Lead, Programming Excellence 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: Lead, Programming Excellence

Job Requisition ID: JR-0000000700
Location: Nigeria

The Opportunity

• Reporting to the Head, Programming Excellence, the role will lead and coordinate programming excellence across programs.
• The role will be responsible for driving efficiencies, effectiveness, and quality assurance of overall end-to-end programming processes and partner experience.

Way You Can Contribute

• Lead Foundation-wide programming processes, standards and capacity building strategies  
• Coordinate with the various delivery platforms to support consistent quality in scaling of the Foundation’s programs to help generate dignified work for more young people.
• Oversee program management and implementation processes, policies, and guidelines (work in coordination/consultation with enabling functions to ensure enterprise cohesion)
• Manage the program implementation processes, policies, guidelines and standards ensuring quality, coherence and alignment of all program processes post final design and enhancement of IPIA to Programming for Impact
• Take ownership of guidelines, tools, processes, templates to ensure standardization in coordination and consultation with OE.
• Enhance & streamline programming processes, workflows, documents, tools and overall process turnaround time for positive partner experience
• Work with Program Finance to measure, monitor & track program processes for effectiveness and efficiencies
• Implement recommendations to enhance program processes
• Manage and govern revisions to all programmatic processes, policies, guidelines in coordination with 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.
• Identify and curate contents for the Program Academy to drive capability, effective onboard and learning within Programs Team
• Drive capability enhancement across Program teams through trainings, workshops & learning within the Program teams in coordination with P&C & Foundation Academy
• Work with P&C to embed program learning in programming processes

Who You Are

• University Degree, preferably in business administration or a related field is required; Master's Degree will be advantageous.
• Program Management experience
• Minimum of Ten (10) years of experience driving program delivery
• Two (2) years leadership and management experience in a multi-country environment in Africa, with a preference for private sector experience.
• Experience in partnership management, process design & program management within nonprofit organizations, international NGO’s and/or learning institutions is also helpful.

Competencies:

• Mastery of Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Strong coordination, project planning and program management skills.
• Advanced skills in process mapping and management
• 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.
• 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.
• Fosters a positive spirit of collaboration in a complex, and rapidly evolving environment.
• Results drive/orientation, an eye for detail and pragmatic decision maker.
• 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
31st July, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online