How to apply for Director of Venture Building, Labour Mobility

About Africa Jobs Fund

The Africa Jobs Fund is a mission-driven investment firm that builds and funds ventures in export manufacturing and international labor mobility to increase incomes for Africans. Unlike traditional funds, it takes an active venture-building approach, co-founding companies and structuring investments in specific corridors. This role offers a rare chance to combine entrepreneurial execution with systemic impact, directly shaping how African workers access high-income jobs abroad.

About the role

As Director of Venture Building for Labour Mobility, you will lead the creation of companies that place African workers in high-income jobs abroad, from opportunity identification to founder recruitment and investment structuring. You will manage a team of venture-builders, assess market bottlenecks, and prioritize corridors, ensuring quality and pace. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will shape strategy and execute end-to-end, directly impacting income growth for Africans.

A typical day

A typical day might involve meeting with recruiters and employers to assess demand in a new corridor, reviewing a cost-effectiveness model for a potential venture, and coaching a venture-builder on founder recruitment. You could also spend time structuring an investment term sheet, interviewing a founder candidate, or troubleshooting a bottleneck in visa processing for an existing portfolio company.

Who Africa Jobs Fund is looking for

• 8–20 years of experience with a proven track record as a founder or senior operator, including real P&L responsibility and the ability to execute at speed.
• Deep expertise in labour mobility, international recruitment, or workforce development, with a strong network of recruiters, employers, and operators in key corridors.
• Experience in venture building, investment structuring, or deal analysis, including cost-effectiveness modeling and managing teams to deliver results.
• Familiarity with African markets and regulatory environments; French language skills are a plus for francophone corridors.

Tips for this application

• Highlight specific ventures or companies you have founded or scaled, emphasizing P&L ownership and speed of execution—quantify outcomes like revenue, margins, or number of workers placed.
• Demonstrate your understanding of labour mobility corridors by referencing specific countries, sectors (e.g., healthcare, IT, construction), and bottlenecks you have navigated, such as visa processes or employer partnerships.
• Show your ability to structure investments by describing deals you have led, including terms, due diligence, and cost-effectiveness analyses; avoid vague statements about 'strategic partnerships'.
• If you have Africa experience or French fluency, make it prominent—this is a differentiator for corridor prioritization and stakeholder engagement.
• Tailor your resume and cover letter to the venture-building aspect: emphasize recruiting founders, launching new entities, and managing venture-builders, not just operational roles.

What to cover in your cover letter

["Your hands-on experience founding or leading a labour mobility venture, including the specific corridors you've worked in and the impact on worker incomes.", 'A concrete example of identifying a market opportunity, recruiting a founder, and building a company end-to-end—highlighting your role and the results.', 'Your approach to structuring investments and managing cost-effectiveness, with metrics that show your analytical rigor and commercial acumen.', "Why you are drawn to Africa Jobs Fund's venture-building model and how your network and expertise can accelerate their labour mobility portfolio."]

Research before applying

• Study Africa Jobs Fund's existing portfolio and investment thesis, especially any labour mobility ventures, to understand their model and impact metrics.
• Research the current landscape of international labour mobility from Africa, including top destination countries, sectors with labor shortages, and regulatory changes (e.g., bilateral agreements).
• Identify key recruiters, employers, and operators in target corridors (e.g., Gulf states, Europe, North America) and understand their pain points and partnership models.
• Learn about venture-building methodologies and how Africa Jobs Fund compares to traditional accelerators or incubators, to align your approach with their expectations.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• Which labour mobility corridors do you believe are most promising for African workers, and how would you prioritize them based on employer demand, regulatory ease, and worker outcomes?
• Describe a time you identified a bottleneck in a labour mobility value chain (e.g., visa processing, skills certification) and how you addressed it.
• How would you recruit and incentivize founders for new ventures in this space, and what criteria would you use to evaluate their potential?
• Walk us through a deal you structured, including the key terms, risks, and how you assessed cost-effectiveness.
• How would you balance speed of execution with quality and compliance when building companies in multiple corridors simultaneously?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Focusing only on strategy or advisory experience without demonstrating hands-on P&L ownership or venture creation—this role requires execution, not just planning.
• Ignoring the investment structuring component and presenting yourself purely as an operator; you must show you can assess deals and manage cost-effectiveness.
• Being vague about Africa or labour mobility experience; if you lack direct experience, avoid generic statements and instead highlight transferable skills and quick learning.
• Underestimating the need for speed and quality simultaneously; candidates who emphasize one at the expense of the other may seem misaligned with the fund's pace.