Career advice · Updated November 2026

Social Protection Mentors Recruitment 2026: 299 Mentor and Mentor Supervisor Jobs in 10 Counties

The social protection mentors recruitment 2026 is one of the largest single government adverts open this month. The State Department for Social Protection and Senior Citizen Affairs, under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, is hiring 280 Mentors and 19 Mentor Supervisors, 299 posts in total, on 15-month contracts in 16 sub-counties across 10 counties. Applications close on 17 November 2026. This guide lists every location and requirement from the official notice and shows how to apply without falling for fake “agents”.

The advert appeared in the government’s MyGov pullout of 27 October 2026 and on the State Department’s own page, socialprotection.go.ke/mentor-recruitment-2026. Everything below comes from those two official sources. For other public-sector adverts open now, see our government jobs hub and the government recruitment tracker.

Key details at a glance

What the job is: the KSEIP II Economic Inclusion Program

The posts sit under the Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP II), which runs an Economic Inclusion Program (EIP) for households in extreme poverty. According to the State Department, the programme aims to help selected households graduate from extreme poverty, build livelihoods that can survive shocks, gain market skills, build social connections and become active members of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs).

Mentors coach participant households directly. Their listed duties are to keep regular contact with assigned mentees, run one-on-one or group sessions, support goal setting, life skills and decision-making, refer people to services such as counselling or health, document sessions confidentially, attend training and report to their supervisor.

Mentor Supervisors train, guide and support Mentors in their sub-county, monitor the quality of mentor-mentee sessions, collect and review mentors’ reports, run monthly supervision and peer-sharing meetings, make sure mentors follow ethical, child protection and inclusion policies, and work with programme staff on referrals and monitoring and evaluation.

All 280 Mentor posts by county, sub-county and location

The State Department’s website gives the breakdown down to location level. If you apply, you are applying for a specific place, so check that your home area is on this list.

That adds up to 280 Mentors across 16 sub-counties. The 19 Mentor Supervisor posts are drawn from the same sub-counties. The notice does not say how many supervisors each sub-county gets.

Requirements for Mentors

From the official notice:

• Diploma or certificate in Social Work, Education, Psychology or a related field (the MyGov print lists KCSE mean grade C- (minus) as the minimum, with the diploma as an added advantage);
• experience working with youth or vulnerable populations and poverty graduation programmes;
• good interpersonal and communication skills;
• empathy, reliability and commitment; and
• a clean ethical record, as a positive role model in the community.

Requirements for Mentor Supervisors

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Education, Psychology or a related discipline;
• experience in mentorship, youth programmes or community work and poverty graduation programmes (the website asks for 3+ years; the MyGov print says at least 1 year, so if you have between one and three years, read the website wording carefully before applying);
• knowledge of safeguarding, gender equality and social inclusion (GESI), and monitoring and evaluation (M&E);
• experience working with diverse or vulnerable populations; and
• skills in confidentiality, communication, cultural sensitivity, leadership, conflict resolution, report writing and data analysis.

Previous work as a Mentor Supervisor is listed as an added advantage.

How to apply for the mentor jobs, step by step

1. Open the official page at socialprotection.go.ke/mentor-recruitment-2026. Use the “Click to Apply” button for the role you want. It opens the department’s online application form.
2. Prepare a cover letter that states the position (Mentor or Mentor Supervisor) and your sub-county. Our free cover letter generator gives you a clean starting draft.
3. Prepare a detailed CV with three referees. If yours is out of date, follow our guide to writing a CV in Kenya.
4. Scan copies of your academic and professional certificates.
5. Attach a certificate of good conduct or equivalent. If you don’t have one yet, see Business Radar’s guide to applying for a certificate of good conduct, and apply early because processing takes time.
6. Supervisors: mark the subject line exactly as “Mentor Supervisor – (Sub-County Name)”.
7. Submit before 17 November 2026. Late applications will not be considered.

Only shortlisted candidates will be invited, in person, to the interview panels.

Who has the best chance

The department says it will give preference to candidates who come from, and currently live in, the location they apply for. In practice this means local people with real community experience: community health promoters, VSLA or chama facilitators, youth workers, early-childhood and adult-education volunteers, and people who have worked with NGOs on cash transfer or graduation programmes. If you have run or supported a savings group, say so plainly in your CV, because VSLA membership is one of the programme’s stated outcomes. Business Radar’s guide on how to register a chama is useful background if you have worked with informal groups.

For the interview, expect scenario questions: how you would handle a household that misses meetings, a child protection concern or a conflict in a group. Practise answers with the STAR method in our competency interview guide, and see the county government interview questions for the style of questions local panels ask.

Avoid fake recruiters

The only official application route is the form linked from socialprotection.go.ke. Nobody needs to pay for a mentor job, and the notice mentions no fees. If someone on WhatsApp or Facebook asks for “registration” or “processing” money, it is a scam. Run any doubtful message through our fake job advert checker and read how to spot fake job adverts in Kenya.

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