Are you our new Innovation Expert?

HAUS is seeking candidates for the position of Innovation Expert to work in the Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge 2.0 initiative. The expert is responsible for planning, implementing and reporting on activities related to improving access to funding for early-stage digital and green ventures operating in Sub-Saharan Africa (with a special focus on Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia).

Based in Helsinki, the selected candidate will stand a chance to foster knowledge exchange between innovation actors across Africa and Europe, build a robust professional network and understanding of the green and digital innovation ecosystems and grow as a seasoned development expert working with a passionate, international team.

As an employer, HAUS offers a flexible and hybrid work environment that fosters lifelong learning and wellbeing at work. The Innovation Expert reports to the Head of Global Impact Unit at HAUS, and joins the AEDIB team at HAUS which is a non-hierarchical, distributed expert team consisting of a Project Manager and two other experts based in Rwanda and Kenya, and collaborates closely with other implementing partners (see more about the programme below).

Background

Across Africa, digital entrepreneurs are transforming communities, from agri-tech platforms in Kenya, to mobile health services in Mozambique, through fintech solutions helping farmers in Senegal access real-time market prices and accept digital payments to grow.

Despite this progress, many innovators face barriers that keep their ideas from scaling. Limited market access, fragmented policies, scarce financing and gaps in ecosystem support continue to hold them back. When these challenges persist, innovation slows, and communities miss out on solutions that could improve lives and drive sustainable growth.

To address these barriers, the Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge (AEDIB) brings together a consortium of trusted partners, including Expertise France, Enabel, ESTDEV, GIZ, HAUS, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and Smart Africa. Operating across 14 countries, the project works to unlock African innovation by connecting governments, investors and entrepreneurs, focusing on three key areas: Policy collaboration, Innovation ecosystems and Access to finance.

Team Europe Initiative on Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge 2.0 is aimed at strengthening digital transformation and green transition in Africa through enhanced partnerships for digital entrepreneurship and innovation. The initiative has the following Specific Objectives (SOs):

SO1:    Enhance digital entrepreneurship and innovation policies

SO2:    Strengthen Digital Innovation Ecosystems for Digital Transformation and Green Transition

SO3:    Improve access to finance for innovative (including women-led) ventures supporting Digital Transformation and Green Transition

Responsibilities

The Innovation Expert provides direct technical expertise for Specific Objective 3 (SO3) and supports Specific Objectives 1 (SO1) and 2 (SO2) as a regional expert on a needs-basis. The expert is  responsible for  planning and coordinating  Finnish activities and facilitating cooperation with Finnish and other European stakeholders under SO3. This role involves close collaboration with AEDIB implementing partners, national and regional African partners, the HAUS AEDIB Team, and other HAUS staff and requires frequent regional travel (up to ten a year).

The responsibilities of the Innovation Expert are to lead the implementation of HAUS activity under SO3 as a technical expert, focusing on enhancing access to finance for early-stage, innovative, and inclusive digital and green ventures in Africa including, but not limited to:

• Steering, coordinating and technically backstopping the creation of a value-adding knowledge-exchange mechanism between early-stage startup investors in Africa and Europe (the Building Investor Bridges Initiative)
• Facilitating cooperation among early-stage investors across Europe and Africa through learning exchanges and networking opportunities. Engaging policymakers, entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs), academia, other financiers, and startup communities.
• Steering, coordinating and technically backstopping a design challenge to call for city-level ecosystem consortia to solve an access-to-finance –related problem experienced locally in a locally suitable way
• Providing technical input on digital entrepreneurship and innovation policy development to support SO1 as needed. Contributing to support activities under SO2, particularly research to business, as needed.

Furthermore, the tasks include:

• Designing, implementing and reporting on the activities with a participatory approach to ensuring the implementation is contextually appropriate, culturally sensitive, and value-adding to all parties. The activity design is underway with the next step being needs assessments, stakeholder engagement and outreach in 2026.
• Leading the procurement preparation and implementation, including conducting outreach to identify skilled service providers with extensive experience from the context
• Supporting the AEDIB Project Manager at HAUS in the programme’s general planning, monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) and reporting
• Other tasks appointed by HAUS or the funder that fit the expert’s skill level
• Ensuring diversity and inclusivity are embedded in all activities by promoting financing accessibility for ventures led by women and marginalized communities.

The successful candidate meets the following criteria:

• Has a Bachelor’s Degree or higher in a relevant field
• Has at least five years of professional experience relevant to international project management, innovation and entrepreneurship, stakeholder engagement, network and collaboration facilitation
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with working proficiency in English and Finnish
• Has experience and/or familiarity with Finnish or European development cooperation programmes
• Has working experience in non-Western countries, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Has understanding of early-stage startup funding, especially in a developing market context

Achieving the programme goals further benefits from the following:

• Ability to implement projects using lean, agile and design methods
• Experience in implementing a communications strategy including social media posts, blogs, etc.
• Experience in event production

Duration: 30 months or as otherwise agreed

Location: Helsinki, Finland

Submission details: In order to apply for this position, please send your motivation letter and CV (max. 3 pages) in English through our Recruitment portal latest on 30 January 2026. This position will be filled immediately after finding a suitable candidate. CV and motivation letters will be shared among the interview panelists.

Apply for a position here