The Innovation & Incubation Officer at KCA University (KCAU) supports the design, implementation, and delivery of innovation and incubation programs. The role focuses on startup support, program execution, innovation capacity building, and early-stage commercialisation, working closely with students, faculty, and external partners.
Duties and Responsibilities
Provide innovation and incubation support by identifying, screening, and accelerating innovative ideas and startups.
Offer hands-on assistance through mentorship and training in areas such as business modelling, customer discovery, market validation, and pitching.
Coordinate mentorship programs with industry experts and alumni and support startup admission, monitoring, and graduation processes in line with approved frameworks.
Assist in planning and delivering innovation programs, boot camps, hackathons, innovation challenges, and acceleration programs.
Support the execution of Innovation Week and other flagship innovation events, track participant progress while documenting outcomes and success stories.
Support technology transfer and commercialisation activities by identifying, documenting, and commercialising intellectual property arising from student and staff innovations.
Support partnerships and ecosystem engagement by working with industry, government, and innovation ecosystem partners by coordinating meetings, site visits, and collaboration activities.
Support monitoring, evaluation, and reporting by maintaining records of incubated startups, innovation activities, and outputs by preparing periodic performance, KPI, impact reports, and supporting data collection for internal and external stakeholders.
Any other duty assigned by the supervisor.
Qualifications and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship, Business, Innovation, Technology, Engineering, or a related field from a recognised institution.
Four (4) years of relevant work experience, especially in commercialisation and technology transfer or in managing an incubation centre.
Practical experience working with startups or innovation-driven projects.
Membership to a relevant professional body.
Skills and Competencies
Strong understanding of startup ecosystems and innovation processes.
Excellent facilitation, coordination, and communication skills.
Ability to work with multidisciplinary teams and young innovators.
Strong organisational and problem-solving skills.
Passion for innovation, entrepreneurship, and youth empowerment.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should apply online through the university portal or via the link: KCA University Application. Visit www.kcau.ac.ke for more information.
