The Business Development Mentor will:
Assessment & Planning
- Conduct baseline assessments of mentee businesses (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
- Identify key areas for improvement and develop individualized mentorship plans.
Mentorship & Coaching
- Deliver regular mentorship sessions (in person or virtual) to assigned entrepreneurs. • Provide guidance on business strategy, operations, marketing, HR, and financial management.
- Support mentees in preparing/expanding feasible business and operational plans.
Capacity Building
- Design and deliver workshops on core business topics (e.g., entrepreneurship, digital marketing, e-commerce, pricing strategies, cost management).
- Introduce tools and templates for performance tracking and financial documentation.
Market Linkages & Networking
- Facilitate connections between mentees and financial institutions, suppliers, distributors, and buyers.
- Organize or support networking and business matchmaking events.
Monitoring & Reporting
- Track progress against individual mentorship plans and project KPIs. Document success stories, challenges, and lessons learned.
- Submit monthly mentorship activity reports to the project's management team. Reporting Line
- The Business Development Mentor will report directly to the Business Development Specialist.
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Economics, Finance, or a related field
- Minimum 2 years of relevant experience in business development, entrepreneurship support, or SME growth programs.
- Proven track record mentoring startups or managing business incubation/acceleration programs.
- Strong understanding of Afghanistan's business environment and challenges faced by
- SMES.
- Experience supporting women and youth entrepreneurs preferred.
- Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills (Pashto, Dari, and English).
- Computer literacy (MS Office, digital collaboration tools, business planning software).
Applicants must submit a complete application that includes a letter of interest, current curriculum vitae, and contact information and three professional references. All submissions must be made via email only to jobs@harakat.af and please write the reference (HKT-04) in the subject line of your email, application received after closing date will not be considered.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview.
Harakat-Afghanistan prohibits discrimination in employment on any basis.
Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Harakat is an independent, not-for-profit, Afghan-managed organisation that aims to improve Afghanistan’s business environment. We provide grant funds to the private sector, government and civil society to implement activities to reduce or remove barriers that currently make it difficult to do business in Afghanistan.
Project Background
The International Finance Corporation (IFC – World Bank) and Harakat-AICFO have collaborated for a new initiative titled “For the Private Sector by the Private Sector – Advocacy Forum” to empower and support the Afghan private sector. The project aims to strengthen the existing coordination mechanisms and help prioritize major issues faced by the Afghan private sector. The forum will also support the private sector to identify challenges and promote reforms and solutions through engagement with various government departments as well as the other national and international private sector organizations including International Development Agencies (IDAs).