M&E and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Specialist

Background

UNDP works in more than 170 countries, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP has been present in Malawi since 1964. Working closely with the Government of Malawi, civil society and the private sector, UNDP’ s work aims to contribute to sustainable and inclusive economic growth, sustainable environmental management, and democratic governance and accountability in Malawi.

The Government of Malawi (GoM) recognizes the need to support private sector growth and the green transition and has reflected this in the national vision – Malawi Vision 2063, and also outlined in its First 10-Year Implementation Plan (MIP-1) 2021-2030, the strategic framework designed to operationalize the Malawi 2063 vision, whose strategies and goals are intended to foster sustainable economic growth and build resilience against climate change.  In its 2024-2028 Country Programme for Malawi (CPD), UNDP seeks to complement Government efforts by leveraging its comparative advantage, stemming from its partnerships and long-standing support to strengthen institutional and human capacities, to enhance private sector competitiveness and economic transformation opportunities. To strengthen green/inclusive growth and economic transformation, UNDP works with the relevant National counterparts and with the relevant Development partners in assessing barriers limiting national access to capital markets whilst building a robust pipeline of investments in green and transformative products/services/technologies to unlock additional capital and innovative, alternative financing.

UNDP focuses on market-led business solutions to unlock opportunities for the private sector and contribute towards financing development, job creation, production, and value addition.

UNDP’s Country Programme Document is closely aligned to Vision and supports Malawi’s aim to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Malawi is implementing the CATALYZE Malawi Project (2025-2028), a transformative initiative leveraging a portfolio approach to drive the country’s green transition, foster entrepreneurship growth, and unlock alternative financing mechanisms. The project seeks to catalyze a more sustainable, competitive, and resilient economy by promoting environmentally responsible economic practices, nurturing entrepreneurial ventures, and creating an enabling environment for business growth. Key to the project is the development of innovative financing solutions aimed at scaling high-impact, sustainable enterprises that contribute to Malawi’s broader economic transformation.

The CATALYZE Malawi Project is designed to align with the Government of Malawi’s agenda for private-sector-led growth, supporting national efforts to achieve sustainable economic development. The project emphasizes business incubation, accelerates the growth of startups, and fosters an ecosystem that attracts impact investments to drive innovation and productivity. It focuses on key sectors essential for Malawi’s growth, including agriculture, industrialization, and renewable energy among others, positioning these as pillars of a green and inclusive economy.

Within this framework, UNDP Malawi has established itself as a vital partner for growth, innovation, and job creation, addressing systemic challenges that hinder private sector development. Building on the successes and lessons from its predecessor, the Private Sector Development (PSD) II Project, CATALYZE incorporates a suite of strategic initiatives that prioritize entrepreneurship development, enhanced access to finance, and scalable innovations for sustainable enterprise growth.

The project’s flagship initiatives are pivotal in delivering essential risk capital to startups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and larger companies. These initiatives aim to unlock entrepreneurial potential, attract impact investments, and accelerate the adoption of climate-smart practices. By doing so, they enable businesses to thrive while supporting Malawi’s transition to a low-carbon, resilient economy. Additionally, the project will focus on designing innovative green financial instruments and laying the groundwork for regulatory and legislative reforms to support the Government of Malawi in greening the financial sector and introducing green financial products. Furthermore, the project is exploring the establishment of venture capital and angel investment platforms to deepen understanding and create financing opportunities for entrepreneurs at all stages of their growth journey.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The CATALYZE Malawi Project is structured around five pivotal components, but the Monitoring & Evaluation, and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Specialist will focus on three key areas essential for Malawi’s sustainable development:

Access to Alternative Financing Mechanisms to drive green and sustainable business growth

This pillar focuses on creating and implementing innovative financial models to enable green and sustainable business growth. By addressing financing gaps, the project aims to provide businesses with access to capital and financial instruments that foster economic resilience, promote inclusivity, and support environmental sustainability. The innovative nature of this component requires dedicated support to develop partnerships with financial institutions, support the design of new financing mechanisms, and ensure their effective rollout.

