Product Design Senior Director

Employer: Village Enterprise

Industry: Nonprofit/International Development/Social Entrepreneurship

Job Title: Product Design Senior Director

Position Type: Full-time

Reports to Chief Program Officer

Location: Flexible, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda

About the Job:

Are you inspired by what is next? So are we!

When you join the Village Enterprise team, you contribute to a better tomorrow. You will play a critical role in developing a unique poverty graduation product that solves the world’s biggest problems. We are putting innovation to work to improve people's lives and we want YOU to be a part of it. The Product and Service Senior Director will lead Village Enterprise Innovation Lab. Taking Industry knowledge, trends, and evidence to build a robust poverty Graduation product that meets the needs and empowers Village Enterprise entrepreneurs to respond to the increasing global crisis.

Primary duties and responsibilities

Product Design 40%

• Set a holistic innovation strategy for assigned products in collaboration with TAs, CDs, MEL, and field teams, identifying new growth areas and championing current products to completion.
• Drive technical delivery on VE Graduation products with a sense of urgency and knowledge of the industry to enable timely product design and rollout using HCD,  Lean Impact, and other relevant processes for testing new products.
• Build external partnerships with academia, program labs, and industry to accelerate new material and process developments to scale products
• Drive program adaptations to meet the needs of specific projects in different countries and contexts.

Deliver Program Results: Outputs and Outcomes Achieved (30%)

• Lead Village Enterprise Product and service team and design quarterly objectives and key results to track progress
• Oversee the design and implementation of activities which develop the capabilities and increase performance towards achieving outputs and outcomes of the Poverty Graduation model
• Collaborate with TAs, ESLs and CDs to capacity build staff to deliver on quality programming that allows Village Enterprise entrepreneurs to thrive.

Business Owner Success and Satisfaction (10%)

• Ensure Village Enterprise is building sustainable relationships with our business owners based on trust through open and interactive communication
• Lead organization in identifying and assessing business owner needs ensuring that program activities provide value
• Ensure participants can engage with activities and Village Enterprise staff in a safe and healthy environment that aligns with Village Enterprise safeguarding standards.

Support Global, Regional, and Local Development of the Village Enterprise Program (20%)

• Work with TAs to support the development of partnerships and proposals on technical areas.
• Nature and build relationships with like-minded organizations that foster shared learning, and collaboration and drive policy work for the global discussion on Graduation.
• Collaborate with the MEL on building evidence and being a thought leader in the space.

Required experience.

• Proven record of accomplishments of leading innovation programs in a development industry
• 7+ years of experience in new product development and innovation
• At least 3 years leading diverse teams of technical staff and attracting, recruiting, and retaining talent.
• At least 3 years using HCD, Lean Impact, and other design tools to develop viable products that solve the world's toughest challenges.
• Experience collaborating with cross–functional and external partners to help set the innovation strategy and work.
• Proven record of accomplishment and passion for developing products for the bottom of the pyramid.
• Passionate communicator that inspires others, conveying clarity on programs to teammates and stakeholders alike.
• A Master’s degree in design thinking, program development, or a related field is required.
• Village Enterprise Values