Head, Entrepreneurship Development 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: Head, Entrepreneurship Development

Location: Lagos, Nigeria

The Opportunity

• Reporting to the Country Director, the Head of Entrepreneurship Development will lead and shape the Entrepreneurship Development unit, responsible for developing and executing a strategic roadmap to empower and enable young women and men in Nigeria to access dignified and fulfilling work.
• This role requires strategic vision, strong leadership, and the ability to build a high-performing team that will drive impactful entrepreneurship programs across various thematic areas, including access to markets, finance, financial inclusion, and capacity building.

Responsibilities

• Drive Nigeria office entrepreneurship development strategy and roadmap based on focus sectors, entrepreneur segments, and systems change.
• Formulate and implement a comprehensive entrepreneurship development strategy and roadmap for the Nigeria office, aligning it with focus sectors, entrepreneur segments, and systems change initiatives.
• Translate strategies into actionable plans, ensuring the Foundation's values and priorities are reflected.
• Promote a culture of innovation and agility, fostering the development of new programs delivered through our program partners.
• Providing strategic direction on the portfolio, ensuring entrepreneurship programming meets Foundation values and priorities, and positions the Foundation in Nigeria.
• Oversee Nigeria’s entrepreneurship programs design and delivery.
• Ensure strategic cohesion, coordination of programming efforts, and knowledge sharing within the entrepreneurship thematic area while collaborating with other entrepreneurship professionals in the Foundation.
• Manage risks related to the portfolio and propose respective mitigation plans for resolution.
• Ensure implementation enables dignified and fulfilling jobs for young men and women.
• Cultivate relationships and facilitate engagements (e.g., roundtables, forums) with external thought leaders to advance the Foundation’s reputation as a thought leader in this area in Nigeria.
• Build strong relationships with continental and global entrepreneurial communities that provide impact-oriented platforms for entrepreneurs in different sector portfolios to increase the participation and benefit of young African entrepreneurs.
• Serve as a focal point for the Foundation in local Entrepreneurship Development platforms that can scale and accelerate Mastercard Foundation programs.
• Facilitate sharing of expertise and lessons learned across theme teams formally and informally, convening theme teams and expertise from the rest of the organization as needed.
• Promote collaboration and information sharing within the thematic area both inside and outside of the organization.
• Build the Foundation’s presence at local platforms designed for advancing entrepreneurship excellence, including providing support as judges, advisors, and panelists during different entrepreneurship events across the continent.
• Strengthen multi-faceted efforts towards access to markets, capacity and ecosystem building, and finance by outlining compelling and clear guidelines to improve and enhance the interaction among teams driving these efforts.
• Interacting with counterparts from other program teams to ensure strategic cohesion; Keeping the Country Director apprised of entrepreneurship projects being incubated and sharing recommendations for new programs.
• Recruit and build a cohesive entrepreneurship development team in Nigeria. This will require leadership and support.
• Model and reinforce the Foundation’s values in team behaviors and interactions.
• Coach direct reports across the team to support their productivity in the consistently excellent delivery of program KPIs.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in finance, business, entrepreneurship, economics, and financial inclusion or a related field.
• Relevant professional qualification and a member of a relevant professional body.
• A minimum of Fifteen (15+) years of experience driving strategy and program success with organizations across African countries.
• Ten (10+) years of leadership and management experience, of which at least five were gained in an African multi-country environment.
• Experience building large-scale initiatives in Nigeria and expertise in at least two of the Entrepreneurship thematic areas (i.e., Market Opportunities, Policy and Advocacy, Capacity development, Access to Finance, and Financial Inclusion).
• Deep knowledge of Nigeria’s employment, job creation, and innovation landscape.
• Proven track record of working with and mentoring successful entrepreneurship endeavors.
• Experience in public policy within nonprofit organizations, international NGO, and learning institutions is also helpful.
• Proven experience effectively engaging with senior government officials, key partners, media, business leaders and other influential individuals.
• Strong coordination and project management skills.
• Excellent organizational and prioritization skills; demonstrated attention to detail and ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Exposure to 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 critical issues, emerging trends, and barriers in youth and work across Africa.
• Excellent multi-stakeholder management skills with senior Foundation colleagues and senior levels of external stakeholders.
• Ability to build and directly manage small and agile teams of 2 – 4, but regularly engage with many more across the thematic areas and countries.
• Fosters a positive spirit of collaboration in a complex and rapidly evolving environment.
• Results Orientation, innovation and entrepreneurial.
• Progressive and creative thinker with innovative perspectives on entrepreneurship development across the various thematic areas.
• 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.
• Demonstrate a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.