STEP Project Manager

• The STEP Project Manager serves as the Field Implementation Lead, providing operational, technical, and managerial oversight across all field-based economic pathways and project outputs. Based in Nairobi and reporting directly to the STEP Project Director, the Project Manager bridges high-level strategic directives with camp-level transaction realities.
  
• The incumbent brings deep expertise in private sector management and Market Systems Development (MSD) within refugee-hosting and thin-market settings. They are directly responsible for supervising field-based Economic Inclusion and Livelihood Officers in Kakuma and Dadaab and Operation Officers based in Nairobi. Through these teams, the Project Manager guides core local deliverers, including Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs), Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs), Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), and Host Community Organizations (HCOs/CBOs/NGOs), in executing all project activities, ensuring compliance with GAC Results-Based Management (RBM) standards, fiduciary rules, and GESI-ECC safeguarding frameworks.
  

Key Areas of Responsibility

Field Implementation Leadership & MSD Facilitation (35%)

• Act as the operational engine for field implementation, translating the approved Annual Work Plan (AWP) into synchronized, quarterly execution plans across Kakuma, Kalobeyei, and Dadaab
  
• Leverage private sector management experience to build commercial relationships with lead private firms, aggregators, off-takers, BPO agencies, and financial service to expand market opportunities into refugee-hosting areas.
  
• Enforce the core MSD rule that market demand must precede skills training, cohort sizing, or capital disbursements. Validate employer vacancies, client task pipelines, and buyer contracts before approving intervention rounds.
  
• Oversee the execution of STEP’s Traction-Based Capital Sequencing Model. Ensure capital is deployed only after business diagnostics, customer testing, and 30 days of active record-keeping are verified.
  

Staff Supervision & Technical Capacity Building (20%)

• Supervise, mentor, and evaluate performance for the Economic Inclusion and Livelihood Officers stationed in Kakuma and Dadaab, and Operations Officer based in Nairobi.
  
• Support Project Director in chairing the monthly field-level Project Coordination Committee (PCC) meetings, harmonizing work plans, troubleshooting local logistical/infrastructure bottlenecks, and managing joint partner timesheets.
  
• Deliver continuous on-the-job coaching to field officers and local partners in systems thinking, transitioning staff mindsets from "direct service delivery" to "systemic market facilitation" using the Adopt-Adapt-Expand-Respond (AAER) framework.
  

Partner Management & Local Empowerment (20%)

• Provide direct technical guidance and oversight to core local implementing partners—specifically Solidarity Initiative for Refugees (SIR) and Turkana Pastoral Development Organization (TUPADO) in Kakuma/Kalobeyei and the Dadaab Collective (DC) and Rights Organization for Advocacy and Development (ROAD) in Dadaab—and affiliated CBOs, WROs, and OPDs.
  
• Operationalize WUSC’s localization strategy by strengthening the organizational, administrative, and technical capacities of RLOs, HCOs and private sector actors, ensuring they are equipped to sustain market-support functions after project facilitation concludes..
  
• Coordinate field operations with global implementing project partners, as well as institutional TVET institutions.
  

GESI, ECC & Safeguarding Integration (5%)

• Working closely with GESI, Safeguarding and ECC advisors (focals);
  
• Ensure all field activities strictly adhere to Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and WUSC’s GESI framework, achieving a minimum target of 60% young women participants and meaningfully integrating youth with disabilities and SOGIEC.
  
• Oversee the integration of non-negotiable inclusion enablers into pathway budgets, including mobile childcare units near workspaces, safe commute options, and Universal Design accessibility tools.
  
• Enforce environmental screening (NEMA guidelines) and Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) audits across all vocational workshops, digital hubs, and apprentice-hosting businesses.
  
• Maintain confidential, accessible grievance redress mechanisms and survivor-centered referral channels for GBV, PSEA, and workplace harassment.
  

Governance, Financial Compliance & MERL (10%)

• Support the Project Director in organizing and preparing agenda packages for the annual Project Steering Committee (PSC) in Nairobi and the bi-annual field Project Advisory Committees (PACs) in Kakuma and Dadaab.
  
• Oversee field compliance with GAC eligible cost guidelines, enforcing dual-signature authorization paths for expenditures exceeding KES 100,000 (~$1,000 CAD), managing central asset tag registries, and verifying partner declarations.
  
• Collaborate with the MERL Officer to track Performance Measurement Framework (PMF) indicators disaggregated by sex, age, disability, and displacement status (SADD+) [Passages 3, 51, 544]. Measure success by transition-to-income, net monthly earnings (> $90 USD), and 12-month business survival rates, rather than simple training completion numbers.
  

Policy Advocacy & Administrative Unblocking (10%)

• Provide technical assistance to duty-bearers, specifically the Department of Refugee Services (DRS), to streamline the issuance of IDs, KRA PINs, and Class M work permits for refugees.
  
• Operationalize national inclusion frameworks, such as the Shirika Plan and the Refugees Act (2021), to transition youth from informal incentive work to formal, protected labor.
  
• Facilitate dialogue sessions with government and private sector actors to promote fair hiring practices and regulate inclusive apprenticeships.
  

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

Education

• Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Economics, International Development, Commerce, Agribusiness, or a closely related field. (A Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years of relevant extraordinary experience will also be considered).
  

Professional Experience

• Minimum of 7 to 10 years of professional experience in corporate management, private enterprise development, supply-chain logistics, business incubation, or commercial financial services.
  
• Minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience designing and executing Market Systems Development (MSD) or Approach to Inclusive Market Systems (AIMS) programs, specifically focusing on market facilitation, crowd-in strategies, and actor ownership.
  
• Demonstrated track record of managing economic inclusion, TVET, or enterprise projects within refugee camps, ASAL regions, or thin-market settings in Kenya (specifically Turkana West / Kakuma / Kalobeyei or Garissa / Dadaab).
  
• Proven experience supervising multi-disciplinary technical teams and managing subcontracts with grassroots entities (RLOs, WROs, CBOs, NGOs).
  

Technical Knowledge & Skills

• Deep understanding of Kenya's Refugee Policy. Thorough working knowledge of the Refugees Act (2021), the Shirika Plan (2023–2027), KRA PIN/tax frameworks, Class M work permits, movement passes, and county integration plans (KISEDP & GISEDP).
  
• Strong commercial negotiation skills with the ability to articulate "the business case for refugee inclusion" to commercial CEOs, aggregators, and digital BPO platforms.
  
• Strong familiarity with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) policies, Results-Based Management (RBM), eligible cost guidelines, and Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) priorities.
  
• Proficiency in encrypted data management platforms (KoboToolbox), visual mapping tools (Mural), and financial tracking software.
  

Languages & Personal Attributes

• Full professional fluency in English and Kiswahili (written and spoken) is required. Knowledge of Somali or Turkana is a distinct operational advantage.
  
• Strategic leadership, humble collaboration, cultural agility, high emotional intelligence, diplomatic negotiation skills, and uncompromised personal integrity.