Founder's Associate

The Founder's Associate serves as a strategic assistant to the Founder and President, providing executive-level support across all dimensions of CPI's operations. This role bridges the Founder's vision with organizational execution, ensuring strategic priorities are translated into action, teams are coordinated effectively, and the organization operates with excellence across programme delivery, partnerships, communications, fundraising and organizational development.

The Founder's Associate will work closely with the Founder, Leadership Team, Programme Staff, Partners, Donors and Ecosystem Stakeholders. This is a high-impact role requiring exceptional organizational ability, strategic thinking, discretion and a deep commitment to CPI's mission. The ideal candidate is a highly organized, strategically-minded professional with strong executive support, project management, stakeholder engagement, and communication skills.

They must be proactive, resourceful and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment with evolving priorities.

Requirements

● Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, Development Studies, Economics, Social Sciences, International Development, or a related field. ● 1–2 years of relevant professional experience in executive support, programme management, project management, nonprofit management, development programmes, or a related field.

● Experience coordinating teams, consultants, facilitators, partners, vendors, and other stakeholders. ● Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills. ● Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including strong report and proposal writing. ● Proficiency in Microsoft Office and/or Google Workspace, particularly Excel/Sheets, Word/Docs, PowerPoint/Slides, and related productivity tools.

● Experience collecting, organizing, analyzing, and presenting data. ● Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management skills. ● Ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and work independently with minimal supervision. Desirable: ● Professional certification in project/programme management, development, business or a related discipline.

● Experience in executive support, chief of staff or similar roles. ● Experience managing youth entrepreneurship, employability, innovation, enterprise development or investment programmes. ● Experience working with donors, foundations, development agencies, CSR programmes, or impact investors. ● Knowledge of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), Theory of Change, Log.

Frames, or results-based management. ● Experience with project management and collaboration tools such as Google Workspace or equivalent platforms. ● Experience with data collection tools such as Google Forms or Kobo. Toolbox. ● Knowledge of entrepreneurship, business development, innovation, impact investing, or blended finance.