Government Relations Specialist (Kenya)

We believe that all children should be given the chance to reach their full potential. However, more than 600 million children in the world do not achieve foundational skills like literacy and basic numeracy – despite the majority of them going to school. 

At EIDU, we are creating the next-generation ed-tech platform for children who lack access to the high-quality education that all children deserve. We currently serve over 350,000 active students in Kenya, and we look forward to serving up to 30 million students by 2030. External researchers conducted a year-long randomised control trial, midline results indicate that having EIDU in schools adds the equivalent of at least 0.8 years of learning development. We also have fascinating projects with leading technology companies to further enhance learning outcomes through AI. 

EIDU is funded by well-known development agencies, foundations, and impact investors and we are about to scale our programs rapidly through partnerships with governments.

With a mission like EIDU’s, diversity of thought and background within our team is crucial. We value those who can bring a diverse perspective to our platform and help us provide high-quality education to as many children as we can across the globe.

 If you’d like to learn more about us, visit our website at eidu.com or watch our two-minute video. 

What will you do

• Lead the government relations, engagements and negotiations on the technical level (for example, with county leadership, departments and education technical officers) and chart out the way to get EIDU into schools all across Kenya. This includes mapping out, reaching out and engaging with key stakeholders in the national and county and the government, as well as establishing a long term collaboration.
• Map out key stakeholders and their profiles to prepare our expansion to new counties and the national government.
• Coordinate all communications from EIDU to government officials to ensure a unified communication
• Establish and maintain good relationships with key stakeholders in government on the county and national level
• Lead and collaborate with the procurement team in ensuring the due process for procurement is adhered to.
• Influence the inclusion  of digital learning in County budgets (CIDPs and ADPs), etc. and provide advisory to the management on budgeting processes and timelines.
• Coordinating regular meetings and working groups to ensure smooth management of programs with government and EIDU teams.
• Drive the implementation of EIDU goals in the public space by making sure the government considers it as a key priority.
• Ensure effective processes of procurement through the established of legal processes to lead to payment of the EIDU services
• Maintain positive visibility of EIDU within the education ecosystem through participation in working groups, policy engagements, Conferences etc
• Provide technical guidance to the organisation on the national policy landscape on ECD and Basic education.
• Support the Senior GR Specialist from time to time to coordinate activities in the Government Relations team for Counties ensuring the delivery of the counties engagements, budgets, support in scheduling plans to ensure coordination for GR and OPs teams in the counties
• Assigned tasks as required.

What you should bring

• Minimum of 5 years experience in government relations/ government program delivery or working in account management or as an engagement manager.
• Bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations, political science, sociology, community development, international relations or relevant field. 
• Good understanding of how county governments work and the intricacies involved.
• Knowledge or work experience in Kenya or the East Africa region at National and County level with the Ministry of Education would be an added advantage.
• Experience managing projects and leading small project teams. Ability to manage and prioritise a range of tasks when facing competing deadlines.
• Stakeholder management; ability to communicate and get buy-in from government and other stakeholders.
• In-depth experience building and systematically managing key complex relationships and accounts to ensure program delivery in a complex, multi-stakeholder program or project.
• Excellent verbal and superior writing and report presentation skills.
• A strong proficiency with calendars, document management, spreadsheets and analyses.
• Understanding of the complexities of working with distributed teams (both in-person and virtually)
• Ability to plan and conduct complex and sensitive administrative duties.
• Strong problem-solving skills; able to act as an intermediary and a solutions driven lead, to ensure effective collaboration and communication between the government client and our organisation.
• Ability to travel within the country.
• Prior experience within a fast-paced, high-growth, metric-driven operational organisation will be an advantage.

What we offer

• 🌐 An international and passionate team located in Kenya and Germany, who support and help each other grow to achieve the great goal we set out for.
• ☔ A financial runway that ensures you have the security and resources you need to excel in your role.
• 🧘🏿‍♀️ A modern company culture that emphasises transparency and freedom. We care about results, and believe people work best when given the freedom to structure their work themselves, so there is a high degree of flexibility with regard to working hours and vacations, and the option to work in a hybrid manner.
• 👐🏾An open environment where feedback is welcomed, promoting mutual growth and transparency.
• 🚧 Unconventional and unique experiences given the environment that we operate in: low-cost devices, limited connectivity, non-tech-savvy users, and massive scale.
• 💰 A (seriously) unparalleled equity scheme.
• 🇬🇧 A multicultural work setting. 
• 🌐 Social impact like no one else: we are working to fix one of the world’s biggest problems.

If this resonates with you, and you think you could help us make a difference, please click here or the apply button below to apply

EIDU is an inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We look forward to hearing from you and to working together on this exciting chance to effect global change.