ABOUT ALU

ALU provides higher education for a higher purpose. Our students declare missions, not majors.
They develop the real-world skills to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. And they take ownership of their learning from day one through our peer and student-led approach – because ALU believes in the power and agency of young people to start shaping the future right now.
Together with a world-class faculty and staff, our students are igniting a ripple of positive impact across Africa and the world.

HOW WE WORK

As a high-growth start-up, the ALU Team works in starkly different ways to traditional academic bureaucracies. We approach education from first principles, empower individuals to design, test, and implement creative new ideas, and work closely together to craft transformative learning experiences. We are deeply passionate about our students and excited by the challenge of building something entirely new.

The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Government and External Relations team is responsible for cultivating and maintaining strategic relationships with various stakeholders. The team is working to ensure communication with stakeholders is not on a need basis but rather focused on creating stronger, long-lasting bonds with key external stakeholders. In creating authentic relationships with our stakeholders and providing them with a positive overall experience, we will cultivate brand ambassadors and advocates who can build visibility for ALU and attract more stakeholders to support our initiatives.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for someone with a strong customer service mindset who is comfortable mingling with various audiences and can easily build relationships in formal and informal settings. We need someone with strong logistical and organizational capabilities who is adaptable, attentive to detail, and can shift gears at the last minute if needed. You need to enjoy working with people so much that designing and managing excellent guest experiences is second nature.

As our Stakeholder Engagement Senior Associate, you will oversee our stakeholder engagement process's design, implementation, and constant improvement. You will need to manage stakeholders' day-to-day logistics to ensure their seamless experience. One of the key components of this role is to make stakeholders feel valued at ALU. You will own the experience of ALU’s stakeholders from the time they are invited until after they leave. Your days will be a mix of planning guest visits including drafting agendas and liaising with key teams (operations and marketing), hosting guests on the ground and ensuring they have a great experience, as well as following up with them when they have left, all of that while wearing your best smile.

You will also be in charge of internal and external communication with staff, students, and guests. In addition, you will be providing support in the day-to-day running of the ALU guest experience, assisting with event management, and hosting VIPs at larger ALU events. Your role is key to the team as you will have many occasions to interact directly with stakeholders to get key insights on their interests, likes, and dislikes, which is crucial in relationship building. You will also be supporting the creation and improvement of the guest relations process design and documentation.

JOB DESCRIPTION REQUIREMENTS

• A Bachelor's degree
• 3 - 5 years of work experience in a sales, customer service, hospitality or people-oriented position
• Good written and verbal communication skills
• Good attention to detail
• Strong service excellence orientation
• Strong organisational capabilities and relationship-building skills
• Adaptability and flexibility needed to operate effectively in a constantly evolving environment
• Self-directed, motivated, energetic, and creative problem solver
• Ability to work under pressure

Duties & Responsibilities

1. Coordinate Corporate Meetings:

• Take the lead in communications, support, and meetings management - ensuring smooth logistics. (Manage scheduling, campus tours, and in most cases set up for refreshments)
• Liaise with Operations for express check-in for all high-level guests coming in for executive meetings

2. Co-Hosting ALU Events:

• Collaborate in the planning and execution of ALU signature events.
• Collaborate with other teams to host ALU signature events (e.g., graduation, BCC on campus, NECHE, HEC).
• Support logistics for ALU and SAND guests, ensuring a smooth guest experience

3. Inventory Management:

• Responsible for inventory control and management within the team.
• Ensure resources are efficiently allocated for guest relations activities.
• Initiate the purchasing process for ALU branded collateral (e.g., umbrellas, giveaways, banners) to support events and promotional efforts.

4. ALU Foyer TV Screen Management:

• Manage the ALU foyer TV screen, curating and sharing updated videos relevant to the most recent events and activities to engage and inform visitors.
• Collateral placement (banners, podiums, flyers, umbrellas, gifts)
• Impact data and stories of our students and alumni

5. Vendor Management and Liasing:

• Serve as the liaison between remote teams and vendors during event preparations and set up, particularly for Rwanda events (e.g., Food and Stuff, ALfor Education Gathering, BlackPearl, CRA Convocation), ensuring seamless coordination and execution.
• Manage vendor relationships, including sourcing, negotiating invoices, and ensuring timely delivery of services.
• Handle team's petty cash reconciliation and manage purchasing processes efficiently.
• Initiate purchase requests via Netsuite, ensuring adherence to procurement policies.
• Submit invoices and expense reports to Finance Support for processing and reimbursement.
• Follow-up with Finance for Payments - in efforts to speed up payment processing for vendors for relationship management purposes.

6. Collaboration with Customer Support + Community Engagement:

• Collaborate with Customer Support to ensure that all requests channeled through external relations, such as meeting requests, regulatory participation, conferences, and special celebratory event invitations, are properly coordinated with relevant teams.
• Ensure that the support tracker is reflective of the progress and status of these requests.
• The Friday Events To Attend Email

7. Data Management:

• Maintain and update the guest relations tracker, ensuring accurate records.
• Solicit for real-time data insights to support decision-making.
• Generate reports for events, sharing feedback and lessons learned
• Keeping the guest relations + student ambassadors dashboard up-to-date with all relevant team data and resources

8. Vendor Management + Purchasing, Petty Cash Requests, and Reconciliation:

• Manage vendor relationships, including sourcing, negotiating invoices, and ensuring timely delivery of services.
• Handle the team's petty cash reconciliation and manage purchasing processes efficiently.
• Initiate purchase requests via Netsuite, ensuring adherence to procurement policies.
• Submit invoices and expense reports to Finance Support for processing and reimbursement.
• Follow-up with Finance for Payments - in efforts to speed up payment processing for vendors for relationship management purposes

9. Support all teams with hosting + campus tours

Examples

• CRA - Google AI physical invites and admin support, Convocation Project, GIZ Audit
• Graduation Committee - Catering
• CEO’s Office - ExCo + SLT Retreat, Board Meeting, Cabo Verde, CEOs at ALU
• Alumni Engagement - LBA + Homecoming
• Student Life - Matriculation + Orientation Tours
• Entrepreneurship Office - e.g OVO + TMU Event
• Mission Curators - AFF Visit
• LEAP - Harvard Business School etc.
• ALUSB - Intensives - volunteers +Campus Tours
• People Team - All new hires + gifts
• SPD - Schwarzman Scholars Event
• SAND Technologies - guests and events
• Health Collaborative

10. Marketing:

• Writing captions, newsletters, and Slack messages