Program Manager

Role Purpose

The Program Manager owns the end-to-end delivery of one or more of Gemini Africa's entrepreneurship and ecosystem programs, from design and cohort recruitment through bootcamps, mentorship, demo day and close-out reporting. This is a hands-on management role accountable for the participant experience, partner relationships, budget discipline and on-time milestone delivery.

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Cohort Management

• Own the full program lifecycle: work plan design, curriculum sequencing, open call and outreach, application screening, selection committees, onboarding, bootcamps, mentorship cycles, pitch preparation, demo day and alumni follow-up.
  
• Manage cohort logistics across Cairo and Upper Egypt governorates (Minya, Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan), including venues, trainers, travel, materials and participant communications.
  
• Maintain accurate cohort records, attendance, deliverable submissions and participant data in coordination with the Impact & Development team.
  

2. Stakeholder and Institutional Partner Engagement

• Serve as the primary day-to-day focal point for institutional partners, donors, corporate sponsors, ministries and government entities, academic partners and NGOs.
  
• Prepare and lead steering committee meetings, partner updates, site visits and joint communications; capture and follow through on commitments.
  
• Represent the program in ecosystem events, working groups and public sessions, and protect the organization's reputation in all external interactions.
  

3. Budget Oversight and Compliance

• Build and manage the program budget; track expenditure against approved lines, raise variances early and prepare forecasts and reallocation requests.
  
• Coordinate procurement, trainer and mentor contracting, participant disbursements and vendor payments with Finance in line with donor and internal policy.
  
• Ensure documentation is audit-ready and that program spending aligns with grant agreements and reporting cycles.
  

4. Mentor and Startup Matchmaking

• Build and curate the mentor, trainer and expert pool; onboard mentors, brief them on cohort context and manage engagement quality.
  
• Match startups and social enterprises to mentors based on sector, stage and growth need; monitor session completion and intervene where matches underperform.
  
• Facilitate access to networks, market linkages, investors and follow-on funding opportunities for cohort ventures.
  

5. Milestone Delivery and Reporting

• Translate the program logframe into an operational plan with clear owners, dependencies and dates; run weekly delivery rhythms and unblock risks early.
  
• Track program KPIs (ventures supported, training hours delivered, jobs created, revenue growth, graduation rates) with the M&E Specialist and feed results into donor narrative and financial reports.
  
• Capture lessons learned and contribute to program design iterations, concept notes and proposals for new cohorts and funding cycles.
  

6. Team and Cross-Functional Leadership

• Lead program coordinators, specialists, interns and volunteers; set priorities, coach performance and manage workload across concurrent cohorts.
  
• Coordinate closely with Communications, Finance, HR and Impact & Development to deliver an integrated participant and partner experience.
  

7. Reporting and Travel

Reports to the Programs & Operations lead. Based in Cairo with regular travel to Upper Egypt and other program governorates, and occasional regional travel.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Economics, Development Studies, Engineering or a related field; a relevant postgraduate degree or project management certification (PMP, PRINCE2, PMD Pro) is an advantage.
  
• 3-7 years of experience managing entrepreneurship, incubation, acceleration or ecosystem development programs — ideally within an ESO, incubator, accelerator, NGO, development agency or innovation hub.
  
• Demonstrated experience running donor-funded programs end to end, including work plans, budgets, procurement, partner reporting and close-out.
  
• Proven cross-functional leadership: managing teams, trainers, mentors and vendors across multiple concurrent work streams and geographies.
  
• Strong agile and adaptive planning ability — comfortable replanning mid-cohort without losing milestone commitments.
  
• Solid financial literacy: budget construction, burn tracking, variance analysis and donor compliance awareness.
  
• Excellent stakeholder management and representation skills with institutional partners, ministries, corporates and academic institutions.
  
• Working knowledge of the Egyptian and regional startup and social enterprise ecosystem, and of tools such as Business Model Canvas, Lean Startup and theory of change.
  
• Bilingual fluency in Arabic and English, written and spoken, including report writing and public facilitation in both languages.
  
• High proficiency in project management and collaboration tools (Asana, Trello, Jira, MS Office, Google Workspace); comfort with CRM or program databases.
  
• Willingness to travel frequently within Egypt, particularly to Upper Egypt governorates.