The Business Coach role is vital for delivering hands-on enterprise development support to young women and men participating in livestock and agri-related value chains. Utilizing both the REAP Graduation Model and a Market Systems Development approach, the Business Coach is tasked with leading participant targeting, training, business mentorship, coaching, grant management, and facilitating linkages to markets and financial institutions to enable participants to build viable, scalable, and resilient enterprises. This role is highly field-based and requires a strong technical understanding of livestock/agri-business, financial inclusion, value chain development, private sector engagement, and youth-focused coaching. The Business Coach ensures participants acquire the practical knowledge, resources, and linkages needed to access markets, increase incomes, and sustainably grow their enterprises.
Tasks and Responsibilities
Participant Selection, Training & Enterprise Coaching
- Lead in participant identification and onboarding using the program selection criteria.
- Collaborate with training and curriculum development staff to customize training content to align with market demand, context relevance, and participants’ needs.
- Deliver structured business training and coaching using the REAP model, integrating climate action and gender-responsive approaches.
- Conduct enterprise assessments and develop tailored coaching plans for individual entrepreneurs, groups, and MSMEs.
- Provide coaching support to participants to identify, establish, grow, and manage viable livestock and agri-enterprises.
- Provide participants with technical skills to adopt climate-smart livestock and agri-business practices.
Market Systems & Value Chain Development
- Conduct value chain and market systems analyses to identify constraints and opportunities.
- Identify and conduct linkages with off-takers, processors, traders, aggregators, financial institutions, input providers, and other ecosystem actors.
- Promote inclusive, youth- and women-friendly business models within livestock and agri-markets.
- Identify and establish aggregation initiatives with cooperatives, market and producer groups, private sector, county government, and business networks to strengthen market access.
Business Development Services & Financial Inclusion
- Guide participants to develop business models, financial planning, cost analysis, and cashflow management for their businesses.
- Strengthen participants' access to savings, loans, digital finance, insurance, and other formal and informal financial services, including grant funds and government affirmative action funds.
- Take lead in the formation, strengthening, and training of VSLAs (Village Savings and Loan Associations), including registration, financial literacy, life skills, mental health, and psychosocial skills.
- Guide participants to develop viable business plans and apply for the Challenge Fund grant.
- Monitor effective utilization of Challenge Fund grants.
Technical Assistance & Capacity Building
- Ensure quality delivery of the program outcomes with accountability in time, on budget, and within the scope.
- Deliver training on entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, livestock and agri-enterprise management, and business growth strategies.
- Facilitate monthly mentorship sessions with business groups and savings groups.
- Collaborate with county governments, TVETs, research institutions, and private sector actors to unlock technical skills, markets, and employment opportunities.
Monitoring, Learning & Reporting
- Collect high-quality data in line with M&E protocols and maintain business/VSLA KPIs.
- Utilize assigned digital tools for data capture (tablets, digital forms, Salesforce).
- Participate in weekly/monthly/quarterly review meetings and contribute data insights.
- Document success stories, lessons learned, adaptations, and emerging market insights.
- Maintain all assigned tools, including motorcycles and tablets.
Qualification and Experience
Minimum Academic Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Livestock Production, Economics, Entrepreneurship, Rural Development, or related fields.
Experience
- Prior 3-5 years of work experience in the Livestock and agri-related value chain development within ASALs (Arid and Semi-Arid Lands).
- Experience in Business coaching, MSME support, or Business Development Services (BDS).
- Experience in Market Systems Development (MSD/M4P).
- Experience working with youth, women, refugees, pastoralist, and agro-pastoral communities.
- Experience in building market and financial linkages with private sector actors.
Additional Required Competencies
- Strong coaching and mentorship skills.
- Understanding of market dynamics, enterprise growth strategies, and financial literacy.
- Experience in data collection, analysis, and insight generation.
- Excellent communication, interpersonal, and conflict resolution skills.
- Ability to ride a motorcycle with a valid A1/A2 license.
- Basic digital literacy (mobile data collection, MS Office; Salesforce is an added advantage).
- Ability to work independently in remote field environments.
- MUST be a resident of the respective Counties and speak one local language of the county identified in the application out of the 15 counties in which the CASHA project is being implemented.
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