Kenya Project Manager

Role:
Kenya Project Manager & Sanitation/Route-to-Market (RTM) Subject Matter Expert (SME), Next Mile Ventures (NMV)

Expected Level of Effort:

hours

Contract Type:

Independent Contractor

Duration:

January 2026 – September 2026

Location

: Nairobi, Kenya

About Project Last Mile

Project Last Mile (PLM) is a leading public-private partnership that adapts the business and technical expertise of the Coca-Cola system to strengthen health systems across Africa. Since 2009, PLM has supported governments and global health partners to improve the availability and uptake of essential medicines and services by enhancing supply chains, route-to-market models, cold chain reliability, and demand creation approaches. With more than 14 years of experience across 17 countries, PLM has become a recognized model for how private-sector capabilities can be applied to deliver scalable and sustainable public health impact.

About Next Mile Ventures

Next Mile Ventures (NMV) is a sector-agnostic technical assistance platform built from the proven PLM model of adapting commercial expertise for social impact. While PLM has demonstrated strong success supporting health system strengthening and health enterprises, NMV expands this approach across multiple development sectors - including WASH, circular economy, nutrition, agriculture, and other areas where private-sector capabilities can unlock transformative growth.

NMV provides bespoke, hands-on advisory support to high-potential African enterprises that are post-pilot and positioned for scale. By applying practical tools and methodologies used by leading fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies - such as route-to-market strategy, demand generation, digital enablement, cold chain optimization, and core business management practices - NMV helps enterprises strengthen operational performance, accelerate sustainable growth, and deepen both economic and social impact.

Background on Opportunity

NMV is engaging with a rapidly growing African enterprise operating a large distributed field network across dense, low-income urban and peri-urban communities. The organization manages thousands of service points, coordinates a daily logistics and collection operation, and oversees end-to-end processing activities within its vertically integrated model.

Through NMV, opportunities have been identified to strengthen logistics execution, routing efficiency, network productivity, and the overall effectiveness of last-mile operations.

NMV will deploy:

1. An
   Ex-Coca-Cola RTM SME (remote)

who will provide deep technical advisory on route optimization, operator engagement, and performance systems.
2. A
Kenya-based local SME

who will coordinate all in-country activities, engage stakeholders, contextualize RTM insights, support diagnostics, and ground the work in Kenya's operational realities.

This local role is essential for translating commercial best practices into practical operational improvements and for maintaining close, continuous engagement with enterprise teams on the ground.

Scope of Work

The Kenya-based SME will serve as NMV's in-country project manager and local subject matter expert throughout the engagement. This role will anchor stakeholder engagement, support diagnostic assessments, contextualize route-to-market (RTM) recommendations, and help shape implementation planning in collaboration with NMV's Delivery Manager and Senior RTM SME.

The role supports the technical experts; it does not independently design RTM models but adapts, validates, and operationalizes them through field-based insight and close coordination with enterprise teams.

Key Responsibilities

In-Country Coordination & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as NMV's primary Kenya-based liaison with enterprise leadership, operations teams, and field staff.
• Coordinate meetings, workshops, field visits, and engagement with frontline personnel.
• Support relationship building across multiple levels of the organization, including senior leadership, middle management, and field teams.

Support Diagnostics & Operational Assessments

• Join field "ride-alongs" depot visits, operator interviews, and collection route observations.
• Gather and synthesize local insights on logistics flows, operator behaviors, customer touchpoints, and settlement dynamics.
• Provide grounded operational context to NMV's RTM frameworks and technical recommendations.

Local Adaptation of Coca-Cola Route-to-Market Best Practices

• Work closely with the Senior RTM SME to adapt commercial RTM tools and methodologies to the enterprise's operating model.
• Test applicability of proposed route optimization, engagement systems, and performance tools in Nairobi settings.
• Capture feedback from enterprise teams and identify practical considerations for implementation.

Coordination of Technical Workstreams

• Logistics Optimization & Route Efficiency
• Assist in mapping current routes, identifying inefficiencies, and validating redesigned collection routes.
• Work with logistics supervisors to test improvements in the field.

Customer Engagement & Retention

• Participate in mapping customer/operator touchpoints and identifying barriers to timely payments.
• Provide contextual insight into behavior drivers among operators and households.

Performance Management & Accountability

• Support assessment of existing KPIs and reporting structures.
• Facilitate testing of new dashboard or accountability models with supervisors and team leads.

Project Management, Tracking & Local Delivery

• Track progress against work plans and upcoming milestones.
• Provide regular updates to NMV Delivery Manager and contribute to reporting processes.
• Coordinate logistics for assessments, pilots, and validation workshops.
• Support alignment across NMV SMEs and Enterprise teams.

Reporting

• The Kenya Project Manager will report to the Senior Route-to-Market Subject Matter Expert and the Delivery Manager.

Travel

• Local travel within Nairobi will be required and covered in line with NMV's local travel policy. Travel will primarily involve field visits, route observations, operator engagement, and workshop participation.

Essential Skills and Experience

• 7–12 years of experience in operations, supply chain, logistics, last-mile distribution, or RTM execution in Kenya.
• Experience in FMCG operations (e.g., Coca-Cola system, Unilever, P&G, BAT) or sanitation/logistics enterprises preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multi-workstream projects, including work-planning, milestone tracking, and coordinating cross-functional teams.
• Experience translating technical guidance into structured work plans, timelines, and weekly execution routines.
• Exposure to donor-funded or advisory projects, including reporting, documentation, and stakeholder management.
• Hands-on experience coordinating field assessments, pilots, or operational tests and turning findings into actionable recommendations.
• Familiarity with informal settlements and field operations across Nairobi.
• Strong relationship-building and coordination skills across enterprise leadership, operations teams, and frontline staff.
• Ability to work closely with technical SMEs to contextualize and localize global frameworks.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Public Health, Supply Chain, or a related field.

Interested applicants to apply by
December 20th, 2025,

for consideration
.

Note that all applications must be in English.