SME Development & Partnerships Manager

The SME Development and Partnerships Manager is a mid-level technical management position, which will be responsible for developing and maintaining partnerships with the financial institutional partners and lead the design and support the delivery of matching grants through the programme. The partners include banks, microfinance institutions and cooperatives which provide financing to the targeted small and medium enterprises eligible for STEP grants. The grants will support SME growth through financial and business development services (BDS), in alignment with the programme's eligibility and performance criteria. The SME Development and Partnerships Manager will manage all aspects of the programme's relationship with financial institutions, who will nominate their SME clients for the programme's matching grant intervention. He/she will contribute to the success of the programme by taking the initiative and proactive oversight and day-to-day responsibility for the identification, communications and management of financial institution partners to meet the programme's goals. This responsibility should be based on a hands-on approach. 
 

Primary Responsibilities

Develop, Build and Manage Partnerships Financial Institutions (FIs)

• Develop, build and manage a full range of financial institutions which target SMEs eligible for STEP programme interventions.
• Lead the operational setup of partnerships and identification of avenues for collaboration. Assist in preparing the due diligence of financial institutions.
• Lead on the content input for the training of loan officers from the financial institutional partners to train them on the intricacies of the STEP matching grant intervention.
• Develop a partnership management work plan for the breadth and depth of FI partnerships to meet the programme goals. Monitor the progress and track the results of the SME applicant uptake from the FI partners. Drive outreach to ensure a strong pool of SME applicants through the clients of financial institutions.
• Ensure the financial institutional partners and SME grantees are inclusive to excluded and marginalised groups such as women and girls, people with disabilities and other potential beneficiaries from lagging regions in accordance with programme's GESI strategy guidelines.
• Work in collaboration with STEP's Grants Delivery Team to orient the relevant staff at financial institutions on STEP Handbook, policies, tools and templates and business processes.
• Provide input, along with the entire STEP team, on the FI regular status reports on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis for Palladium and DFID.

SME Development and Matching Grant Intervention Design

• Lead the development of approaches and intervention designs for supporting SMEs through matching grant that make use of a diversity of channels.
• Ensure a strong grant mechanism process is in place to support outreach - application, screening and selection. Coordinate and support the Grants Delivery Team to problem-solve delivery challenges, as and when they arise during the course of implementation.
• Work closely with the BDS Manager to incorporate the business development services as an integral part of the STEP's matching grant intervention.
• Work closely with the MEL Manager to track the quantitative and qualitative results of the matching grant intervention against the planned outcomes by defining M&E approaches, progress tracking and performance indicators for SMEs outreach, selection and support.
• Support and provide input on the development of appropriate communications strategies as well as materials for informational and promotional purposes targeted to the financial institutions loan officers and, also, to the SMEs.
• Provide inputs for periodic financial forecast for grants disbursement. Ensure effective, prompt and value for money grant disbursements. Provide inputs for periodic reports on the Value for Money (VfM) results of the programme.

Required qualifications and professional experience

• University qualification in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance or similar fields, preferably at postgraduate level.
• Experience working in the private sector, preferably with a financial institution, or with a donor-funded economic development programme (targeted to small businesses, with objective for job creation). Alternatively, experience with support to the private sector such as business development services, association or chamber which was driving growth in markets and/or optimizing business performance.
• Experience in designing and implementing support services, or matching grant mechanisms, targeted to SMEs to enhance business output.
• Experience working in business advisory services or similar functions directly with SMEs. Experience managing professional technical teams to deliver results.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Good team leadership, management and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and to manage competing priorities.
• Outstanding team player and willingness to learn and support learning of others.
• Fluency in written and oral communication skills in English and Arabic is essential.