Business Development & Partnerships Associate: Addis City

Are you a sharp, execution-focused operator who can turn a conversation into a qualified lead, a brief into a compelling proposal, and a pipeline tracker into a live revenue engine? Do you thrive when you are given a clear mandate, a target, and the autonomy to go after it?

We are looking for a Business Development & Partnerships Associate who can run outbound pipeline activity, write proposals that win, manage due diligence processes, and keep three parallel revenue workstreams moving, all in one of the most ambitious tech talent operations on the continent.

About ALX Africa

ALX Africa is a pan-African tech talent accelerator dedicated to developing two million young African leaders by 2030. Operating across 8 countries with physical hubs in Addis Ababa (Lideta and Bole), Nairobi, Lagos, Johannesburg, Kigali, Accra, Cairo, and Casablanca, ALX trains young Africans in software engineering, data analytics, cybersecurity, AI, and emerging technology, and connects them to employers who need that talent.

Our impact thus far:

• 347k+ graduates since 2020
• 257k youth in work
• 31k youth starting own ventures
• 60k youth in jobs created by entrepreneurs

Visit www.alxafrica.com to learn more.

Why This Role Exists

ALX Ethiopia's team has set its most ambitious revenue target yet for 2026, across three parallel workstreams: corporate training pilots, ecosystem partnerships, and philanthropic fundraising. The Business Development & Partnerships Manager owns the strategy and closes the deals. This Associate owns the execution engine underneath: the outbound outreach, the proposals, the pipeline tracking, the due diligence documentation, and the operational rigour that keeps every active deal moving forward.

Role Summary

The Business Development & Partnerships Associate will drive the day-to-day execution of ALX Ethiopia's three BD workstreams, Corporate Training, Ecosystem Partnerships, and Fundraising & Philanthropy, under the direction of the BD & Partnerships Manager.

You will own outbound pipeline activity, qualify leads to Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) standard, write and submit proposals and concept notes, manage active deal documentation, and maintain the pipeline tracker across all three workstreams. You will also support the BD Manager in coordinating the BD task force, a team of part-time contributors working across the three revenue streams.

You will not close deals alone. You will make sure every deal that should close has everything it needs to move forward, and that nothing is stuck because of a missing document, an unsent follow-up, or an untracked conversation.

Specific Responsibilities

1. Corporate Training Pipeline Execution

• Outbound Outreach: Execute structured outbound outreach to priority corporate accounts across banking, telecom, government, BPO, hospitality, and FMCG sectors using ALX Ethiopia's prospect list and PRISM content assets.
• Lead Qualification: Qualify inbound and outbound leads against the four-criteria SQL standard (named contact, named organisation, programme interest confirmed, next meeting booked) and maintain an up-to-date SQL tracker.
• Proposal Preparation: Draft tailored corporate training proposals, defaulting to 1-day and 2-day workshop pilots as entry products, for BD Manager review and sign-off before submission.
• Account Coordination: Coordinate follow-ups, meeting scheduling, and document requests for all active corporate training accounts, ensuring no deal goes cold due to lack of follow-through.
• Pipeline Maintenance: Keep the Corporate Training pipeline tracker current, every active account has a named contact, deal value, stage, last action, and next action with a due date.

1. Partnerships Pipeline Execution

• Content Activation: Adapt ALX content assets (alumni case studies, impact stories, programme outcomes) into outbound messages, one-pagers, and LinkedIn content for use in B2B outreach and media pitching.
• SQL Development: Convert outbound outreach and inbound interest into qualified pipeline opportunities, handing off all SQL-standard leads to the BD Manager for pitch and proposal.
• Warm Introduction Coordination: Work with the alumni and Community of Champions network to identify and facilitate warm C-suite introductions, coordinating logistics, briefing alumni on context, and tracking outcomes.
• Media and Ecosystem Features: Pitch ALX Ethiopia for media features, panel appearances, podcast slots, and corporate ecosystem placements using PRISM content as the hook.
• Partnerships Tracker: Maintain the Partnerships pipeline tracker, SQL count, introduction count, PRISM asset status, and media feature pipeline, updated weekly.

1. Fundraising & Philanthropy Execution

• Concept Notes and Proposals: Draft concept notes and full funding proposals for philanthropic grants, donor programmes, and Access Fee Sponsorships, for BD Manager review before submission.
• Due Diligence Management: Own the documentation, compliance packs, and verification processes required by funders during due diligence. Ensure every requirement is tracked, assigned, and submitted on time.
• Funder Follow-Up: Manage all post-submission communication with active funders, tracking decision timelines, responding to clarification requests, and escalating to the BD Manager when a decision or negotiation is required.
• Access Fee Sponsorship Pipeline: Identify and approach corporate and philanthropic sponsors for Access Fee Sponsorships, briefing potential sponsors on the model, drafting initial proposals, and coordinating logistics.
• Fundraising Tracker: Maintain the Fundraising pipeline tracker, all active and prospective deals with proposal submission status, due diligence stage, agreement status, and fund receipt.

