Head of Operations at Mara Online

About the position
We are looking for an ambitious and self-motivated individual to lead and coordinate all activities related to Mara Online in Nigeria.

Mara Mentor’s aim is to connect, inspire and empower entrepreneurs across the African continent. It is an online community that connects ambitious entrepreneurs with experienced and inspiring business leaders. The initiative encourages idea and knowledge sharing among promising young entrepreneurs, inspiring a collaborative approach to business start-up and growth.

Mara Mentor has been created to empower Africa’s youth in their business endeavours, in recognition that they are the driving force behind the continent’s growth and future prosperity.

Mara Mentor can be accessed via the website (https://mentor.mara.com/) and a mobile App that is available on iTunes, Blackberry and Android.
The successful candidate will drive a national rollout of Mara Mentor in Nigeria. Mara Mentor will be promoted by coordinated above-the-line and below-the-line campaigns facilitated by agencies. There will be a number of complementary activities such as one-on-one mentoring events, BizHack competitions, and youth gatherings. All activities will be organised with close coordination with our partners.

The Head of Operations will build and manage a strong team to support the national rollout, coordinate with all agencies and stakeholders and execute all activities related to Mara Mentor.

They will directly interact with and be required to influence and negotiate with senior executives business, community and government stakeholders via email, phone and face-to-face meetings. The successful candidate will build and lead the team, project-manage in-country and cross-region activity seeking creative and innovative ways to execute at pace.

The Head of Operations will report to the West Africa Region Head, based in Nigeria.

Summary of job role
-    Recruit and train Mara Mentor Youth Leaders and Representatives for each countyas well as Project Managers for Mara One-on-One, Mara BizHack, and any other necessary team members
-    Coordinate all roll out activities, including coordination with media agencies and county teams
-    Monitor and evaluate the progress of Mara Mentor’s outreach, identify opportunities for improvements and adapt courses of actions accordingly
-    Manage the Stakeholder relationships, including government, sponsors, media and youth organisations
-    Attend workshops, seminars, and conferences torepresent Mara Mentor and Mara Online
-    Network extensively and maintain long-lasting relationships with youth, youth organisations and start-up organisations
-    Manage team to generate engaging local online content via social media
-    Timely response to all phone and email communications internally and externally
-    Manage and monitor all expenses based on the allocated budget for the region
-    General administration duties, and any other duties as assigned by line manager

Skills and Requirements
-    Commitment to Mara Foundation’s aims, objectives and principles
-    Proactive; able to set challenging personal goals and remain motivated despite obstacles
-    Experience mobilising youth including on-the-ground expertise in running large campaigns
-    Large network of connections in Nigeria and West Africa, ideally within Banks and Telecommunication companies
-    Experience in recruiting, on-boarding and managing a team, including effective motivation and reward techniques
-    Confident in presentation; skilled in negotiation
-    Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail
-    Creative, flexible, able to use own initiative to solve problems
-    Possesses a “can-do” infectious positive attitude and an entrepreneurial team player perspective. 
Must be honest, accountable and assertive
-    Must be a team leader and lead-by-example
-    Must be self-directed and reliable in project planning and delivery. Must have exceptional time management skills and the ability to establish and meet deadlines across multiple workstreams
-    Must have excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills in English
-    Must be an effective relationship manager with a broad range of stakeholders
-    Must be able to effectively use office equipment, computers and scanner and other resources for completion of projects
-    Graduate in business studies, project management or equivalent, preferred
-    +10 years organisational experience
-    A track-record of leading an event, project or programme of scale and evidence of its success