Business Development Manager at African Management Institute Uganda, Kampala

Job Description

About Us

African Management Institute (AMI) is an impact-focused EdTech scale-up building Africa’s leading workplace learning company for ambitious companies and talent. As an African champion, building Africa’s business champions, we’ve trained more than 100,000 people and 40k+ enterprises – from executives to entry-level workers in large and small companies across the continent.

With our hub in Nairobi, and teams in 8 African markets, we combine AI-powered diagnostics, live learning and practical tools to deliver the highest-outcome learning programmes for African business. Clients love our practical approach to learning for business, supported by an evidence-based methodology and tech platform, built for the African market. AMI was listed in the prestigious Norsken/100 as one of the leading social impact companies in the world, and recognized by the Financial Times on the 2024 Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies list.

We are expanding rapidly. AMI has offices in Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda and Senegal and country representatives in Ethiopia and Nigeria. Our diverse and rapidly-expanding 150+ team reflects all corners of the continent and beyond. Our work environment is fun, flexible and inclusive, with opportunity for growth. AMI-GOs ask questions, get things done, and put the team before self to achieve our mission. If our vision for enabling ambitious businesses across Africa to thrive has sparked your imagination, and if your skills and experience match the description below, then we’d love to hear from you.

Job Description

AMI is looking for an ambitious, talented and entrepreneurial Business Development Manager to drive the growth of our workplace learning and corporate training business in Uganda. The Business Development Manager will work to rapidly and aggressively build our workplace learning and corporate training business across Uganda, with an initial focus on Kampala to establish market leadership, both through direct sales to companies, and channel/referral partnerships. S/he must be a driven self-starter; a data-savvy professional with great people and project skills, and the ability to analyse an organisation, understand its learning and development needs and work with our world-class learning design team to scope and sell a solution.

This role is ideal for a high-performing business development professional who thrives in consultative enterprise sales, takes full ownership of results, and is motivated by closing deals.

Responsibilities

Business Development

• Strengthen AMI’s pipeline of partner organizations and businesses (B2B) across Uganda
• Identify and generate leads through direct outreach, networking and through partnerships
• Manage the full sales cycle including prospecting, contacting, nurturing and closing deals
• Make presentations, negotiate and close deals with support from senior staff
• Upsell AMI products to existing clients
• Work closely with the rest of the Business Development and marketing teams, to develop and improve on best practices & processes
• Collaborate with the marketing team to identify opportunities to build AMI’s brand and presence in Uganda, in order to drive inbound leads

Client management

• Work with program management teams to manage client relationships throughout the sales cycle and beyond
• Manage client contract renewals and pricing
• Support partner organizations in marketing workshops and other AMI products to constituents

Requirements

Education and Experience

• A minimum of 5 years in consultative sales or B2B business development experience, with a preference for Enterprise technology based solutions
• An undergraduate degree in Business, Marketing or any related field
• Demonstrated experience selling complex, high-value solutions (e.g. services, programmes, or solutions that require stakeholder buy-in rather than transactional selling)
• Hands-on experience with outbound business development, including cold calling, follow-ups, and proactive pipeline generation
• Experience managing the full sales cycle from lead generation and qualification through proposal development, negotiation, and closing
• Direct experience working on client accounts and nurturing client relationships
• Proven ability to engage, influence, and sell to senior decision-makers, including CEOs, Directors, and Executive Management teams
• Experience writing business documents such as proposals and partnership presentations
• Experience working in entrepreneurial or high-growth environment (essential)
• Experience working with CRM systems, sales trackers, and performance dashboards to manage leads and measure progress
• Prior exposure to enterprise clients, corporate partnerships, or institutional customers is a strong advantage

Skills and Attributes

• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the confidence to articulate value clearly and persuasively at senior leadership level
• Strong consultative selling skills, including needs diagnosis, solution framing, and value-based selling
• Excellent time management and prioritisation skills, with the ability to structure work independently to achieve ambitious targets
• High level of commercial acumen, including pipeline management, forecasting, and opportunity prioritisation
• Strong relationship-building skills, capable of developing long-term client partnerships rather than one-off transactions
• Ability to learn quickly, absorb new products, sectors, and value propositions, and translate them into compelling sales narratives
• A drive and tenacity to develop completely new sales leads through direct outreach tactics
• Go-getter mindset with a strong bias for action and proactively pursuing opportunities rather than waiting for inbound leads
• Highly resilient and persistent, with the ability to handle rejection, maintain momentum, and continue pushing toward targets
• Strong ownership mentality, operating autonomously with minimal supervision while remaining accountable for results
• Self-driven and disciplined, able to set personal targets, manage energy, and deliver consistently in a fast-paced environment
• Team-oriented, willing to support colleagues, share insights, and contribute to the overall success of the business unit
• Growth-oriented and curious, continuously experimenting with new approaches, tactics, and channels to drive results
• Comfortable with ambiguity and change, able to adapt quickly as the enterprise business unit evolves
• Enthusiasm for AMI’s mission to drive prosperity and growth in Africa by enabling ambitious businesses to thrive, through practical tools and training

Benefits

   A high-impact, diverse and ambitious team with common values:

• Be the best: We work really hard, are proud of what we do, and love delighting our clients with quality.
• Own it: We step up to the task, never pass the buck and hold ourselves accountable for delivering results.
• Push the limits: We ask why, embrace failure and try new things. We never settle.
• Do what’s right: We act with integrity, confront dishonesty, treat people fairly and strive to contribute to the greater good
• Always care: We don’t have ego – it’s always ‘team before me’. We are kind, we celebrate each other’s success, and we care enough to give honest feedback.
  A dynamic office & team life:
• Monthly team social events and yearly offsite
• Regular learning and coaching opportunities

• A hybrid working model