Director of Advocacy – Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan

Inkomoko is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.  Refugees, women, and persons who reflect the diverse communities we serve are strongly encouraged to apply.

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Advocacy will lead Inkomoko’s policy and systems-change agenda across its countries of operation. Reporting to the VP of Country Operations, this role plays a critical function in supporting Managing Directors and Advocacy Managers to develop and implement effective, locally driven advocacy strategies.

In parallel, the Director will identify and coordinate on regional and global engagements that promote policy, regulatory, and market-level shifts to benefit forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) and marginalized entrepreneurs.

Inkomoko’s Vision 2030 strategy recognizes that inclusive entrepreneurship cannot scale without enabling environments. Our advocacy focuses on three interconnected pillars:

• Private sector engagement – encouraging investment, procurement, and hiring of FDPs to increase economic participation.
• Policy and regulatory change – addressing legal and systemic barriers to business ownership and growth for FDPs.
• Data-driven advocacy – leveraging evidence and impact insights to shape national and global policies and practices.

This role ensures alignment and coherence across country-level and regional advocacy initiatives, facilitating shared learning, and connecting local priorities to global conversations.

This position can be based in any of Inkomoko’s country offices in Africa (currently: Addis Ababa, Juba, Nairobi, N’Djamena, or Kigali).

Specifically, the responsibilities include: 

Advocacy & Policy Influence

• Refine and deliver a data-driven advocacy strategy that removes systemic barriers for forcibly displaced entrepreneurs, aligning national and regional priorities with country leadership.
• Track and interpret legal, regulatory, and economic trends; translate insights into clear policy positions, briefs, and case studies that shape national, regional, and global agendas.
• Cultivate high-level relationships with regional policymakers, multilaterals, and private-sector leaders to secure regulatory reforms and executive level engagement
• Advise the VP of Country Operations and Managing Directors on advocacy focus areas, informed by country-level intelligence and regional dynamics. Identify areas for executive level engagement
• Ensure Inkomoko’s perspectives and evidence base influence national, regional, and global policy conversations. Lead the development of position papers, policy briefs and case studies that make the business case and inform key decision-makers.

Partnerships

• Craft and execute a private-sector engagement plan with Managing Directors to expand displaced entrepreneurs’ access to markets and capital.
• Engage with, in partnership with the Managing Directors, financial institutions, fintechs, and regulators to expand access to financial services for displaced entrepreneurs.
• Maintain a dynamic business case for private-sector participation in refugee inclusion, informed by relevant and recent market intelligence, trends, and impact data.

• Strengthen alliances with government agencies, regional bodies, NGOs, UN agencies, and other influencers to advance pro-entrepreneurship policies

Internal Coordination & Thought Leadership

• Convert Inkomoko programmatic insights into compelling narratives that inform policy priorities and advocacy campaigns.
• Drive timely information flow and unified messaging around advocacy across monitoring/evaluation (MEL) team, communications team, and development teams, ensuring advocacy aligns with organization wide impact goals.
• Standardize advocacy impact tracking with MEL, synthesizing results for leadership, Board, and external stakeholders.
• Coach Advocacy Managers and MDs to deepen their policy influence and stakeholder engagement capacities.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WITH:

• 8+ years in advocacy, government relations, or entrepreneurship/livelihoods, focused on forcibly displaced and marginalized populations or financial inclusion.
• Excellent strategy formation, navigating complex systems, and forging multi-sector partnerships that advance economic inclusion in Africa.
• Understanding of legal and regulatory frameworks affecting forcibly displaced entrepreneurs, particularly in financial inclusion and economic access.
• Strong track record of influencing high-level stakeholders, including government, UN,  regional and private sector actors.
• Crafts persuasive, data-backed business cases and thought-leadership content.
• Communicates with clarity and impact—skilled in public speaking, negotiation, and executive briefing.
• Holds strong networks and can open doors to shape policy agendas.
• Willingness to travel up to 30% across Inkomoko’s operational countries
• Master’s degree in a relevant field preferred, but not required.
• Deep commitment to equity, economic inclusion and Inkomoko’s mission.
• Lived experience of displacement is highly valued and encouraged for leadership roles at Inkomoko.

COMPETENCIES

• Thinks and Plans Strategically – Identifies opportunities using future-focused thinking (5+ years ahead); creates a strategic path to operationalize work plans
• Coaches – Facilitates skill development by asking the right questions and providing motivational feedback; enables others and builds their confidence and self-esteem to solve problems independently.
• Manages Complexity – Making sense of information to effectively solve problems
• Leadership – Operates with commitment to values and culture, while supporting the growth and development of others.

WHAT YOU’LL GET

This role is inside a high-growth, mission-driven social enterprise. By joining, you’ll access:

• Competitive salary, and potential Performance-based bonus
• Incredible company culture, with opportunities for learning and growth
• Diverse colleagues across the region, and policies that demonstrate commitment to equity and inclusion
• Ability to make a significant social impact to your community
• Health insurance for self and family
• Staff savings and provident fund, negotiated bank rates for long-term employees
• Generous annual leave, parental leave, and sabbatical options.

 

HOW TO APPLY

If you’re excited about this role, please submit your application through our: JOBS PORTAL.

Tell us about what you’ll bring to this growing company.

Inkomoko is committed to justice, diversity, equity and inclusion.  As we seek to reflect the communities we serve, refugees and women are strongly encouraged to apply. As a company we have policies that ensure fair treatment in the application process. 

NB: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Employment is conditional upon successful background checks and other verification as needed.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and background screening checks. Inkomoko also participates in the , In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual misconduct, fraud, or abuse. By applying, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.