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Senior Mentors

 

Mentor our Business Support Associates through their 10-week enterprise placement

Through the UK Government funded International Citizen Service (ICS) programme, we are supporting the growth of hundreds of small and medium enterprises in Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. Our young volunteers, aged between 18 and 25, get the chance to see first hand the vital role of economic development in reducing poverty and generating opportunity.

Our Business Support Associate takes up a 10 – 12-week placement in an SME that Challenges Worldwide has identified as having growth potential.

Our Business Support Associates are trained to undertake an in-depth analysis of enterprises and the market they operate within. This is done through professionally recognised tools made available to them and helps to identify areas where the enterprise could improve/recommendations for the future.

The role itself

So what would your role be in this?  We are currently recruiting Remote Senior Mentors who would be willing to support our volunteers with any business queries they have whilst working with the SMEs. Their questions will vary but often fall loosely within the categories of finance, business planning and sales & marketing.

Volunteers follow a structured business support model whereby the first four weeks are dedicated to analysing the business and conducting diagnostics.  The remaining eight weeks focus further analysis and the implementation of small changes in helping improve the business’ effectiveness.

You would be introduced to the Business Support Associates during the second phase of the programme.  They’ll share their analysis of businesses with you and appreciate any guidance you can offer as they suggest (and begin implementing) recommendations for their enterprise.

What’s required of you?

The time commitment does vary from group to group but we usually find that our mentors set aside 2-3 hours per week to respond to queries and review documents, although there may be some quieter weeks where you receive no contact from volunteers.

Our next cycle will require support from:

    January – April 2018
    April – June 2018

If you will have reliable internet access and some spare time to offer over either of those periods, then we’d love to hear from you.

Our team will guide you through the materials used by our volunteers and help you navigate Challenges College, the online platform you’ll use to interact with our volunteers.

Specification

  • 10-15 years’ business experience
  • a genuine interest in social enterprise and private sector development
  • the patience and ability to communicate with 18-25-year-olds who may have no or little prior business experience
  • previous experience as a mentor or in providing remote support would be desirable
  • previous experience of working in developing countries would be an advantage but is by no means essential

How to apply

Send a CV and brief cover letter summarising your experience to Cassie.MacKenzie@challengesworldwide.com

 

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