Program Partner at Mastercard Foundation

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

Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time

The Work at the Foundation

• We are currently in an exciting period at the Mastercard Foundation as we intensify the implementation of the Young Africa Works strategy, aiming to empower 30 million young people throughout Africa to access dignified and fulfilling employment.
• To ensure the Foundation's accessibility to our partners and program participants, we have established offices in Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Uganda.
• These offices provide strong in-country support for the implementation of Young Africa Works. We collaborate with governments, the private sector, educators, and other funders to enhance the quality of education and vocational training, equip young individuals with the necessary skills for the workforce, expand access to financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and facilitate connections between job seekers and meaningful employment opportunities.
• Our values serve as our guiding principles, transcending and surpassing all other considerations. We wholeheartedly encourage you to bring your bold ideas, curiosity, and expertise to your work.
• If you are an experienced Program Partner professional looking to increase your impact, read on!

The Opportunity

• Reporting to the Program Lead, the Program Partner will be responsible for supporting design and implementation activities related to program delivery in Nigeria.
• The role will provide expertise and interact effectively with partner organizations and ecosystem stakeholders to advance the delivery of the Young Africa Works strategy at the country level.

Ways You Can Contribute

• Provide support to the Program Lead in diagnosing and contributing to expertise on the financing environment and policy to inform country strategy design, partnership development, and monitoring processes.
• Collaborate with Program Leads / Partners to review proposals, develop strategic outcomes and program roadmaps.
• Contribute to evolution in thinking and new approaches needed to get to scale.
• Integrate impact considerations to ensure the needs of young women and young people, in general, are addressed within the program design.
• Support the adaptation of the Foundation’s programming and learning related to MSME/Financing to specific country contexts, leveraging country diagnostics and learning from our portfolio of partners.
• Manage current and future financing programs, implement partner coordination, review narrative and financial reporting, undertake regular partner/site visits and distill learnings.
• Support the delivery of appropriate mechanisms to monitor effectiveness and impact of Financing interventions in collaboration with Impact staff.
• Communicate progress and learnings from projects to colleagues and the wider development community.
• Identify challenges and opportunities facing the creatives sector that can be unlocked through education, skills, business development services, market, regulatory support, and financial systems to drive job growth.
• Contribute insights to the Foundation’s thought leadership on youth employment in Africa.
• Build relationships with partner organizations, communities of practice, and relevant support systems.
• Serve as a local point of contact and collaborator across a range of interested parties on issues of common concern to leverage positive impact toward common goals.
• Represent the Foundation and collaborate with key internal and external stakeholders.

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Business and Development Economics or a related field.
• Relevant professional qualification and a member of a relevant professional body.
• Minimum of five (5) years’ relevant experience in a similar organization.
• Experience and expertise and ability in designing and managing relevant and appropriate solutions for MSMEs in various sectors and various stages of development.
• Experience working on MSME support programs in Nigeria and knowledge of Nigerian and West African social, economic, regulatory, business, and political contexts.
• Demonstrate experience in project design and management with focus on enterprise development and MSME support.
• Excellent understanding of MSME segments (from early-stage start-ups to growth-stage SMEs) in Africa and the systemic challenges constraining their growth, with a particularly understanding of the Nigeria context.
• Excellent understanding of the role MSMEs can play in economic transformation and job creation.
• Excellent budgeting skills with the ability to manage a portfolio of commitments.
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects.
• Flexible, adaptable, agile, and able to execute a range of job duties with multiple deadlines and changing priorities.
• Proven excellence in verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures and to distill complex information and data into accessible conversation and written pieces.
• 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.

Application Closing Date
24th November, 2023.