Project Officer - Supplier Readiness (Consultant)
Terms: Consultancy, 10 months
Location: Solwezi, Kalumbila, or Lumwana (Primary)
Start Date: ASAP
Deadline for Applications: 17:00hrs CAT, 11 November 2025
About BongoHive
BongoHive is Zambia’s first technology and innovation hub. We support entrepreneurs of any background by enhancing skills, accelerating growth, and strengthening networks of collaboration. Through our diverse arms—Entrepreneurship, Consulting, and Coworking—we deliver custom incubation programmes, provide innovation and digital transformation consultancy to SMEs and corporations, and offer flexible office spaces for a vibrant community of creators and builders.
The Role
We are seeking a highly experienced, proactive, and trilingual consultant to serve as a Project Officer - Supplier Readiness in the Lumwana region. This critical on-site role is responsible for the successful execution of an SME capacity-building program, focusing on increasing the readiness, market access, and technical competence of local suppliers to major mines in the Lumwana region. The consultant will be the key operational link between BongoHive, the program's client (the anchor mine), and the participating enterprises.
Key Responsibilities
1. On-site Project Management & Stakeholder Liaison
- Serve as the primary on-site project officer and BongoHive representative for all Lumwana-based activities.
- Represent BongoHive professionally in all in-person and virtual meetings with the client and local stakeholders (e.g., Chiefdoms, ZDA, CEEC).
- Organise and manage all logistics for in-person activities, including training sessions, workshops, site visits, Pop-Up Markets, and B2B Expos.
- Support with actively managing and nurturing stakeholder and partnership relationships on the ground to foster program buy-in and market opportunities for SMEs.
2. SME Mentorship & Business Development
- Provide direct, hands-on business mentorship to participating SMEs with a focus on:
- Financial Readiness: Guiding SMEs on the comprehensive path to access finance and capital investments and improving financial discipline.
- Procurement Support: Actively assisting SMEs with tendering documentation, trade test processes, and preparation for supplier registration and tendering with major mines in the area.
- Compliance: Mentoring businesses to embed realistic safety plans and environmental protocols in line with current mining sector standards.
- Facilitate entrepreneurship sessions and coaching, including pain point resolution and improving product/service delivery.
3. Technical Readiness & Performance Reporting
- Manage on-site technical support and training for SMEs on program-specific digital tools, including vendor portals and business assessment frameworks (e.g., eMiner, GrowthWheel).
- Assist suppliers with creating and updating business profiles on client vendor portals.
- Support BongoHive's Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework by actively tracking and reporting against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as revenue growth, job creation, and new contracts secured.
- Generate comprehensive on-site activity and progress reports for the BongoHive head office and the client.
Required Qualifications and Competencies
- Experience: Minimum of 5 years of proven experience in project coordination, business mentorship, or consulting, with a preference for experience in Business Development or SME integration within the mining or heavy industrial supply chain.
- Stakeholder management and partnership development
- Language Fluency: Must be proficient in English, Kaonde, and Bemba.
- Location/Relocation: Must either already be based in or around the Lumwana Mine area (e.g., Solwezi, Kalumbila, or Lumwana town) OR be willing to relocate to the area immediately for the duration of the consultancy. Accommodation will be provided.
- Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Economics, or a related field (or equivalent professional experience).
- Skills: Demonstrated ability to provide hands-on technical support for digital business platforms and possess excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and public speaking skills.
Working Hours
- Duration of Contract: The active implementation period for this contract shall be Ten (10) Months.
- Final Contract End Date: The final contract end date, accounting for the full 10-month implementation and final reporting/closeout, shall be 30th August 2026.
- Primary Responsibility and Location: The Consultant is responsible for the management, operation, and administration of the Project Office at the Lumwana Community Trust (LCT), which serves as the physical hub for localised SME mentoring.
- Working Hours: The consultant is expected to work a minimum of three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). The consultant must be flexible and prepared to work occasionally for the entire week (full-time) when project demands, such as intensive training workshops or critical deadlines, require it.