The Specialist will primarily focus on Venture Capital Ecosystem Support and Angel Investment Network building and the underpinning legislative frameworks required for unlocking the potential for venture capital and angel networks in Malawi.

Key Responsibilities:

• Support the design and establishment of venture capital and angel investment platforms to introduce risk capital financing for Malawian start-ups and SMEs;
• Evaluate the viability, sustainability, and operational models of venture capital and angel investment platforms to inform strategic decision-making;
• Lead and contribute to high-level policy discussions with key stakeholders to advocate for regulatory and policy reforms that enable the growth of venture capital and angel investment ecosystems in Malawi;
• Identify, map-out and engage with regional and international investment networks such as VC4A, ABAN,  SUNKALP etc to create opportunities for Malawian entrepreneurs and position UNDP Malawi as a key enabler in the investment space;
• Organize and coordinate in-country investor networking events, round-tables, and matchmaking sessions to connect investors with promising Malawian enterprises;
• Support the planning and execution of ecosystem-building events under UNDP-led platforms to promote discussions on diverse financing options for entrepreneurs and enhance the overall investment landscape in Malawi.

Entrepreneurial Growth Journey advanced from Idea Stage and Start-Ups to Growth-Oriented, Export-Ready Firms

This component provides support to entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey—from ideation and start-up to scaling and becoming growth-oriented and export-ready enterprises. Tailored interventions include capacity building, mentorship, access to markets, and technical support. The work involves engaging diverse stakeholders, from aspiring entrepreneurs to industry leaders, requiring a systematic approach to monitoring and supporting their progress.

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee and refine monitoring frameworks to measure the impact of Zantchito, Growth Accelerator (GA), the Green Economic Transition Facility (GETF), the Export Growth and Competitiveness Facility (EGCF) and the BUILD Facility on entrepreneurship development;
• Provide support to the design of due diligence, baseline and end-line surveys as required to the funding cycle of each round and individual project requirements;
• Collaborate with UNDP CO M&E team and Project Programme Analyst in developing project monitoring plans;
• Track the progress of startups transitioning from idea stages to scale-up firms, ensuring interventions effectively address systemic barriers;
• Data Validation and Coordination: Ensure the accuracy and integrity of project data by validating inputs and coordinating data collection exercises with project service providers for inputting in various project dashboards;
• Data Management and Updates: Maintain and update data entry points for the GA, GETF, EGCF, and BUILD Facility, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and alignment with reporting requirements.
• Assess the contribution of entrepreneurship programs to job creation, innovation, and business sustainability, providing data-driven insights for project improvement;
• Lead Outcome Harvesting and Impact Measurement: Drive the implementation of Outcome Harvesting exercises to assess program effectiveness and lessons learned. Spearhead the integration of robust impact measurement frameworks across UNDP-led de-risking entrepreneurship instruments to enhance evidence-based decision-making and strategic program improvements.

Business Environment for economic growth

This pillar focuses on improving the regulatory and policy environment to foster private sector growth, emphasizing start-ups and venture capital investment. By addressing regulatory bottlenecks, the project aims to create a more enabling environment for entrepreneurs to access financing and scale their businesses sustainably.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct policy impact assessments on legislative reforms designed to support the growth of venture and angel capital markets in Malawi;
• Evaluate policy frameworks that enhance capital mobilization for start-ups and innovative enterprises;
• Measure the effectiveness of regulatory improvements in attracting impact investors and venture capitalists to the Malawian market;
• Support data collection and analysis to track Malawi’s progress in developing a structured start-up venture capital ecosystem;
• Support the M&E and database development needs identified in various ministry support initiatives as required.

The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization

Institutional Arrangement

The Monitoring & Evaluation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Specialist – CATALYZE Malawi will operate under the direct supervision of the Programme Coordinator, Inclusive/Green Business and will work in close collaboration with the Programme Analyst, Green Economic Growth, Competitiveness, and Private Sector Development. The Specialist will provide strategic guidance, technical expertise, and data-driven insights to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem, monitor program effectiveness, and support evidence-based decision-making for enhanced private sector development and sustainable economic growth in Malawi.

