Consultant, Youth Voice and Agency

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.

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.

If you are an experienced professional in youth engagement looking to increase your impact, read on!

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Director, Policy & Thought Leadership, the Consultant will be responsible for driving the plans, initiatives and support from the Policy and Thought Leadership (PTL) function as it relates to youth engagement, youth voice and youth agency. S/he will coordinate and support the youth engagement leads in Programs and ensures that youth voice and agency outcomes are embedded in programmatic delivery as well as integrates youth voice and agency in the Foundation’s Research, Learning and Impact work while coordinating enterprise-wide initiatives aimed at driving youth voice and agency as part of driving impact, scale and influence.

The successful candidate will be based in any of our offices in Africa (Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, or Uganda).

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Coordinate and support the youth engagement leads in Programs, especially to the PTL strategy.
• Ensure that youth voice and agency outcomes are embedded in programmatic delivery.
• Integrate and advance youth voice and agency through the Foundation’s Research, Learning and Impact work.
• Design and oversee specific enterprise-wide initiatives to drive youth voice and agencies.
• Actively participate in critical decision-making processes as it relates to policy dialogues, global flora etc.
• Ensure that at least 50% of the PTL sub-function’s resources are invested in or channeled through youth-led organizations (YLOs).
• Coordinate the identification of YLOs, co-creation, contracting and follow-up of YLOs, working with other internal and external stakeholders.
• Provide insights and recommendation to the Director PTL and the Public Affairs and Communications (PAC) Leadership on matters of meaningful youth engagement.
• Model and reinforce the Foundation’s values in behaviors and interactions across the teams.
• Coach direct reports (employees or agencies) across the team to support their productivity in the consistent excellent delivery of PTL KPIs
• Set immediate and longer-range PTL priorities and goals culminating in PTL strategy and roadmap.
• Align design choices for PTL strategy roll-out in accordance with Foundation values and priorities.
• Participate in setting budget for initiatives and programs related to the socialization and capacity building of the PTL strategy.
• Participate in recruiting talent or procuring agencies for delivery of PTL strategy.
• Lead performance management for the team.
• Participate in defining and refining PTL sub-function’s operating model.

WHO YOU ARE

• University degree, preferably in business administration or a related field; master’s degree and Project Management Certification is an advantage.
• Ten (10) years of experience driving strategy and program success within organizations across multiple countries in Africa.
• Six (6) years leadership and management experience of which at least four was gained in a multi-country environment in Africa, with a preference for private sector experience.
• Experience supporting program operations for a large-scale transformative initiative across multiple geographies or similar level and scope of experience.
• Experience with monitoring and evaluation approaches, systems, and practices.
• Experience with process documentation and improvement approaches and techniques.
• Mastery of Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Strong coordination and project management skills.
• 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 key issues and emerging trends and barriers in youth and work across Africa.
• Familiarity with the Foundation’s processes and policies yet unafraid to innovate and redefine them.
• Strong partnership mindset and able to align stakeholders across different roles toward common goals.
• Advanced competencies in program reporting, and synthesizing key decisions required.
• Excellent multi-stakeholder management skills with senior Foundation colleagues and senior levels of external stakeholders.
• Demonstrated financial management experience including preparation and management of budgets and contracts.
• 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.

Deadline for Applications is June 13, 2024.

Mastercard Foundation (the “Foundation”) values and respects your privacy. By submitting an application for this opportunity, you hereby agree to the Foundation’s collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy (available at https://mastercardfdn.org/privacy/). Please note that the Foundation may share your personal information with third-party agencies that support the Foundation’s recruitment activities, and such third-party agencies may contact you directly regarding this opportunity. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Foundation’s Privacy Officer at the address indicated in its Privacy Policy.

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.

For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit http://www.mastercardfdn.org/
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