Mastercard Foundation is a global foundation based across four hubs in Kigali, Rwanda, Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana and Toronto, Canada. Our programs promote financial inclusion and advance education and learning in Africa, primarily for young people, and in Canada for Indigenous youth. The Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. From inception, the Foundation was designed to be a separate entity and independent from Mastercard. Our policies, operations, and funding decisions are made by our President and Board of Directors.
The Foundation believes that youth employment is key to unlocking prosperity, both for youth and their societies. Enabling young women and men from disadvantaged communities to secure dignified and fulfilling work will ensure inclusive development and economic growth in Africa.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Program Partner, Digital Economy
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
The Work at the Foundation
- We have entered a very exciting time at the Foundation as we scale up our operations across Africa to realize our Young Africa Works strategy. Our role at the Mastercard Foundation is to be a catalyst. Our Young Africa Works strategy focuses on working with others to spur systemic change so young people have the opportunity to find work that is dignified and fulfilling.
- The Foundation has opened offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda, building a broader leadership presence in Africa to develop specific strategies that support youth employment. Within a country, we work with governments, the private sector, educators and other funders to improve the quality of education and vocational training, prepare young people for the work force, expand access to financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and connect job seekers to dignified and fulfilling work.
- We are ambitious and driven. Our values transcend and rise above everything else as our guide. We encourage you to bring your bold ideas, curiosity, and expertise to your work. We laugh at ourselves and with each other. We are a team. Our journey together makes our impact even more meaningful.
- If you are an experienced Program Management professional ready to build something new and increase your impact, read on!
Digital Technologies in Africa
- Digital technologies are transforming every aspect of life for billions of people. Digitally-enabled businesses – local and global, small and large – create new work opportunities that require new skills and mechanisms to link appropriately-skilled workers with opportunities.
- Youth who currently use digital technologies can anticipate a lifelong journey to ensure their skills remain relevant to evolving needs and opportunities. Those who have yet to benefit from digital inclusion need support and encouragement to begin to climb the ladder of basic digital literacy and skills. Lack of meaningful progress towards digital skills leaves millions of young Africans at risk of exclusion from opportunities in an increasingly digital world.
- It limits the ability for teachers or students to use digital solutions effectively within the educational systems, as well as the competitiveness of workers wishing to join local, regional and global ICT labor markets. Ultimately, this constrains the ability of firms to implement new technology and create new jobs.
The Opportunity
- Reporting to the Lead, the Program Partner, Digital Economy will work collaboratively with other Foundation staff, such as Program country team members who are developing country strategies and other technical areas (e.g. education, finance, agriculture, MSME, etc.).
Ways You Can Contribute
- Work closely with the Program Lead, Digital Economy and country team staff to achieve team goals.
- Provide digital technology expertise to support the design and management of programs that leverage technology to scale country-level inclusive education, financial and labor systems in Africa.
- Ability to enable our partners to identify the different impactful roles and positive change that digital technology and data can play in their areas of operation.
- Building partnerships and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders at country-level, communities of practice and global stakeholders.
- Support the Lead in diagnosing and contributing to the expertise on digital enabling environment and policy to inform country strategy design, partnership development, and monitoring processes.
- Work closely with the program and country teams to leverage synergies across programs and across geographies.
- Support and/or manage current or future programs as appropriate, distilling learnings for the country and technical teams as well as wider Foundation staff.
- Contribute insights to the Foundation’s thought leadership on digital skills development in Africa by writing blogs, attending and presenting at conferences and identifying other opportunities to share and deepen learning.
- Assist in expanding the Foundation team’s capacity relating to digital skills development and digital policy, by sharing learning and supporting country teams.
- Support the design and delivery of appropriate mechanisms to monitor effectiveness and impact of skills development interventions in close collaboration with the Impact Learning team.
- Participate in stakeholder engagement activities related to programs and share/leverage learnings.
Who You Are
- Master's degree or equivalent experience in Education, Business, or a Technology-related field.
- Minimum 5 - 7 years of relevant experience working with the private and non-profit sectors, particularly in a role relating to digital technology and skills development in Africa.
- Experience in a commercial function in at least one relevant digital technology industry focused on low income customers – e.g. product management, strategy, design.
- Familiarity with relevant technologies and sectors with potential for emerging markets - software solutions, app or platform providers, venture capital, incubators, digital financial services providers, e-government, data analytics, etc.
- Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects.
- Experience working with the non-profit or public sectors, particularly in a role relating to digital technology.
- Experience with entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship.
- Demonstrated knowledge of African social, economic and political contexts.
- Experience living and/or working in Africa.
- Proficiency in English, written and oral is required. Ability to speak a local language is highly preferred. French is an asset.
- Proactive, engaged and a self-starter.
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
- Good organizational skills and demonstrated ability to handle multiple tasks.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (PowerPoint, Word and Excel).
- High emotional intelligence and comfort with ambiguity.
- Knowledge of digital inclusion policy is an asset.
- Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.
- Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures.
- Possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
- You have a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.
