Mastercard Foundation Jobs 2023

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.

Job Description

Job Title: Director, Program Operations and Planning 

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, young people, 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.

UNDERSTANDING CANADA PROGRAMS AT THE FOUNDATION

The Foundation has begun working within Canada in partnership with Indigenous communities and post-secondary institutions to listen, learn, and best understand how we can act in meaningful ways. The EleV strategy was co-created with Indigenous communities, young people, and partners to enable 30,000 Indigenous youth to complete their education and transition to dignified work aligned with their values and aspirations.As reflected in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, education is a key driver of improved socio-economic well-being. Through building partnerships with Indigenous communities, we look to expand our initiative ultimately helping to support a generation of transformative Indigenous young leaders who will be change agents within their communities. We believe that by setting a bold target, we will encourage engagement across sectors and create momentum that will elevate the strengths and opportunities of Indigenous youth. In keeping with our approach, Indigenous communities and young people will be the drivers of this transformation. The program will promote innovations to address longer-term systemic change to achieve economic prosperity and social well-being within Indigenous communities.The EleV team oversees current and emerging partnerships related to Indigenous education. Consistent with our overall vision and Youth Africa Works strategy, we will share learnings and opportunities to connect across the work of the Foundation. While operating in distinct contexts, the centrality of youth voice and vision, affirmation of culture and identity, and priority to enhance community capacity for self-determination are common threads upon which our work is strengthened and reinforced.

If you are an experienced Program Operations and Planning professional looking to increase your impact, read on!

THE OPPORTUNITY Reporting to Chief Programs Officer, the role will lead and coordinate programming excellence across programs and will oversee and integrate program-wide performance management, monitoring, tracking and reporting, program planning, and quality assurance in coordination with the Heads of Program Operations in Human Capital Development, Pan-African Programs, and Country Programs and all interfacing enabling functions.

The successful candidate will be based in any of our listed offices in Africa; Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Manage Program-wide annual-18 months rolling calendar of priorities and activities.
• Monitor, track and guide:
  • (i) strategic program and portfolio planning at all programs level (individual planning at program/country team level).
  • (ii) Coordinate with finance (lead) on all programs financial forecast planning and program budgeting – includes managing annual program planning cycle.
• Tracks and collates program wide portfolio implementation plans, progress and status.
• Coordinate with the Chief Programs officer and Executive Directors of the various delivery platforms to support consistent quality in scaling of the Foundation’s programs to help generate dignified work for more young people.
• Manage the program implementation processes, policies, guidelines and standards ensuring quality, coherence and alignment of all program processes post final design and integration of IPIA-E2E.
• Take ownership of guidelines, tools, processes, templates to ensure standardization in coordination and consultation with OE.
• Manage and govern revisions to all programmatic processes, policies, guidelines in coordination with OE, SO, other core relevant cross functional departments.
• Monitor the implementation of program-wide processes, policies, guidelines and standards and d lead the development and implementation of changes to ensure continued coherence and alignment to the evolving programming needs.
• Play the central aggregator role on planning and implementation of programs across the delivery platforms, ensuring programs operations meet Foundation values and priorities and have no duplication of efforts.
• Collating data, preparing dashboards across programs (forecasts, targets, commitments, disbursements, impact metrics etc.) – in coordination with impact, finance, BI and research
• Preparing Management performance reports, key analysis and trends reporting.
• Prepare management performance reports, key analysis, and trends reports across all the delivery platforms including EleV.
• Provide the Chief Programs Officer with regular status update/Executive reports on program-wide performance in consultation with the Executive Directors.

Who You Are

• University degree, preferably in business administration or a related field is required; Master’s Degree will be advantageous.
• Project Management experience Change Management
• Fifteen (15) years of experience driving strategy and program delivery success within organizations across multiple countries in Africa.
• Six (6) years leadership and management experience of which at least four was gained in a multi-country environment in Africa, with a preference for private sector experience.
• Experience supporting program operations for a large-scale transformative initiative across multiple geographies or similar level and scope of experience.
• Experience in public policy within nonprofit organizations, international NGO’s and/or learning institutions is also helpful.
• Build experience, an asset – building and growing new teams and new organizational units/departments.
• Mastery of Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Strong coordination and project management skills.
• Excellent organizational and prioritization skills; demonstrated attention to detail and ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Exposure to strategic systems thinking with an ability to understand and engage with stakeholders in different ecosystems and design programming that addresses root causes and critical needs.
• Substantive knowledge of key issues and emerging trends and barriers in youth and work across Africa.
• Excellent English written and spoken communication skills, proofreading skills with a high attention to detail.
• Strategic and critical thinker with strong Programmatic experience
• Strategy and planning experience.
• Skilled at cross-functional coordination and collaboration.
• Process improvement implementation experience.
• Familiarity with Foundation processes and policies yet unafraid to innovate and redefine them.
• Strong partnership mindset and able to align stakeholders across different roles toward common goals.
• Advanced competencies in program reporting, and synthesizing key decisions required.
• Skilled communicator and influencer, from executive through to technical levels and external constituencies, know how to navigate ambiguous environments and are comfortable at managing up and beyond hierarchy.
• Excellent multi-stakeholder management skills with senior Foundation colleagues and senior levels of external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated financial management experience including preparation and management of budgets and contracts.
• Fosters a positive spirit of collaboration in a complex, and rapidly evolving environment.
• Results drive/orientation, an eye for detail, and a pragmatic decision-maker.
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity to different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• Demonstrate a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.

Deadline for Applications is January 09, 2022.

Mastercard Foundation (the “Foundation”) values and respects your privacy. By submitting an application for this opportunity, you hereby agree to the Foundation’s collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy (available at https://mastercardfdn.org/privacy/).

Please note that the Foundation may share your personal information with third-party agencies that support the Foundation’s recruitment activities, and such third-party agencies may contact you directly regarding this opportunity.

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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 and background checks are essential conditions of employment.