy based on the pillars and shared success metrics of the Global Foundry Strategy.
  
  
• Drive Local Community Engagement. Lead engagement of the EA Foundry, including fostering breadth and depth of connections across the Foundry Members through regular communications, events and touchpoints.
  
  
• Manage local connection connection to Global Opportunities. Facilitate the connection of Global Foundry Offerings to the EA Community, including support and coaching for programs like Acumen Angels.
  
  
• Communities of Practice. Lead the delivery of the pilot ‘Forcibly Displaced Community of Practice’.
  
  
• Data collection and Reporting. Work closely with the global team to improve systems for Foundry data and reporting, including supporting with data collection for existing grant requirements (Global Affairds Canada, FDP).

Qualifications and skills

• 5+ years of program or community management
• Analytical mindset to understand data, insights and impact
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Willingness to take risks and ability to address complex issues creatively and effectively
• Detailed, timely, and communicative project manager
• Familiarity with tools such as Slack, Google Doc/Sheet/Slide, Microsoft Excel
• Ability to collaborate effectively with different personalities, styles, and cultures across levels, functions, and geographies, both internally and externally
• Self reflective and aligned with Acumen values

Location
Nairobi, Kenya

Apply early as applications will be reviewed and interviews scheduled on a rolling basis.