Program Lead, Gender Nigeria

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 have entered a very exciting time at the Foundation as we scale up our operations across Africa to realize our Young Africa Works strategy. Our role at the Mastercard Foundation is to be a catalyst. Our Young Africa Works strategy focuses on working with others to spur systemic change so young people have the opportunity to find work that is dignified and fulfilling.

The Foundation has opened offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda, building a broader leadership presence in Africa to develop specific strategies that support youth employment.  Within a country, we work with governments, the private sector, educators and other funders to improve the quality of education and vocational training, prepare young people for the work force, expand access to financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and connect job seekers to dignified and fulfilling work.

We are ambitious and driven. Our values transcend and rise above everything else as our guide. We encourage you to bring your bold ideas, curiosity, and expertise to your work. We laugh at ourselves and with each other. We are a team. Our journey together makes our impact even more meaningful.

If you are an experienced Lead, Gender and Safeguarding professional ready to build something new and looking to increase your impact, read on!

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Country Director, the Lead, Gender and Safeguarding will be involved in the building and design of impactful country programs by setting direction and engaging partners throughout program design and implementation and focused on the Foundation’s commitment to enable dignified and fulfilling work for young women and young people in general. The role is responsible for facilitating understanding of gender dynamics and how they influence various opportunities and supporting programmatic interventions that are responsive to the realities at the country level.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Country Director, the Program Lead Gender, will be involved in the building and design of impactful country programs by setting direction and engaging partners throughout program design and implementation and focused on the Foundation’s commitment to enable dignified and fulfilling work for young women and young people in general. The role is responsible for facilitating understanding of gender dynamics and how they influence various opportunities and supporting programmatic interventions that are responsive to the realities at the country level.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Integrate gender considerations across the Country Strategy, program cycle, and to advance the Foundation’s overall gender outcomes in collaboration with the Gender Team, Country Director, the Country Program Head, technical experts and program teams including Impact and Measurement, Thematic Research, Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management and Communication teams.
• Effectively lead the Nigerian Program Team in Gender Mainstreaming and gender transformative initiatives at country level, ensuring high quality of work and alignment with Foundation values.
• Co-create and lead the implementation of Nigeria Gender Action Plan (GAP) to adequately support the delivery of gender commitments in the Country Roadmap.
• Co-design needs assessment and a detailed support plan on gender mainstreaming and for Foundation staff and partners at Country level, through training and coaching programs, resource development, identifying support networks, and so on.
• Co-create and/or adapt and share gender analysis tools for the Country Team and provide technical and strategic guidance for applying them to various projects/programmes at the country level.
• Support implementing partners to build engagement and outreach mechanisms, ensuring young women especially and men remain at the front and centre of implementation efforts.
• Engage and solicit input from young people, especially young women and collaborating with colleagues to ensure inclusion of perspectives of young women and men, in portfolio and program design.
• Collaborate with Programs colleagues to co-design programs and embed designs and adequate resources and budget to ensure implementation of gender approaches and mechanisms in the programmes.
• Initiate relationships with local organizations working on women and youth empowerment and various segments of young people and create opportunities (events, platforms) to listen to them and consider their input towards enhancing reach and impact for underserved young women and men in Nigeria.
• Coordinate and strengthen internal gender Community of Practice (CoP) for partners.
• Build and maintain relationships with leaders in the field of gender equality and identify and help develop strategic partnerships in Nigeria.
• Work with Impact and Research and Learning teams on research and evaluation of partners to ensure that they are able to stimulate relevant, rigorous, and respective approaches to deepening the Foundation’s approach to gender equity in the Country programmes.
• Identify and contribute to relevant learning networks and/or communities of practice and represent the Foundation at gender related events and coordination mechanisms in the country.
• Work with Knowledge management and business intelligence teams to identify, document, and mobilize gender-related insights and learning from the Foundation’s current and future portfolio of work in the Country in the support of the Country Director, Country Program Head, thematic/technical experts and program teams including Impact and Measurement, Thematic Research and Communication teams.
• Contribute to a Gender transformative learning culture within the Foundation that is reflective, people-focused, and rooted in gender-sensitive evidence.
• Manage relationships with government stakeholders, private sector and other actors in the gender and youth empowerment space.
• Drive oneness together with other country team members, building a supportive and collaborative work environment.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the Foundation to execute the gender transformative work.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the Foundation to identify and help overcome challenges and other barriers to team effectiveness. 
• Contribute insights to the Foundation’s thought leadership on youth employment in Africa.
• Work closely with the program and country teams to leverage synergies across programs and across geographies to improve the Country Program’s gender outcomes and other duties as required.

WHO YOU ARE

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in social sciences, including gender/women’s/youth studies, safeguarding, education or relevant discipline is an asset.
• Minimum of 10+ years of relevant experience in supporting young people, community mobilization, events and communications and gender-based and youth empowerment activities.  This experience could include project management and/or field experience working in developing countries as well as building and managing coalitions.
• Minimum 5 years of leadership and management experience including managing staff and coaching, mentoring, and providing feedback.
• Knowledge of and experience with the landscape of local, national, regional, and pan-African women’s and youth-serving organizations and networks as well as knowledge of the country-specific social, economic and political contexts.
• Experience in partnership management including capacity building, coordination and networking for effective gender mainstreaming.
• Demonstrates a strong understanding of gender approaches in effective programming in Africa and the systemic challenges affecting young women and men, and how to resolve such challenges. Possesses understanding and knowledge of current trends and innovations in gender mainstreaming. Experience with global grant making, especially in designing market systems development programs. 
• Demonstrates strong analytical skills, the ability to think strategically and contribute as a thought partner in the Foundation’s strategy development.
• Demonstrates the ability to communicate progress and learnings from projects to colleagues and the wider development community.
• Demonstrates experience in translating technical advice into practical recommendations for program managers and implementers. Command of quantitative and qualitative business analytics.         
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects and strong budgeting skills.
• Excellent listening and interpersonal skills required.
• Proficiency in English, written and oral is required. Ability to speak a local language is highly preferred. French is an asset. 
• Is willing to travel up to 40% of the time.
• A proactive, engaged and a self-starter with the ability to work both independently and as part of a team.   
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities and an ability to prioritize, work and deliver to tight deadlines.
• Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures.
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• Demonstrate a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision. 

Deadline for Applications is April 20, 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".