 

Competencies

Core

• Achieve Results:- LEVEL 3: Set and align challenging, achievable objectives for multiple projects, have lasting impact
• Think Innovatively: -LEVEL 3: Proactively mitigate potential risks, develop new ideas to solve complex problems
• Learn Continuously:- LEVEL 3: Create and act on opportunities to expand horizons, diversify experiences
• Adapt with Agility: – LEVEL 3: Proactively initiate and champion change, manage multiple competing demands
• Act with Determination:  – LEVEL 3: Think beyond immediate task/barriers and take action to achieve greater results
• Engage and Partner: -LEVEL 3: Political savvy, navigate complex landscape, champion inter-agency collaboration
• Enable Diversity and Inclusion: – LEVEL 3: Appreciate benefits of diverse workforce and champion inclusivity

Cross-Functional & Technical competencies 

Business Direction & Strategy- Strategic Thinking          

• Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions.
• Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP.

Business Development:- Knowledge Facilitation            

• Ability to animate individuals and communities of contributors to participate and share, particularly externally.

Business Development:- Collective Intelligence Design           

• Ability to bringing together diverse groups of people, data, information or ideas, and technology to design services or solutions.

Business Management:-Communications           

• Demonstrable ability to apply traditional and innovative communications platforms and instruments to highlight project achievements, maintain high standards of external and internal communications, and produce quality reports and updates.
• Ability to manage communications internally and externally, through media, social media and other appropriate channels.

Business Management:- Digital Awareness and Literacy                        

• Ability to extract, analyse and visualize data (including Real-Time Data) to develop communications and information material- solid understanding of the application of SMS based and digital communications platforms for public outreach and alternative messaging.
• Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed.
• Partnership Management:-Strategic Engagement
• Ability to capture and sustain attention, interest and agreement of high-level, influential policy and decision makers and secure their buy-in of high-level vision and objectives
• Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies.
• Ability to engage with a wide range of public and private partners, build, sustain and/or strengthen working relations, trust and mutual understanding.

Business Management:-Project Management                 

• Ability to plan, organize, prioritize and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve specific goals.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced university degree (master’s degree or equivalent) in Economics, Finance, Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Development Studies or relevant related fields is required OR
• A first-level university degree (bachelor’s degree) in a relevant field in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Experience:

• A minimum of 7 (seven) years (with master’s degree) or 9 (nine) years (with bachelor’s degree) of experience at the national or international level in monitoring and evaluation (M&E), impact assessment, data analysis within entrepreneurship, venture capital, or alternative financing is required.

Required skills 

• Excellent computer skills including MS. Office (Word, Excel, Power Point).

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the Competencies section

• Strong research in entrepreneurship;
• Direct experience in the implementation of entrepreneurship projects;
• Expertise in designing and implementing M&E frameworks for donor-funded projects;
• Strong understanding of venture capital, angel investment, and innovative financing mechanisms;
• Proven ability to engage with government institutions, financial partners, and private sector stakeholders;
• Experience in policy analysis and regulatory reform related to business environment improvements;
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work in a multicultural, multinational, multi-stakeholder setting and demonstrable ability to motivate people and work in a team setting;
• Substantial level of self-organization, being methodical, set priorities and attention to detail;
• Specialization on private sector development will be an added advantage.

Required Language(s) 

• Fluency in English and Chichewa is required.

Equal opportunity

As an equal opportunity employer, UNDP values diversity as an expression of the multiplicity of nations and cultures where we operate and, as such, we encourage qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply for roles in the organization. Our employment decisions are based on merit and suitability for the role, without discrimination.

UNDP is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace where all personnel are empowered to contribute to our mission, are valued, can thrive, and benefit from career opportunities that are open to all.

Sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse of authority

UNDP does not tolerate harassment, sexual harassment, exploitation, discrimination and abuse of authority. All selected candidates, therefore, undergo relevant checks and are expected to adhere to the respective standards and principles.

Right to select multiple candidates

UNDP reserves the right to select one or more candidates from this vacancy announcement.  We may also retain applications and consider candidates applying to this post for other similar positions with UNDP at the same grade level and with similar job description, experience and educational requirements.

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