Centre Director job at Mbuya Graduate Transition Centre

1. Organizational Context

Mbuya Graduate Transition Centre (MGTC) is a specialized Business Development Services (BDS) institution based in Mbuya, Kampala. MGTC provides competency-based transition support that enables graduates from secondary, TVET, tertiary and university pathways to move into employment, entrepreneurship or enterprise growth.

The Centre’s programme combines an intensive 8-week full-time immersive track and a 20–24 week hybrid track, supported by a common learning architecture, Peer Accountability Groups, career pathways and sector-based Innovation Labs. The model is designed to connect graduates more effectively with employers, markets, finance, mentors, practitioners and the wider entrepreneurship ecosystem.

GTC is in its founding phase. Its programme design, curriculum and quality-assurance framework have been developed, while the institution’s team, systems, regulatory positioning, funding base, partnerships and operating track record are being established. The Centre’s staffing model identifies the Centre Director, Programmes Manager, Partnerships & Communications Manager and Finance & Operations Manager as the core permanent management team required to operate the Centre at quality.

The Centre Director is therefore responsible not simply for managing a programme, but for building and leading a credible, financially sustainable and quality-assured institution capable of delivering measurable graduate transition outcomes and establishing GTC as a leading graduate transition platform in Uganda.

2. Job Purpose 

The Centre Director is the founding chief executive of Mbuya Graduate Transition Centre, with overall accountability to the Board for the Centre’s strategic direction, institutional performance, sustainability, impact, governance and reputation.

The Director leads the development and growth of MGTC as a credible, quality-assured BDS institution, translating its programme model into a functioning organisation with the people, systems, partnerships, resources and financial model required for sustained delivery and scale. The role provides strategic leadership to ensure that MGTC delivers high-quality graduate transition programmes while building strong pathways into employment, entrepreneurship and enterprise growth.

During the founding phase, the Director will lead institution-building, establish the core management team and operating systems, secure strategic partnerships and resources, guide MGTC’s registration and positioning within Uganda’s BDS ecosystem, and establish the institutional standards required for long-term credibility and growth.

As MGTC matures, the Director will lead its strategic growth, financial sustainability, ecosystem positioning and organisational development, ensuring that programme quality and measurable graduate outcomes remain at the centre of institutional performance.

3. Key Duties and Responsibilities

3.1 Strategic Leadership and Institutional Performance

• Set and continually sharpen MGTC’s strategic direction, turning the Board-approved strategy into a working institutional model, annual plans and priorities the team can act on.
• Translate the MGTC programme model into a coherent institutional strategy, operating model and growth pathway.
• Lead periodic strategic reviews to ensure that MGTC remains responsive to labour-market needs, graduate aspirations, private-sector demand and changes within the BDS and skills-development ecosystem.
• Establish clear institutional priorities, performance expectations and accountability mechanisms across the Centre.
• Ensure that the Centre’s programmes, partnerships, resources and operating model remain aligned with its strategic objectives.

3.2 People, Culture and Institution Building

• Lead the establishment and strengthening of the systems, structures, policies and organisational culture required for MGTC to operate as a credible institution.
• Recruit, develop and retain a high performing core management team and ensure effective delegation, coordination and accountability across functions.
• Establish a culture of professionalism, innovation, learning, inclusion, integrity and results.
• Lead MGTC’s transition from founding-stage operations to a stable, scalable institutional model.
• Ensure organisational systems evolve in line with MGTC’s growth, programme complexity and emerging operational requirements.
• Champion diversity, equity and inclusion as a named institutional priority, including gender balance, disability inclusion and regional representation among staff, facilitators and graduate cohorts. 

3.3 Financial Sustainability, and Resource Mobilization

• Lead resource mobilization and cultivate strategic relationships with donors, development partners, government, investors and other potential funders.
• Drive diversified revenue generation, including programme income, strategic partnerships, donor and investor funding, co-working and other appropriate Centre-based revenue streams.
• Establish and maintain a strong funding and revenue pipeline aligned with MGTC’s strategic priorities.
• Ensure that institutional growth is supported by realistic costing, financial planning and resource allocation.
• Work closely with the Finance & Operations Manager to maintain sound financial stewardship, cost discipline and financial sustainability.

3.4 Programme Impact, Quality and BDS Positioning

• Hold ultimate institutional accountability for the quality, integrity and outcomes of the MGTC, ensuring the programme remains faithful to its competency-based, experiential and outcome-oriented model across the full-time and hybrid delivery formats.
• Ensure the career pathways, Innovation Labs, Peer Accountability Groups, coaching, alumni engagement and employer links work as one integrated journey for graduates, not a set of disconnected activities.
• Work through the Programmes Manager and MELQ function so evidence drives programme decisions.
• Lead GTC’s standing as a quality-assured National BDS Service Provider maintains executive oversight of graduate transition outcomes, including employment, enterprise and other intended post-programme outcomes.

