Business Mentor

Employer: Village Enterprise

Industry: Nonprofit/International Development/Social Entrepreneurship

Job Title: Business Mentor 

Position Type: Full time

Required Number: Twenty eight (28)  

Reports to: Field Associates 

Location: Gimbo ,Shisho Ende and Bita districts, Kaffa, Ethiopia

Duration: One year, renewable based on satisfactory performance and fund availability

Project Overview:

Village Enterprise and HereWeGrow are partnering to address the interwoven challenges of poverty, gender inequity, and climate vulnerability facing smallholder coffee farmers in Ethiopia’s Kaffa Zone.

HARVEST - Households Advancing Resilience, Value chains, and Sustainable Transformation is a three-year, integrated project to address the poverty cycle in coffee producing small holder farmers in Gimbo and Shisho Ende districts of Kaffa Zone.

The proposed project combines Village Enterprise’s proven 12-month poverty graduation model–including seed capital grants, business and financial literacy training, mentoring, and savings groups with tailored climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and market linkage interventions.

This integrated model will be delivered to households living in extreme poverty in the coffee-growing Kaffa Zone.

The project will train 8,100 entrepreneurs to launch 2,700 small businesses, enabling households to improve coffee quality and yields and increase and diversify incomes, ultimately lifting 52,000 individuals from poverty.

Position Overview: 

This is a dynamic position that requires an individual with an innovative mind set and passion for supporting communities move out of poverty traps. The candidate must have a strong business acumen with knowledge on market linkages, business literacy, village savings and loans management. Some of the specific roles for this position include, but are not limited to:

Develop micro-enterprises: 

• Responsible for the identification of potential areas for Village Enterprise Program quality implementation and delivery in your respective area of work.
• Mobilize qualified groups and participants to participate in Village Enterprise program
• Accurately fill in village forms for each micro enterprise as specified in the Business Mentor manual
• Spearhead the start of approved microenterprises in your region in accordance to the funding cycle.

Training and disbursement:

• Properly train all new Village Enterprise Business owners according to training process detailed in the Business Mentor Training Manual
• Work with other Village Enterprise staff to carry out grant disbursement for all approved business groups
• Conduct supplemental training sessions and evaluate micro-enterprise performance after grant disbursements

Mentoring: 

• Provide mentoring to business owners on choosing and running a business using methods outlined in Mentoring Manual. Mentoring will require at least two visits to each business per month.
• Prepare monthly reports detailing progress of business groups including successes and challenges, general observations using an approved format.

Business Savings Groups (BSGs):

• Organize and support 2 Business Savings Groups (BSG) with approximately 30 members
• Train business groups on BSG formation for self-directed savings and loans
• Attend Monthly Savings Group Meetings as needed to provide general guidance and technical support to emerging entrepreneurs

Regional Exposure and Analysis:

• Assist Field Associate and Regional Manager to introduce the Village Enterprise program to local government agencies and to the community leaders.
• Work with the Field Associate and help identify most viable businesses in your region for profiling.
• Consult with other Business Mentors to determine best practices and share information for quality program implementation.
• Attend Business Mentor training courses, participate in regional Business Mentor meetings, usually on bi-weekly basis and provide input to innovation initiatives.
• Organize business visits to the sites of operation as and when requested by the Country Office.

Reporting:

• Submit a Monthly activity progress reports.
• Submit Business Profiles and success stories as and when requested for by the supervisor

Safeguarding, "Safeguarding at Village Enterprise is everyone’s responsibility"

• Continuously sensitize program participants about possible risks of child abuse, sexual/financial exploitation, prevention and response mechanisms.
• Ensure compliance with VE’s safeguarding policies and Code of Conduct in all programs, operations and practices.
• Report any incident of child or adult safeguarding in program operations for appropriate action and follow up.

Qualification and Experience 

• Minimum qualification of Degree in Social work, Education, Business Management or related field.
• 1-year experience in teaching, training, mentoring and/or community work with adults
• Merit and ability in work performance and verifiable results
• Capability in conducting field work and residence in the specified area or willing to reside at woreda, kebele, and village level of operation.
• Ability to read, write, communicate and deliver business training in Amharic and the local languages spoken (Kaffagna) in the project area is a MUST. This will be tested.
• Self-starter, hardworking, honest, trustworthy, open and approachable

Additional (Mandatory) Requirement:  

Applicants must submit a letter of support from their respective woreda administrations (Shisho-Ende, Gimbo, and Bita) confirming their residency in their respective woredas of Kaffa Zone and their eligibility to work within these woredas. This letter should be included with your CV and cover letter as part of the application packages.  

Living Our Values: 

• Ubuntu: We serve people living in extreme poverty with respect, empathy, and dignity regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, or education level, and value our common humanity.
• Passion: We believe passionately in our mission and the ability of people living in extreme poverty to improve their lives.
• Integrity: We operate with the highest levels of integrity and trustworthiness.
• Innovation: We value innovation as a means to reduce poverty and treat new ideas, new technologies, and new partners as opportunities to grow our impact.
• Sustainability: We are committed to ensuring that our businesses and our organization are sustainable in the long term.

To Apply 

Interested candidates who meet the required qualifications coupled with a passion for changing lives of the extreme poor are invited to submit their applications and resume (PDF) – your cover letter should explain why your experience and background make you the ideal candidate for this position and should be no more than one page.

Submit applications until December 4, 2025.

Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action:

Village Enterprise will provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. Employment decisions at Village will be based on merit, qualifications and abilities. Village does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, marital status or any other characteristic protected by the law. Village Enterprise will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in undue hardship to daily operations.

Village Enterprise is a corruption, solicitation or bribery free organization. We or any of our employees or associates do not charge money from job applicants before, during or after recruitment. Please report malpractices through our safeguarding Tollfree hotline 8495.