Country Director Job at Mastercard Foundation in Rwanda
Kigali, Rwanda
ABOUT MASTERCARD FOUNDATION
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.
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Country Director Job at Mastercard Foundation in Rwanda
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, Kenya, 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.
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.
UNDERSTANDING & MEASURING IMPACT
The Foundation has developed a comprehensive strategy for understanding and measuring Impact through a more holistic approach. In this context, Impact spans from the effects that our investments trigger directly in creating work opportunities, upwards to the significant changes and outcomes derived from the influence that the Mastercard Foundation Programs have on the institutional and system level changes in policies, practices and larger investments that open-up for expanded impact, at scale, on youth employment.
Working with young women and men in Africa represents a unique opportunity to develop, implement, and learn from programming and influencing activities in ways that value African and Indigenous ways of being and knowing. Impact measurement and the associated narratives will be guided by youth-focused lenses and located within the nexus of nationally owned strategies and global best practices and thought leadership. The methodologies, tools and insights throughout this journey will be determined and co-created in partnership with youth and other Indigenous vectors of knowledge in communities and countries where we work.
If you are an experienced country Director looking to increase your impact, read on!
THE OPPORTUNITY
Reporting to the Executive Director – Country Programs, the Rwanda Country Director holds the highest position representing the Foundation in Rwanda. He or she will be responsible for leading the implementation of the Rwanda Roadmap, working closely with the integrated program team in Rwanda, as well as the leaders at the enterprise level in Kigali and other Foundation sites. This role provides an opportunity to demonstrate and advance the Foundation’s values and culture in both internal and external engagements and settings.
WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE
Strategy & Vision
- Establish and maintain a clear vision for Young Africa Works in Rwanda, aligned with country priorities, relevant to market and economic realities encountered by young people, in particular young women, impacted by unemployment and under employment.
- Develop and maintain a holistic country strategy, underpinned with strategic and intermediate priorities, within a structured roadmap for implementation.
- Embed into the country strategy and roadmap a contextualized Impact construct to enable institutional, community and individual level shift that will address the root causes of unemployment and underemployment of young people, in particular young women.
- Mobilize Learning and Research agenda to inform Young Africa Works in Rwanda partnership strategies, generate evidence of programmatic impact, inform program adaptation and learning and promote internal and external learnings,
- Recognize opportunities for innovative action and create and nurture an environment where alternative viewpoints are welcomed.
Delivery of Partnerships
- Translate the country roadmap into a portfolio of partnerships through a robust co-creations process, leveraging the Foundations established processes.
- Lead implementation of Mastercard Foundations’ Young Africa Works partnerships focused on support for implementation partners to deliver on committed work plans.
- Provide targeted guidance and expertise to country programs teams to ensure the effective implementation of Young Africa Works partnerships to include, timely and transparent impact assessment, and the capture and utilization of learnings to inform programmatic design consideration and adaptation.
- Drive implementation activities adhere to all Mastercard Foundation partnership quality standards and best practices, i.e., the Foundations Safeguarding Policies.
- Create and maintain systems ensuring effective and transparent reporting (narrative and empirical) for internal Foundation use as well as onward reporting to the Foundations Board.
- Enable conditions for learning within and across Young Africa Works partnerships.
- Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and difficulties and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to challenges.
Influence & Representation
- Deliver periodic written narratives to the Board of the Mastercard Foundation to represent the development and progress of Young Africa Works in Rwanda.
- Represent Mastercard Foundation at external events and meetings to highlight the work of the Foundation and share the impact and outcomes of Young Africa Works and other Foundation programs.
- Lead the outreach and representation to a variety of forums related to Young Africa Works to share the Foundation’s learnings.
- Develop, enhance and steward a relationship with government, private sector, civil society, and donor type organization stakeholders.
- Guide and support to deliver on a communications plan to disseminate Young Africa Works Rwanda, learning through various forms of media and speaking engagements.
- Demonstrate flexibility, resilience and ability to maintain positive relationships and composure.
- Maintain high ethical standards and treat people with respect and dignity.
People Leadership
- Create and sustain a work environment commensurate with the Foundations values and policies where team members strive to achieve excellence.
- Build and maintain a cohesive cross functional team.
- Promote accountability, communicate expectations, and provide constructive feedback via performance reviews.
- Identify performance gaps and training opportunities for staff, partners with the Foundation People & Culture staff and ensure the design and delivery of high-quality learning, mentoring solutions.
- Provide team members with information, tools, and other resources to improve performance & reach objectives.
- Provide overall leadership to a broad team of Mastercard Foundation staff based in Rwanda ensuring synergy, sharing of best practices and resources.
WHO YOU ARE
- Over fifteen (15) years of experience of significant management experience at a senior level in global organizations with strong leadership experience in development and/or private sector environment.
- Ten (10) years of exceptional leadership experience, building and managing high performing teams.
- Fluency in English and local Rwandese languages relevant to the country and work.
- Demonstrated financial management experience including preparation and management of budgets, contracts, etc.
- Senior level experience in Africa and with exposure to regional /multi country topics.
- Advanced expertise working with Rwanda government, development, political and social issues of the Country.
- Proven experience effectively engaging with high-level government officials, key partners, media, business leaders and other influential personalities.
- Excellent strategic planning skills with the ability to merge technical and operational demands of the program into a cohesive structure.
- Excellent analytical skills with the ability to express facts and ideas in a clear, convincing and organized manner.
- Demonstrated success at facilitating organizational change as well as building and managing high performing teams in a growing office with proven success.
- Experience supporting technical capacity and skill development amongst diverse teams.
- Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties 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.
Deadline for Applications is June 14, 2023.
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.
