Business Development Services Specialist
No salary listed
Senior
Bachelor's, Master's
Dakar, Senegal
In PersonFrequent travel to field locations is required.
TrainingCorporate & Technical Training
About the job
Requirements
- At least 5 years of relevant experience in business development services, enterprise development, or agribusiness support within donor-funded or development programs.
- A bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Agribusiness, or a related field is required.
- Demonstrated experience designing BDS or entrepreneurship curricula for low-literacy and rural audiences.
- Proven experience designing and delivering Train-the-Trainer programs and supervising large networks of trainers or coaches across multiple locations, including quality assurance.
- A proven track record supporting women-led or youth-led micro and small enterprises, preferably in agricultural value chains.
- Experience preparing micro and small enterprises for financing, including credit readiness assessments and business plan development.
- Understanding of how financial service providers appraise and lend to first-time borrowers, including group lending and seasonal repayment structures.
- Practical experience with savings groups, cooperatives, SACCOs, or microfinance.
- Experience using assessment and monitoring data to improve training quality.
- Understanding of safeguarding, client protection, and gender-responsive approaches.
- Business fluency in French and English is required.
- Knowledge of the West African agricultural and financial sector landscape, or previous work experience in it.
- Experience working in developing countries.
- Ability to structure problems logically and design and implement solutions focused on core issues.
- Ability to translate business and finance concepts into practical content for diverse audiences.
- Willingness to work and live in a sometimes-challenging environment.
Responsibilities
- Support the development and adaptation of BDS curricula and training materials, ensuring training content is suited to local contexts and literacy levels.
- Design and deliver Train-the-Trainer programs to train and certify agribusiness coaches.
- Train coaches to deliver the full BDS curriculum, including participant readiness assessment and business planning.
- Conduct regular field visits to observe coaching sessions and address coach performance gaps.
- Oversee pre- and post-training assessments of participants.
- Provide targeted refresher training where assessment results show gaps and support follow-up with participants between training sessions.
- Support delivery of financial management training for community groups and savings groups.
- Coordinate with the Access to Finance team to align BDS milestones with financing requirements.
- Support BDS refresher training for borrowers where repayment challenges stem from business capability gaps.
- Coordinate BDS activities with implementing partners.
- Contribute BDS data and insights to program reporting and learning.
- Ensure BDS activities adhere to safeguarding and inclusion standards.
- Lead country-level BDS implementation and coordinate enterprise development services with implementing partners, financial institutions, and other ecosystem actors.
Desired Qualifications
- A master's degree or another advanced degree is strongly desired.
- Practical experience with savings groups, cooperatives, SACCOs, or microfinance; familiarity with the regulatory frameworks that govern them in West Africa is an advantage.
- Knowledge of local languages is a strong advantage.
- Demonstrated leadership skills, preferably in fast-moving and complex environments.
- Ability to build strong relationships with clients and colleagues in stressful environments.
- Presentation skills and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively with diverse audiences.
- Comfort operating effectively in a changing context.
About the company
CrossBoundary mobilizes private and public capital to grow sustainable businesses in underserved markets. The firm provides investment advisory across sectors to governments, development finance institutions, private equity, Fortune 100 firms, and research institutions, helping structure and unlock capital. Its direct investment arm, CrossBoundary Energy, finances solar projects in Africa to expand clean power. By combining advisory services with on-the-ground energy investments, CrossBoundary focuses on markets often overlooked by traditional investors, aiming to generate strong financial returns while advancing sustainable growth.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
N/A
Total Funding
$6.6M
Headquarters
Nairobi, Kenya
Founded
2011
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- IFC invested $10 million in CrossBoundary Access on June 24, 2026.
- January 2026, CrossBoundary Access acquired four Madagascar mini-grids, adding 1.7MW solar.
- AfDB granted $1 million for Nigerian productive-use equipment, deepening customer demand and revenue.
What critics are saying
- CrossBoundary Access depends on concessional capital; without it, project economics break quickly.
- Madagascar and Nigeria execution risk remains high; permitting, collections, and maintenance threaten returns.
- A failed expansion to one million people would damage fundraising and institutional credibility.
What makes CrossBoundary unique
- CrossBoundary Access owns distributed energy assets, not just advisory mandates, creating operating leverage.
- Its Africa-focused blended-finance model attracts IFC, AfDB, Bank of America, and Microsoft backing.
- CrossBoundary combines capital advisory, mini-grids, and real estate across underserved African markets.
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