Lead, Digital Economy

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 the Digital Economy looking to increase your impact, read on!

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Head, Digital Economy, the Lead will be responsible for contributing to the delivery of the Kenya Digital Economy programs and engaging partners throughout program design & implementation by providing insight and expertise on digital economies. S/he will apply their industry expertise, leadership, and knowledge of the current and future tech ecosystems to advise the Foundation on how to create meaningful and market responsive interventions.  Additionally, s/he will work collaboratively with other Foundation staff to integrate and enhance the role of technology both as an enabler and active contributor to the country sector strategy.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Provide digital technology expertise to support the design and management of programs that leverage technology to scale country-level inclusive education, financial and labour systems in Africa. 
• Contribute insights to the Foundation’s thought leadership on digital skills development in Kenya by writing blogs, attending, and presenting at conferences and identifying other opportunities to share and deepen learning. Sharing learning and supporting other country teams where required. 
• Design and manage programs that enable skilling leading to job creation opportunities for young people in the sector.  
• Design and delivery of appropriate mechanisms to monitor effectiveness and impact of skills development interventions in close collaboration with the Impact Learning team.  
• Provide practical recommendations and solutions to complex and/or technical issues that relate to the management of projects, document lessons learnt for cross-Foundation knowledge sharing.
• Provide reports and direct inputs into relevant tools for reporting dashboards as required by the Foundation.
• Ensure effective partnership identification and healthy management of the implementing partners through communication, information management and co-creation processes.
• Contribute technical and leadership support for other program portfolio and ensure they adopt digital technology integration in the program design and implementation.
• Contribute to and develop written briefs for the Foundation Digital Economy team and country leadership for status updates.
• Contribute to the development of future pipeline projects by sharing industry knowledge, building, and consolidating research and collegially participating in the co-creation process.
• Participate in governance activities related to programs, such as investment committees, advisory committees or other stakeholder fora to provide oversight or elevate and leverage learnings. 
• Identify challenges and opportunities in the digital economy to drive job growth. 
• Lead and supervise teams of colleagues and/or junior experts by providing coaching and support necessary for success and growth.  
• Build partnerships and maintain relationships with key stakeholders at country-level, communities of practice and global stakeholders. 
• Represent the Foundation and collaborate with key internal and external audiences. 

WHO YOU ARE

• Bachelor’s degree in education, business, or a technology related field from a recognized university.
• Relevant professional qualification and member of a relevant professional body.
• Minimum of ten (10) years’ relevant experience in a similar organization with three (3) at supervisory level.
• Experience in a commercial function in at least one relevant digital technology industry focused on low-income customers – e.g. product management, strategy, design.
• Experience with relevant technologies and sectors with potential for emerging markets - software solutions, app or platform providers, venture capital, incubators, digital financial services providers, e-government, data analytics, etc.
• Experience working with the non-profit or public sectors, particularly in a role relating to digital technology.
• Experience with entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship.
• Knowledge of Kenyan social, economic, and political contexts, living and/or working in Kenya.
• Excellent analytical skills, the ability to think strategically and contribute as a thought partner in the Foundation’s strategy development. 
• Excellent budgeting skills with the ability to manage a large portfolio of assets. 
• Excellent command of quantitative and qualitative business analytics.   
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects.
• Excellent knowledge of digital inclusion policy is an added advantage, and a positive 'can-do' attitude is highly desired.
• 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 December 07, 2023.

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/
Follow the Foundation on Twitter at @MastercardFdn

NB: To avoid missing email communication about your application, please check your spam/junk folder and mark our emails as "not junk".