About Us

APLYD helps governments, multilateral institutions, development finance institutions and foundations use AI in public systems. Most public-sector AI stops at the pilot. Our work is getting it into everyday service delivery and keeping it running once we leave.

Athena Infonomics has done this work for years. In 2026 we set it up as its own company. We cover strategy and readiness, field data and last-mile reach, design and build, evaluation and audit, and scale and production.

440+ engagements · 240+ global clients · 85+ specialists · 7 countries · 5 continents

The Role

You lead APLYD’s business development in East Africa. The role covers the full cycle from the first conversation with a ministry, regional body, multilateral country office or development finance institution to a signed contract, and it carries a revenue target. It is a growth role rather than a country profit-and-loss role: delivery is staffed from APLYD’s Global disciplines, with people in the region when the work requires it. You are the first APLYD hire in the region and you build the team around you, starting with an Associate, Growth (East Africa).

You carry a revenue target, and part of your pay is linked to the revenue you originate. Origination credit starts from the first contract you close, the rate increases once you pass target, and there is no cap. In your first year, qualified opportunities you originated that have reached contracting are also credited, because East African institutional cycles often take longer than a financial year.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Represent APLYD in East Africa. For most institutions in the region you will be the first person from the firm they meet. What you commit to on our behalf, we deliver.
• Own institutional opportunities from the first conversation to a signed contract: problem definition, scoping, proposal, negotiation, contracting, and a handover that gives the delivery team everything it needs.
• Decide what we pursue and what we decline. Not every funded opportunity is one we should take.
• Set the technical expectation before anyone commits to it. Work with senior stakeholders until the problem statement is precise, and hold a credible position on solution architecture, data and AI feasibility, integration constraints, and who owns and operates the system once it is live.
• Own the proposals: scope, technical approach, timeline, risk, commercial model and budget. At this stage you write the important ones yourself; this changes as the team grows.
• Read the region for us. Ministries and agencies across several countries, regional bodies, multilaterals, bilateral agencies and philanthropies all decide and budget differently, and the answers change across borders. The regional plan is built on your reading of the market.
• Keep the pipeline accurate: what is live, what has stalled, and what will not happen. Report to the CEO.
• Make sure engagements start well. The institution and our delivery team agree on scope, success measures and operating model before work begins, and the institution owns what gets built.
• Hire and lead the Associate, Growth (East Africa), and build the regional team as revenue allows.

Qualifications and Competencies

• 20 or more years in business development, partnerships or institutional growth across government systems, development organisations or major funders, with most of that time in East Africa.
• You have taken a new institutional relationship to a signed, funded contract more than once.
• Current networks across East African governments, regional institutions, multilaterals, bilateral agencies and the philanthropies active in the region.
• You know how public systems and large development institutions work in the region: how decisions are made, how procurement runs, where budgets sit, and what makes a ministry adopt something new, and where those answers change across borders.
• Enough technical depth to hold a credible conversation about AI and data systems, digital public infrastructure, feasibility and architecture, with engineers on one side and non-technical institutional leaders on the other.
• You have been the senior person in the room when an institution decided whether to work with a firm.
• Based in East Africa, with willingness to travel 40 to 50 percent across the region.

Also useful, though we will not screen on it

• AI, digital transformation, technology-for-development or digital public infrastructure work in Africa.
• Relationships with county or sub-national governments, and with funders running significant East Africa portfolios.
• Time in an organisation working at the intersection of evidence, technology and public service delivery on the continent.

Additional Requirements

This position requires successful completion of a reference check and employment verification.

The successful candidate must not be subject to employment restrictions from a former employer, such as a non-compete, that would prevent performance of the responsibilities described.

Candidates must declare any current or recent engagement with a government, multilateral or development finance institution that could present a conflict of interest.

APLYD’s Work Culture

At APLYD, we function in an outcomes-based work environment with flexible hours and a high level of autonomy. Professional development and thought leadership are key elements of our business model: we support our team members’ professional growth through on-the-job training, and we encourage the cultivation of our colleagues’ personal brands through participation in panels, events, publications, and other thought-leadership opportunities. We embrace a transparent, open work environment with meaningful leadership pathways for those with inventive ideas and initiatives.

• Represent APLYD in East Africa. For most institutions in the region you will be the first person from the firm they meet. What you commit to on our behalf, we deliver.
• Own institutional opportunities from the first conversation to a signed contract: problem definition, scoping, proposal, negotiation, contracting, and a handover that gives the delivery team everything it needs.
• Decide what we pursue and what we decline. Not every funded opportunity is one we should take.
• Set the technical expectation before anyone commits to it. Work with senior stakeholders until the problem statement is precise, and hold a credible position on solution architecture, data and AI feasibility, integration constraints, and who owns and operates the system once it is live.
• Own the proposals: scope, technical approach, timeline, risk, commercial model and budget. At this stage you write the important ones yourself; this changes as the team grows.
• Read the region for us. Ministries and agencies across several countries, regional bodies, multilaterals, bilateral agencies and philanthropies all decide and budget differently, and the answers change across borders. The regional plan is built on your reading of the market.
• Keep the pipeline accurate: what is live, what has stalled, and what will not happen. Report to the CEO.
• Make sure engagements start well. The institution and our delivery team agree on scope, success measures and operating model before work begins, and the institution owns what gets built.
• Hire and lead the Associate, Growth (East Africa), and build the regional team as revenue allows.

• Current networks across East African governments, regional institutions, multilaterals, bilateral agencies and the philanthropies active in the region.
• Knowledge of public systems and large development institutions in the region: decision-making processes, procurement, budgeting, and adoption of new initiatives.
• Technical depth to discuss AI, data systems, digital public infrastructure, feasibility, and architecture.
• Experience in business development, partnerships, or institutional growth.
• Ability to represent the company and build institutional relationships.
• Proposal writing and negotiation skills.
• Market analysis and strategic planning.
• Team leadership and hiring.

• 20 or more years in business development, partnerships or institutional growth across government systems, development organisations or major funders, with most of that time in East Africa.
• Proven track record of taking new institutional relationships to signed, funded contracts.
• Current networks across East African governments, regional institutions, multilaterals, bilateral agencies and philanthropies.
• Deep understanding of public systems and large development institutions in East Africa.
• Sufficient technical depth for credible conversations on AI, data systems, digital public infrastructure, feasibility, and architecture.
• Experience as a senior decision-maker in institutional engagements.
• Based in East Africa.
• AI, digital transformation, technology-for-development or digital public infrastructure work in Africa is useful.
• Relationships with county or sub-national governments, and with funders running significant East Africa portfolios is useful.
• Time in an organisation working at the intersection of evidence, technology and public service delivery on the continent is useful.