United States of America: Strategic Planning Fellow
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 07 Feb 2014
KickStart International is seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Strategic Planning Fellow for a short-term and highly visible project. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with KickStart’s Senior Management team to help us with the development our strategic plan for 2020.
About the Organization:
KickStart-International www.kickstart.org is an award-winning, nonprofit social enterprise with a mission to lift millions of people in Africa out of poverty. They do this by designing and mass-marketing simple, “MoneyMaker” branded, human-powered irrigation pumps. These low-cost pumps are bought by poor local farmers who use them to irrigate their plots. The farmers move from rain-fed subsistence farming to commercial, irrigated agriculture. They grow and sell high-value crops throughout the year—especially in the long dry “hungry” seasons when the prices are highest—and on average increase their annual net farm incomes by about 500%. For the first time, they can properly feed and educate their children, afford healthcare and plan for their futures. To date, more than 150,000 farming families have used MoneyMaker pumps to climb out of poverty.
KickStart was recognized as one of the “Top 100 Best NGOs in the World” in 2012 and 2013 by The Global Journal. The U.S. Department of State presented KickStart with the first-ever Innovation Award for the Empowerment of Women and Girls in 2012. In 2011, Forbes named KickStart to their “Impact 30 List” as one of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs. Fast Company Magazine and the Monitor Group awarded KickStart with a Social Capitalist Award in each of the years 2004-2008.
About the Position:
The duration of the project is between 4-6 months and the Strategic Planner will report to KickStart’ Chief Development & Partnerships Officer. The ideal candidate will be someone who already lives in New York City and will have the flexibility to travel to Nairobi, Kenya for periods of 2 to 3 weeks. A monthly stipend will be available for the position.
The Strategic Planner will support the design and development of KickStart’s strategic growth plan -for the 2014-2020 period. Specifically, this role will:
• Implement and project manage the strategic planning process and associated templates
• Perform industry and competitive analysis, and research best practices and competitive benchmarking
• Conduct informational interviews with KickStart’s management team and other staff, partners, and donors to identify key constraints and strategies
• Perform high-level market/opportunity research and sizing
• Consolidate data and recommendations and compile the plan - this will include new innovations, new target markets/countries, marketing and sales initiatives, leverage strategies, partnerships, new products/services and financial offerings
• Develop financial model to support the strategic plan
Qualifications:
• Experience in management consulting with a high-end consulting firm
• Experience in practical and realistic strategic planning, competitive and industry analysis
• Experience in project management and implementation
• Excellent experience and proven skills in team facilitation with a high level of responsibility
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills
• Exceptional planning, organizational, and leadership capabilities
• Strong analytical skills, including a high level of proficiency with Microsoft Excel financial modeling
• Results/performance orientated, and a proven “self-starter”
• Ability to work in a dynamic and unstructured environment
How to apply:
To apply for this position, please email your cover letter, together with your resume (maximum of 2 pages), with the position in the subject line of your email to info@kickstart.org by February 7, 2014.
