Director, Country Program Strategic Delivery

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Mastercard Foundation is a global foundation based in Toronto, Canada. Our programs promote financial inclusion and advance youth learning in Africa. 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 every person has the potential to transform their lives and improve the lives of their families and communities. The Foundation collaborates with partners to advance sustainable and scalable solutions in microfinance and youth learning, focusing on countries that face high rates of poverty and growing numbers of out-of-school youth. Much of this work will be accomplished by building strong institutions in developing countries – particularly Africa – and investing in robust evaluation and learning agendas.The Foundation values innovative and fresh thinking as it strives to become a global thought-leader. Its work is achieved by a strategic, nimble and highly entrepreneurial team with a proactive and results-oriented approach to its philanthropic activities. The organization’s culture is shaped by people who are driven and passionate about the Foundation’s mission.COUNTRY OFFICE IN KIGALI, RWANDAMastercard Foundation is opening an office in Rwanda to support two new initiatives: Rwanda Employment and Enterprise Development Initiative (REEDI) will increase productive employment for young people; expand access to financial inclusion for tourism related businesses and improve the capabilities of, and coordination between, key stakeholders, in the tourism and hospitality industry; and, Secondary Education Teachers’ Initiative which seeks to improve the quality of teaching and learning in secondary schools.An office in Kigali provides an opportunity to oversee the management and implementation of the two initiatives, drive the country-level coordination of all Foundation interventions and represent the Foundation at a country level in close liaison with senior management in Toronto, Canada.

JOB SUMMARY

RequirementMinimum of fifteen (15) years of experience managing projects and programs, with at least 5 years in senior strategy, management consulting, or general manager roles.A master's degree in a relevant field such as international development, public policy, or business administrationCreative in solving problems and generating innovative solutions.Strong Project Management skills and experience: ability to manage multiple high-profile projects and effectively leverage all resources to achieve results.Broad Knowledge of financial analysis and reporting techniques; human resources and risk management planning; and/or accounting.Broad knowledge of processes, protocols, and procedures with a focus on budget, account and fund management and/or personnel management under labour contract(s) and personnel policyExperience in coordinating diverse programs and functions for a very diverse department.Well-honed written, verbal, and creative communication skills, including the ability to translate insight into content, create slide or written presentations, and create overall communication plans.Professional maturity, sensitivity to different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Designing, harmonizing, and codifying Country Programs approach, standards, tools, and processes across program design, implementation, and tracking. Develop grounding documentation on Country Programs Delivery methodologies for developing and reviewing sector strategies, programs, and partnerships.Instituting a “continuous improvement” culture and appropriate processes to capture, codify, and promulgate best practices, while making structural adjustments and engaging other enabling functions as needed.Comprehensive and strategic project management support, including upfront thought-partnership on programmatic structuring for effective operationalization and rapid mobilization.Coordination of cross-functional business partnering team for seamless and rapid execution of on-going business processes that require close cooperation between finance, legal, compliance, risk, Program Operations & planning, and comms functions across countries.Close collaboration with impact teams in embedding of the impact measurement framework and processes, including tools, systems, training for country program teams, baseline work, and monitoring the adequacy of resourcing.Effective technology integration:Fluxx configuration and revisions (on-going engagement to inform each release cycle) aligned to Country Program needs.Ensuring appropriate data management, data architecture, storage, and structuringOperational Planning coherence: maintaining a dynamic and comprehensive view of Country Programs operational and execution elements, integrating with enabling functions, enterprise-level planning, and maintaining a team calendar.Champion cross-platform engagement with PANA (Pan-African Programs) and E&T (Education & Transition) teams on opportunities for collaboration, scaling, ways of work, processes, guidelines, routines, etc.Programmatic Planning: support enhanced portfolio planning with stronger alignment to outcomes and key drivers of impact.Contribute to the shaping of country programs approach for partnering with Policy and Thought Leadership and PAC on thematic areas that are critical to youth in work, priority collaboration areas and how we ‘show up’ at external events, government relations etc.Drive a continued mainstreaming and embedding of cross cutting themes (gender, inclusion, youth engagement, safeguarding) in programs to align to the Foundation’s overall aspirations.

REQUIRED SKILLS

Business strategy, Programme management

REQUIRED EDUCATION

Post-graduate education