ABOUT MASTERCARD FOUNDATION
Mastercard Foundation seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. Through its Young Africa Works strategy and Canadian EleV program, the Foundation works with partners to ensure that millions of young people, especially young women, access quality education, financial services and dignified work. Mastercard Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. The Foundation is independent with its own Board of Directors and CEO.
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 digital technology expert ready to build something new and increase your impact, read on!
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Program Lead, Digital Economy will report to the Country Head. The Program Lead, Digital Economy will be responsible for a portfolio of Digitally focused and Digitally enabled partnerships focused on the Foundation’s Young Africa Works priorities and commitment to enable dignified and fulfilling work for young women and young people in general. She/he will provide expertise and interact effectively with senior levels of partner organizations and ecosystem stakeholders to advance the development and delivery of the Foundation’s country.
The job holder will work collaboratively with other Foundation staff, such as Program Country team members who are developing country strategies and other program team members in other technical areas (e.g. education finance, Youth , MSME, etc.) whilst contributing digital technology expertise on design and management of programs.
WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE
- Lead the origination and co-design of Digitally focused and Digitally enabled partnerships across all relevant economic sectors and value chains to scale country-level inclusive education, financial and labor systems in Rwanda.
- Engage with mandated institutions, private sector/industry stakeholders and young people to co-create opportunities linking/ enabling young people access to dignified and fulfilling work.
- Diagnose and contribute expertise on digital enabling environment and policy to inform country strategy design, partnership development, and monitoring processes.
- Work closely with various teams to leverage synergies across programs and across geographies.
- Extract, capture and communicate details to elaborate progress and learnings from programs to colleagues and the wider development community.
- Represent the Foundation’s interest in programing governance activities, such as investment committees, advisory committees or other stakeholders to provide oversight or elevate and leverage learnings.
- Working closely with implementation partners and beneficiaries to contribute towards systematic learning and reflection processes to enable for continuous adaptive management of the program.
- Support and/or manage programs as appropriate, distilling learnings for use by country team as well as wider Foundation staff.
- Assist in expanding the country team’s capacity relating to digital skills development and digital policy, by sharing learning, facilitating training and providing on the job support.
- Support the design and delivery of appropriate mechanisms to monitor effectiveness and impact of skills development interventions through work with colleagues focusing on impact, monitoring and insights.
- Provide perspective and expertise on emerging issues and trends in the Digital economy space relevant to the Young Africa Works strategy/goals.
- Build and maintain relationships with partner organizations, key stakeholders and communities.
WHO YOU ARE
- Master’s degree or equivalent experience in education, business, or a technology-related field.
- Ten (10) plus years of 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.
- Experience successfully procuring and managing consultants and technology vendors and suppliers to achieve goals.
- Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects.
- Command of quantitative and qualitative business analytics.
- Experience working with the non-profit or public sectors, particularly in a role relating to digital technology.
- Demonstrated knowledge of African social, economic and political contexts.
- Strong written and spoken communication skills in English required.
- You are flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.
- 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).
- Knowledge of digital inclusion policy is an asset.
- You possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures.
- You possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
Deadline for Applications is October 27, 2020.
The Mastercard Foundation values the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the organization and we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone.
Completion of satisfactory business references, background checks, and proof of education are essential conditions of employment.
For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit http://www.mastercardfdn.org/ Follow the Foundation on Twitter at @MastercardFdn
