About the Organisation
SmartStart is a successful national network of NGOs & partners realising quality, affordable early learning for all 3-5 year olds — through scaling a network of providers, and achieving specific ecosystem transformations with governments and partners.
About the Job
The successful candidate will be responsible for driving and enabling appropriate sustainability-at-scale for existing and potential SmartStart early learning micro-enterprises and/or practitioners amid informality. This entails stakeholder work including collaboratively developing, realising, and managing a strategically-coherent sustainability agenda; and technical work including but not limited to appropriate “market” segmentation as well as articulating registration pathways that unlock state funding. The Micro-Enterprise Sustainability Specialist must operate with an asset-based orientation to informality in general and the informal economy in particular — as opposed to either eradicating or formalising informality.
Key Responsibilities
Driving and enabling appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Collaboratively defining, learning about, prioritising, and realising appropriate practitioner and/or micro-enterprise sustainability-at-scale for the diverse current and future / potential SmartStart network, including but not limited to:
o Understanding early learning micro-enterprise and/or practitioner operating dynamics, income, and expenditure by segment, including diverse income streams and cost structures and/or drivers
o Proposing, securing agreement on, and realising key sustainability initiatives and/or interventions
o Empowering early learning practitioners in their contexts across segments to access and/or leverage resources that contribute towards their sustainability
Managing relevant collaborative and/or (team)work for appropriate sustainability-at-scale amid informality
Building productive collaborations
Identifying, cultivating, and maintaining productive collaborative relationships with and/or networks of Hub teams, network partners, investors, governments, and other stakeholders in service of appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Framing coherence-building and problem-solving conversations enabling learning as well as sense-making, decision-making, and action-taking regarding appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Collaboratively developing, deepening, and realising a strategically-coherent agenda for sustainability-at-scale amid informality
Guiding and managing collaborations in service of realising appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Learning about, understanding, and tracking sustainability dynamics, situations, and interventions
Building and/or integrating systems for early learning practitioners to make informed judgements about and trac
o their own sustainability over time; and
o the effects of sustainability initiatives and/or interventions over time
Building a database of sustainability-enhancing opportunities across the state and other relevant actors (potentially) available to early learning micro-enterprises and/or practitioners as well as any associated compliance requirements — especially regarding Growth, Income & Costs
Co-conceptualising and framing appropriate learning questions and/or research (eg. terms of reference) about sustainability factors and (potential) interventions
Scoping, understanding, analysing and/or estimating the impacts and/or other effects in context(s) as well as the suitability at scale of potential interventions including but not limited to o Previous and/or existing SmartStart initiatives
o Compliance support
o Financial literacy support
o Micro-enterprise management
Understanding key sustainability risks and potential mitigating actions
Requirements
Qualifications & Experience:
Min. degree in economics, informality, business, entrepreneurship, or related field or equivalent evidence of learning & capabilities
Min. 5 years professional experience in informal economic contexts
Min. 3 years relevant experience in realising (micro-)enterprise development across informal contexts
Advantageous: Experience of and/or familiarity with compliance and/or licensing in an informal context
Knowledge & Understanding
Strong knowledge and/or understanding of sustainability and/or enterprise development and/or entrepreneurship dynamics across informal sectors and/or contexts
Strong understanding of business finance in informal economic contexts
Abilities, Skills and Attributes:
Ability to work at scale across diverse contexts
Demonstrated ability to see & realise the big picture while attending to details
Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaborate and build partnerships and/or networks across diverse contexts
Track record of innovating including but not limited to leveraging information and technology creatively
Excellent creative problem-solving capability including:
o Asking questions
o Questioning assumptions
o Analysing, triangulate, and synthesising quantitative and qualitative assumptions and information
o Integrating information for insights
o Generating and/or assessing multiple options and provide reasoned recommendations or proposals
Excellent professional communication and interpersonal skills
Strong drive to succeed
Clear curiosity and track record of learning, including openness to & appetite for feedback
To apply
Must be legally eligible to work full time in South Africa.
Child Safeguarding Policy
Any and all applicants must adhere with the SmartStart Child Safeguarding Policy which has been developed in line with the International Standards for Child Safeguarding which provide a benchmark for organisations working with children.
In terms of this Policy, SmartStart will not employ anyone whose name is on the National Child Protection Register or who has been convicted of a criminal offence involving a child.
In order to apply, email your application by Wednesday 30th August 2023 to callum@actionappointments.co.za send your completed AA bio form, letter of motivation and updated CV (all in MS Word format).