3.5 Strategic Partnerships and Ecosystem Leadership

• Provide executive leadership for MGTC’s strategic relationships with government, employers, universities, TVET institutions, development partners, investors, financial institutions and other ecosystem actors.
• Build the high-level relationships required to strengthen graduate employment, entrepreneurship, enterprise growth, access to finance and market opportunities.
• Position MGTC as a credible convening and collaboration platform connecting graduates with industry, employers, investors, mentors and the wider entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Lead high-value and strategically significant partnership negotiations and institutional engagements that contribute demonstrably to GTC’s institutional objectives and graduate outcomes.
• Support the Partnerships & Communications Manager to maintain a strong and active partnership pipeline.

3.6 Governance, Risk and Regulatory Compliance

• Maintain an effective and constructive relationship with the Board of Directors, including standing participation in scheduled Board and Committee meetings and timely, accurate, decision-useful reporting on at least a quarterly basis.
• Translate approved strategy into organisational priorities, annual plans and management accountability.
• Establish and maintain appropriate governance, risk-management, internal control and compliance systems.
• Maintain oversight of MGTC’s financial, operational, safeguarding, legal, regulatory and reputational risks.
• Maintain an institutional risk register with risks identified early, appropriately escalated and actively managed through agreed mitigation actions are implemented.
• Ensure GTC meets applicable statutory, regulatory, contractual and institutional obligations.

3.7 External Representation and Institutional Reputation

• Serve as MGTC’s principal institutional representative and ambassador including for media engagements, speaking opportunities, and entrepreneurship-related events.
• Represent MGTC at senior-level government, donor, investor, employer, industry and development partner engagements.
• Communicate the Centre’s vision, model, evidence and value proposition credibly to external stakeholders.
• Provide strategic leadership on institutional positioning and reputation.
• Support advocacy for stronger graduate transition, employability, entrepreneurship and BDS ecosystems in Uganda.
• Ensure GTC’s public profile reflects its mission, values, evidence and professional standards.

4. Required Qualifications

Essential

• Advanced Degree: Master’s degree in business administration, management, development studies, economics, education, entrepreneurship, public policy, social sciences or a related field.
• Bachelor’s degree with additional years of experience may substitute for an Advanced degree

Desirable

• Executive education or leadership development qualification.
• Professional qualification or training in business development, enterprise development, BDS, organisational leadership or a related field.
• Board governance training or experience in executive level leadership in an organisation, programme, enterprise or institution of comparable complexity.

5. Professional Experience

Essential

• At least 10–12 years of progressive professional experience, including substantial senior leadership responsibility.
• At least 5 years in a Director, Chief Executive, senior management or equivalent leadership role.
• Demonstrated experience building, establishing, transforming or scaling an institution, programme or enterprise from an early stage.
• Demonstrated experience in strategic planning, organisational development and institutional performance management.
• Demonstrated experience mobilising resources through donors, government, investors, strategic partnerships and/or earned-income models.
• Experience leading and managing a multidisciplinary senior team.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing strategic partnerships with senior institutional stakeholders.
• Experience with financial oversight, organisational risk management and governance processes.

Desirable

• Experience within Uganda’s or East Africa’s BDS, skills-development, employability, enterprise-development or innovation ecosystem.
• Experience working with UN agencies, INGOs, bilateral donors, government or development-finance institutions.
• Experience establishing or scaling a social enterprise, education institution, BDS provider, innovation hub or comparable organisation.
• Board-level or governance-facing experience.
• Experience working across public, private and development-sector partnerships.

6. Core Competencies

• Strategic leadership and vision
• Institutional and organisational development
• Resource mobilisation and financial sustainability
• Partnership and stakeholder management
• Programme and results management
• Business development and growth
• Governance and risk management
• People leadership and team development
• Excellent communication and representation skills
• Innovation, adaptability and problem-solving

7. Working Conditions/Other Requirements

• Full-time position based at the MGTC Mbuya campus, Kampala.
• Regular travel within Uganda for government, donor, employer, investor and strategic partnership engagement.
• Occasional regional or international travel may be required for strategic partnerships, resource mobilisation and institutional representation.
• Availability for occasional evening and weekend commitments associated with major institutional events.
• This role requires the ability to operate effectively in a dynamic founding-stage environment where systems and priorities may continue to evolve.

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