1. Task Force Coordination and Operations

• Task Force Support: Support the BD Manager in coordinating the three BD task forces, collating weekly async updates, flagging blockers before syncs, and maintaining the master pipeline dashboard.
• Pipeline Dashboard: Own the master pipeline dashboard, a single-view summary of all OKR progress across corporate training, partnerships, and fundraising, updated weekly before each Monday sync.
• Research and Market Intelligence: Conduct prospect research on target organisations, funder landscapes, and sector trends to inform outreach prioritisation and proposal positioning.

1. Reporting and Communication

• Weekly BD Report: Produce a concise weekly BD report for the BD Manager covering pipeline movement, OKR progress, key actions taken, and open blockers.
• Partner Communications: Draft professional external communications, emails, follow-up notes, briefing documents, on behalf of the BD Manager for active partner and funder relationships.
• Proposal Quality: Ensure all proposals, concept notes, and outreach materials meet ALX Ethiopia's quality standard before submission, clear, compelling, and error-free.

What This Role Is Not

• The Associate supports and executes. The following are owned by the BD Manager and are not part of this role:
• Negotiating and structuring commercial agreements
• Making commitments on behalf of ALX Ethiopia in any formal or contractual capacity
• Closing deals or accepting grant funding without Manager sign-off
• Setting partnership strategy or deciding which opportunities to pursue

Requirements 

• Pipeline and Outreach Execution: Demonstrated ability to manage an outbound pipeline, identifying contacts, sending structured outreach, tracking responses, and moving opportunities through a defined qualification process. Experience using a CRM or pipeline tracker is essential.
• Proposal and Concept Note Writing: Strong written communication with the ability to produce well-structured, compelling proposals, concept notes, and funding applications. A portfolio of writing samples is a strong advantage.
• Organisational Rigour: Exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple live deals, documents, and deadlines simultaneously without dropping anything. You keep records, you follow up, and you close the loop.
• Research and Qualification: Ability to conduct structured prospect research, identify decision-makers, and assess whether an opportunity is worth pursuing, translating research into clear, actionable outreach.
• Communication and Stakeholder Management: Professional written and verbal communication in English and Amharic. Ability to represent ALX Ethiopia confidently in external-facing correspondence and initial partner conversations.
• Data and Reporting: Comfortable working with spreadsheets and dashboards, building and maintaining pipeline trackers, producing weekly progress reports, and flagging risks clearly.
• Sector Awareness: Familiarity with at least one of the following: banking and financial services, international development and NGOs, government and public sector, technology, BPO, or hospitality.
• Professional Experience: A minimum of 3 years of experience in business development, partnerships, fundraising, sales support, or a closely related commercial or development role.
• Educational Background: Bachelor's degree in business, economics, international development, communications, or a related field.
• Language Proficiency: Fluency in English and Amharic, both verbal and written.

Personal Attributes

• Initiative: You move things forward without waiting to be asked. If something is stuck, you unstick it, or escalate immediately.
• Execution Discipline: You finish what you start. You track what you commit to. You do not let follow-ups fall through the cracks.
• Communication Clarity: You write clearly, concisely, and professionally. Partners and funders receive responses that represent ALX Ethiopia well.
• Curiosity: You want to understand the landscape, the funders, the companies, the sector, and you use that knowledge to make your outreach better.
• Resilience: You stay steady in a fast-moving environment. Priorities shift. Deals stall. You recalibrate and keep going.
• Humility: You understand that your job is to make the BD Manager and the team more effective. You are not here for credit, you are here for outcomes.
• Results Orientation: You are motivated by the number moving, not by the activity. A pipeline entry with no next action is a failure.

Employment Type

This is a full-time, in-person role based at the CapStone Lideta Hub or Bole Hub, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Regular travel within Addis Ababa to partner and funder meetings is expected.

The role operates in a hybrid work environment, in-person collaboration at the hub is the default, with virtual communication across the ALX Horn of Africa cluster and global team.

Why Join ALX Ethiopia Now

ALX Ethiopia closed Sprint 1 (May 2026) as the most active partnerships engine in Ethiopia's digital skills ecosystem, 6,000+ Ethiopians reached, 500 women placed into fully-funded tech training through UN Women, and co-designed national AI frameworks with the Ethiopian AI Institute and Ethiopian Investment Holdings.

Sprint 2 opens with our most ambitious revenue targets yet, with a strong near-term pipeline of philanthropic funding opportunities in progress, a 12-account corporate training prospect list, and a task force model built to scale the BD function. The person who joins as Associate right now will be at the centre of the most commercially ambitious sprint in ALX Ethiopia's history.

This role is the launchpad. The person who executes it well has a direct path to a senior partnership or BD role as ALX Ethiopia grows.