Community Engagement Manager

Akilah Net is an online talent marketplace that connects employers and professionals across Africa. A for-profit social enterprise, Akilah Net was designed for the African marketplace by the team of professionals behind the Akilah Institute. Our mission is to connect employers to talented job seekers, simplifying the hiring process and making it easier for people to find great jobs.

In January 2015, we launched the first phase of Akilah Net: An online career magazine with over 20 contributors who cover topics such as technology, startups, innovation, and career development in Africa. We receive tens of thousands of visitors each month and have built an audience of African professionals eager for content about business development in Africa.

The second phase of Akilah Net -- a job platform and Applicant Tracking System -- will launch in September 2015. The job platform will allow job seekers to quickly create a professional profile and find and apply for exciting African career opportunities aligned with their skills and interests. The Applicant Tracking System will enable employers to easily screen, filter, and manage a large volume of applicants.

The Position

Akilah Net seeks a natural networker and relationship builder to join the team as Community Engagement Manager (CEM), based in Nairobi, Kenya.

As an important part of the Akilah Net team, the CEM will build brand awareness and increase brand engagement among young professionals, job seekers, and hiring managers in East Africa on a consistent basis through curated events, personal relationships, and social media marketing.

As the “ultimate connector”, you will engage several East African markets by building relationships with young professionals, job seekers, hiring managers, and our most valuable partners, and by developing programming to increase engagement levels.

This position may include frequent travel in East Africa and will be based in a co-working space in Nairobi.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is passionate about startups and thrives in an entrepreneurial environment. You are not shy, and feel completely comfortable working the room, pitching potential clients, and speaking in public. You get excited about the power and possibility of thoughtfully curated events amplified through social media marketing.

You’re not just a community manager; you’re an evangelist for Akilah Net and the people who use it. You learn by listening and observing as much as participating. You care deeply about empowering young people, especially by leveraging new technology. You have rock solid instincts in acquiring new users and managing relationships. You understand that being a CEM isn’t an 8 to 5 job. You know the job involves working some evenings and weekends, especially when there are events to attend or workshops to supervise.

Responsibilities

Outreach & Relationship Management

●     Reach out into the community using email, phone, and other tools to identify potential users and clients.

●     Cultivate and maintain relationships among young professionals, job seekers, and hiring managers in order to increase overall users on the site

●     Identify and attend events where you can engage with customers to build brand awareness.

●     Develop and implement the strategy for Akilah Net Ambassadors, a group of young professionals who promote Akilah Net to their networks and participate in regular events

●     Identify and cultivate young professionals to join the Ambassadors and train them to represent Akilah Net and host their own events, and provide ongoing training, goal setting, programming, etc.

●     Ensure Akilah Net communities feel engaged through regular communication via email, newsletters, meetups, features of news, new products, etc.

●     Actively participate in discussions across communities, social networks & blogs.

Business Development

●     Grow Akilah Net’s base of clients and users in East Africa.

●     Arrange pitch meetings with hiring managers and business owners.

●     Work on local partnerships with events, businesses, and brands.

●     Set and meet quarterly sales goals.

●     Gather feedback from clients and users and communicate to the Product team

Event Management

●     Plan and run community engagement events.

●     Negotiate with vendors, event spaces, and personnel to ensure that events run smoothly.

Social Media & Content Creation

●     Provide content for Akilah Net’s social media platforms, documenting events and highlighting key partnerships.

●     Write occasional articles for Akilah Net.

Qualifications

●     3+ years of proven experience in community building, ideally in community management, field organizing, and/or event planning.

●     Positive and energetic; a natural people person.

●     Passionate about workforce development and creating career connections and opportunities in Kenya.

●     Exceptional networking and relationship building skills.  Ability to inspire and motivate young people looking for jobs, as well as business owners and managers looking to hire talented Kenyans.

●     Metrics orientation, ability to work with data, and willingness to track results, activities and track outreach using Salesforce.

●     Experience managing multiple projects and delivering on tight deadlines. Prior project management experience is desirable.

●     100% comfortable putting yourself out there and talking to customers.

●     Exceptional written and verbal communication skills required.

●     Must be extremely organized and have the ability to multitask.

●     Team player, self-motivated, efficient, intellectually curious, flexible, reliable.

●     Must take initiative without constant supervision.

●     Easily adapt to rapidly changing environment and demands.

●     Robust/active online presence and familiarity with social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, etc.).

Benefits

This is an exciting time to join a quickly growing startup in a position that has lots of potential for increased responsibility and leadership.

Akilah Net provides:

●        Competitive compensation

●        Health insurance

●        Equity in the company

●        Retirement fund

To Apply

Please send your application with a link to one of your social media accounts along with your cover letter (addressed to Anastasia Uglova), CV/resume, and salary expectations.