Entrepreneur in Residence

We're building the most powerful growth engine for African startups and their founders.

Founders Factory Africa (FFA) is unlike any place else you’ve ever worked. We are venture builders dedicated to solving some of Africa’s biggest challenges and capitalizing on it’s incredible potential by leveraging market and tech opportunities.

Over the next five years, we’ll build 24 businesses from scratch and scale 64 existing growth-stage ventures through our venture development programs. Backed by leading corporates, such as Standard Bank – the continent’s largest bank – we have access to their vast resources, infrastructure, and expertise and will bring those to bear for all our ventures and entrepreneurs. Starting with FinTech, HealthTech, and AgriTech FFA will expand our focus as we grow, adding other sectors.

Our Culture

Our goals are audacious, and we want to work with people who share our passion for pursuing transformation at scale. We believe that good ideas can come from anywhere - not just the top - and we love to build our way out of uncertainty. At FFA, you will work with and meet outstanding and diverse talent from across the continent and help us build a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive network. You will work faster (and learn faster) than you ever have before.

With offices in Johannesburg and London, we are building an ambitious, talented, and passionate team, ensuring that Founders Factory Africa is the continent’s best partner for founders.

The Role

The Build Program EIR plays a key role in helping FFA’s achieve its vision of being the best partner for early-stage entrepreneurs in Africa and is integral to our ability to increase the likelihood of success for our founders. With a deep network of partners and market-relevant experience as an operator, the EIR brings an important perspective to our team, supporting the ventures in our Build Program with the definition, articulation, and execution of their commercial strategy, playing a role that is equal parts mentor and partner.

The Build Program EIR works closely with the founders in our Build Program throughout the earliest stages of their journey, helping them to define a strategy and then supporting them in its execution. As an important strategic advisor, you will bring a strong point of view about what it takes for a startup to build a successful foundation - particularly at the most nascent stages - and an approach to helping founders prioritise opportunities and needs. You will also leverage an understanding of the commercial and investment landscape, working with founders to develop the early signals and evidence of success needed to enable future growth and providing the support necessary to help them realize their commercial objectives.

The Build Program EIR reports to and collaborates extensively with the Chief Venture Architect, but works as an integrated member of project teams on each venture, collaborating with our multidisciplinary teams to ensure delivery of our support in coordinated and comprehensive

Responsibilities Include

• Supporting entrepreneurs in designing and executing a strategy for achieving their vision and mission, providing them with hands-on execution and operations support in the earliest stages of their venture’s development
• Working closely with ventures to diagnose strategic needs and identify solutions to key risk, roadblocks and challenges
• Collaborating with our Growth team to identify key metrics for each venture and strategies for achieving early traction
• Collaborating with our Investment team to support the creation of an investment narrative and funding strategy for all ventures
• Collaborating with our Commercial Partnerships team to develop a business development and partnership strategy
• Supporting founders in executing on their commercial and investment strategies, leveraging your networks and relationships to unlock unfair competitive advantage and increase speed to market
• Supporting founders in commercial discussions and with potential clients, partners, and investors.
• Developing a network of investors and partners aligned to supporting the Build Program’s portfolio of ventures

Required Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of the challenges faced by early-stage startups, either as a founder, employee, or advisor
• A deep understanding of what makes a great venture and what good looks like at different stages of a venture’s maturity
• Experience advising startups across a range of sectors, geographies, and business models
• A demonstrated track-record of helping founders move their businesses further, faster
• Exposure to and knowledge of a range of disciplines core to the support FFA provides, including product, design, growth, business development, and investment.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary teams to deliver product or programs to market
• Networks and relationships within the broader ecosystem of African startup enablers that our founders rely on
• Ability to quickly context switch and create detailed, process-oriented approaches to managing multiple streams of work

Founders Factory Africa provides a rare opportunity to join a team of world-class thinkers, entrepreneurs, and creators. We provide the freedom and excitement of early-stage startups but the stability and resources of a large organisation. Founders Factory Africa has global ambitions, and you’ll play a key role in our future success.

This role is a once in a lifetime opportunity to join a high-growth organization as part of the founding team and to help shape the future of Africa’s startup ecosystem.