Country Director at Mastercard Foundation

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Lead the development and implementation of the country road map, ensuring alignment with the Foundation’s overarching goals and priorities across all economic sectors and cross-cutting themes.
• Embed impact considerations into program designs to inclusively address young women's and youth's needs, ensuring that all initiatives contribute to the broader Young Africa Works strategy.
• Work closely with the Country Program teams to develop and refine strategies that support the entrepreneurship ecosystem, workforce development and other relevant interventions.
• Ensure country programs' success and measurable impact by supporting partners in implementation, fostering collaboration, and driving innovation across strategic priorities.
• Oversee comprehensive country diagnostics to set strategic priorities and guide programmatic focus.
• Work with the Impact, Research, Learning and other enabling teams to build robust monitoring frameworks to assess program impact, synthesize learning, and establish venues for shared organizational learning for country teams.
• Develop and manage budgets, ensuring effective resource allocation and financial compliance. Adjust spending and budgets as necessary to drive program success.
• Facilitating integration and collaboration across stakeholders and convening relevant stakeholders to drive impact at scale.
• Coordinate disbursements across partners, ensuring alignment with financial standards and overseeing implementation support from strategic partners.
• Provide perspective and expertise on emerging issues and trends in the Country relevant to the Young Africa Works strategy/goals.
• Identify challenges and opportunities facing the Country that can be unlocked through education, labour and financial systems to mobilize Young Africa Works interventions.
• Managed country leadership engagements and meetings with the Board of Directors during country visits.
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders to scope new ideas, seek counsel, and support programming efforts.
• Led a matrixed, cross-functional team in co-designing and implementing programs, ensuring high-quality work, safeguarding the Foundation's reputation, and ensuring alignment with Foundation values.
• Effectively lead country teams, with a focus on developing talent, ensuring high quality of work, safeguarding and alignment with Foundation values, drive oneness at country level, building a supportive and collaborative work environment.
• Partner with People & Culture on talent and staffing, culture and change management, and team performance management.
• Oversee and manage office needs to ensure a safe, secure, productive, and compliant work environment.

Who You Are

• Master’s degree in a global development, education, public policy or related field.
• Relevant professional qualification and member of a relevant professional body.
• Minimum of 15 years of overall experience, with at least 5 years in senior leadership roles.
• Experience in financial management, including preparation and management of budgets, contracts, etc.
• Senior-level experience in Africa and with exposure to international issues, ideally, is crucial. Private sector experience would be an asset.
• Experience and advanced expertise in the country, experience working with government, development, and political and social issues.
• Experience and demonstrated success at facilitating organizational change and building and managing high-performing teams in a growing office with proven success.
• Experience effectively engaging with high-level government officials, key partners, media, business leaders and other influential personalities.
• Strategic vision - exceptional strategic planning skills, with the ability to integrate technical and operational demands into a cohesive structure.
• Leadership competencies including problem solving and execution, adaptability and change management, relationship building and influence, talent development, cross-disciplinary expertise and cross-functional thinking.
• Excellent solution-based approach while demonstrating innovation, integrity, quality, creativity, flexibility and resilience.
• Excellent fluency in languages relevant to the country and work, with strong communication skills.
• Excellent strategic planning skills with the ability to merge the technical and operational demands of the program into a cohesive structure.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to express facts and ideas clearly, convincingly, and organized.
• Leadership presence with the ability to inspire and lead diverse teams, fostering a supportive and collaborative work environment aligned with our values.
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity to different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.