Job Opportunity // Director with UK-Kenya Tech Hub

Job Opportunity // Director with UK-Kenya Tech Hub

The British Government is looking to hire a Director to set up and lead a new, innovative and high-profile Tech Hub in Kenya that will aim to develop the Kenyan tech ecosystem, deliver digital skills programmes, and build links between Kenyan and international (including UK) tech businesses.

The Government is looking for a dynamic, well-networked leader from the Kenya tech scene for this important role, who will use their significant experience and network to shape and lead this exciting initiative.

The hub will be one of four critical pillars of a new Prosperity Fund programme to drive greater digital access in countries like Kenya.  New and innovative, the Prosperity Fund (PF) represents a step change in HMG’s approach to promoting economic development and prosperity overseas.

The PF was established under the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) with the primary aim of supporting growth in recipient countries and thereby reducing poverty. As such, it represents a key component of the prosperity pillar of the UK Aid Strategy.

But the Fund uniquely focuses on promoting growth in ODA-eligible middle income countries, which are home to nearly 70% of the world’s poor and where the development challenges remain significant, but at the same time are important business partners and drivers of prosperity.

By delivering high impact, strategic multi-year programmes, across high opportunity countries, regions and sectors, the Fund will help create opportunities for international business, including UK companies. As the UK leaves the EU, an even more outward-looking global Britain investing and trading with the fastest growing markets will become increasingly important.

The role will be based in Nairobi, with some travel across the country which will be required to maximise the success and outputs of the hub across Kenya. There will also be some overseas travel, including to the UK.

The UK- Kenya Tech Hub will be one of the first in a global network of international tech partnerships developed by the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to build digital ecosystems that will facilitate sustainable economic growth and development.

The successful candidate will lead a small team of locally-engaged staff, based within the British High Commission, and will be responsible for shaping and delivering the strategy for the Hub.

The team will support local digital ecosystems in both the commercial hotspots and across more disadvantaged regions of the partner country.

They follow the example of successful hubs elsewhere in the world such as the UK-Israel Hub in Tel Aviv. The Tech Hub Network is funded as part of a cross-government, Prosperity-funded programme, so collaboration across departments will be a critical success factor in this role.

The Hub will have three main aims:

●      deliver tailored interventions to cultivate digital skills responding to the needs and opportunities for inclusion in the local tech sector for example promoting opportunities for youth and women in the local tech sector;

●      support tech entrepreneurship through partnerships with local digital ecosystem stakeholders including incubators, accelerators, UK and SA private sector firms, SA government departments and agencies and non-profit organisations

●      facilitate partnerships between local tech firms (including tech startups) and international companies (across all sectors) in the form of commercial partnerships or joint ventures

About British Government

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

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