Head, Country Programs WAEMU.


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 programs professional looking to increase your impact, read on!


The opportunity
Reporting to the Country Director, the Head, Country Programs will support the development and lead the WAEMU Country Programs Roadmap implementation. This role requires strategic vision, strong leadership, and the ability to build and lead a high-performing team to drive impact across various thematic areas, including entrepreneurship development, agrifood systems development, capacity building, digital economy, policies and systems change.


Ways you can contribute
• Interpret and cascade the WAEMU roadmap to enable the execution of a comprehensive program portfolio supporting Young Africa Works.
• Support the development and lead the implementation of a cohesive strategy, ensuring alignment with the Foundation’s goals and regional priorities while overseeing the design, delivery, and scaling of programs to align with the Foundation’s values and priorities.
• Translate strategies into actionable plans, focusing on fostering innovation, agility, and sustainable impact within WAEMU.
• Develop and manage partnerships with key stakeholders, including program partners, government entities, the private sector, and global networks, to drive scale and impact.
• Collaborate with internal thematic teams and other regional programs to provide timely and context-aligned support, fostering cross-functional synergy and knowledge sharing.
• Lead efforts to collect, synthesize, and integrate lessons learned from program implementations, feeding these insights into future development and co-creation processes while establishing and leading communities of practice to support internal and external learning agendas.
• Serve as a senior spokesperson for the Foundation’s programs in WAEMU, representing the Foundation at key conferences, workshops, and media events and cultivating relationships with thought leaders, donors, and other influential figures to strengthen the Foundation’s brand and public profile.
• Lead, motivate, and develop a multidisciplinary team, ensuring they have clear objectives and are regularly assessed against performance metrics. Model and reinforce the Foundation’s values and provide coaching and support to direct reports to ensure consistent delivery of program KPIs.
• Manage risks associated with the portfolios, developing and implementing mitigation plans to ensure program success.
• Ensure strategic cohesion across all program initiatives, regularly updating and aligning efforts with the Country Director and other relevant leadership.


Who you are
• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in education, business, or a technology-related field.
• Minimum of fifteen (15) years of experience in agriculture, entrepreneurship development or related sectors, with five (5+) years of experience leading and managing a team.
• Demonstrated expertise and established networks and relationships in Africa, West Africa or the WAEMU, with deep knowledge of the continent’s employment, job creation, and innovation landscape.
• Experience initiating new operations, preferably in the entrepreneurship and/or agriculture and food processing, and a proven track record of working with and mentoring successful entrepreneurship endeavours.
• Proven experience effectively engaging and collaborating with high-level government officials, key partners, media, business leaders, and other network influencers, including public speaking at conferences and other forums (formal media training would be an asset).
• Demonstrated knowledge of the WAEMU, economic and political contexts, and exposure to systems thinking with the ability to understand and engage with stakeholders and design programming that addresses root causes and critical needs.
• Strategic thinker with strong influence skills and the ability to interact with diverse and senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrates strong organizational skills with excellent prioritization and attention to detail, comfortable and highly effective when faced with ambiguity and/or complexity, and able to formulate and develop new or creative ideas and approaches.
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.
• Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures, and demonstrate professional maturity, sensitivity to different cultures, and impeccable integrity.
• Commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision



Deadline for Applications is November 6, 2024.