About the Organisation
SmartStart is a successful national network of NGOs & partners realising quality, affordable early learning for all 3-5 year olds — through scaling a network of providers, and achieving specific ecosystem transformations with governments and partners.
About the Job
The successful candidate will be responsible for driving and enabling appropriate sustainability-at-scale for existing and potential SmartStart early learning micro-enterprises and/or practitioners amid informality. This entails stakeholder work including collaboratively developing, realising, and managing a strategically-coherent sustainability agenda; and technical work including but not limited to appropriate “market” segmentation as well as articulating registration pathways that unlock state funding. The Micro-Enterprise Sustainability Specialist must operate with an asset-based orientation to informality in general and the informal economy in particular — as opposed to either eradicating or formalising informality.
Key Responsibilities
Driving and enabling appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Collaboratively defining, learning about, prioritising, and realising appropriate practitioner and/or micro-enterprise sustainability-at-scale for the diverse current and future / potential SmartStart network, including but not limited to:
o Understanding early learning micro-enterprise and/or practitioner operating dynamics, income, and expenditure by segment, including diverse income streams and cost structures and/or drivers
o Proposing, securing agreement on, and realising key sustainability initiatives and/or interventions
o Empowering early learning practitioners in their contexts across segments to access and/or leverage resources that contribute towards their sustainability
Managing relevant collaborative and/or (team)work for appropriate sustainability-at-scale amid informality
Building productive collaborations
Identifying, cultivating, and maintaining productive collaborative relationships with and/or networks of Hub teams, network partners, investors, governments, and other stakeholders in service of appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Framing coherence-building and problem-solving conversations enabling learning as well as sense-making, decision-making, and action-taking regarding appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Collaboratively developing, deepening, and realising a strategically-coherent agenda for sustainability-at-scale amid informality
Guiding and managing collaborations in service of realising appropriate sustainability-at-scale
Learning about, understanding, and tracking sustainability dynamics, situations, and interventions
Building and/or integrating systems for early learning practitioners to make informed judgements about and trac
o their own sustainability over time; and
o the effects of sustainability initiatives and/or interventions over time
Building a database of sustainability-enhancing opportunities across the state and other relevant actors (potentially) available to early learning micro-enterprises and/or practitioners as well as any associated compliance requirements — especially regarding Growth, Income & Costs
Co-conceptualising and framing appropriate learning questions and/or research (eg. terms of reference) about sustainability factors and (potential) interventions
Scoping, understanding, analysing and/or estimating the impacts and/or other effects in context(s) as well as the suitability at scale of potential interventions including but not limited to o Previous and/or existing SmartStart initiatives
o Compliance support
o Financial literacy support
o Micro-enterprise management
Understanding key sustainability risks and potential mitigating actions
Requirements
Qualifications & Experience:
Min. degree in economics, informality, business, entrepreneurship, or related field or equivalent evidence of learning & capabilities
Min. 5 years professional experience in informal economic contexts
Min. 3 years relevant experience in realising (micro-)enterprise development across informal contexts
Advantageous: Experience of and/or familiarity with compliance and/or licensing in an informal context
Knowledge & Understanding
Strong knowledge and/or understanding of sustainability and/or enterprise development and/or entrepreneurship dynamics across informal sectors and/or contexts
Strong understanding of business finance in informal economic contexts
Abilities, Skills and Attributes:
Ability to work at scale across diverse contexts
Demonstrated ability to see & realise the big picture while attending to details
Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaborate and build partnerships and/or networks across diverse contexts
Track record of innovating including but not limited to leveraging information and technology creatively
Excellent creative problem-solving capability including:
o Asking questions
o Questioning assumptions
o Analysing, triangulate, and synthesising quantitative and qualitative assumptions and information
o Integrating information for insights
o Generating and/or assessing multiple options and provide reasoned recommendations or proposals
Excellent professional communication and interpersonal skills
Strong drive to succeed
Clear curiosity and track record of learning, including openness to & appetite for feedback
To apply
Must be legally eligible to work full time in South Africa.
Child Safeguarding Policy
Any and all applicants must adhere with the SmartStart Child Safeguarding Policy which has been developed in line with the International Standards for Child Safeguarding which provide a benchmark for organisations working with children.
In terms of this Policy, SmartStart will not employ anyone whose name is on the National Child Protection Register or who has been convicted of a criminal offence involving a child.
In order to apply, email your application by Wednesday 30th August 2023 to callum@actionappointments.co.za send your completed AA bio form, letter of motivation and updated CV (all in MS Word format).
