Responsibilities
- Lead and manage the Programme Management Unit (PMU) by directly supervising 4–5 staff and fostering a collaborative, inclusive and high-performing team culture.
- Oversee partner coordination and operational processes, including safeguarding, safety and security, travel, and compliance-related matters across multiple countries.
- Maintain strategic oversight of all partner and donor contracts, ensuring full compliance with Mastercard Foundation requirements and internal policies.
- Identify, assess and mitigate contractual and compliance risks, advising the We Can Work Management Team on risk exposure and mitigation strategies.
- Lead annual planning and budgeting processes, ensuring alignment between work plans, financial forecasts and programme targets in close coordination with Finance and Technical Teams.
- Ensure high-quality and timely donor reporting, overseeing the coordination, drafting and submission of narrative and financial reports.
- Develop, standardize and continuously improve programme management tools and systems, creating dashboards and analytics that enable evidence-based decision-making.
- Monitor overall programme performance, analyse progress against KPIs and budgets, and initiate corrective measures where implementation is off track.
- Actively contribute to the We Can Work Management Team, providing briefings on programme management and financial matters to support strategic decisions.
- Represent and coordinate the programme internally and externally, engaging with donors, partners and cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and effective programme delivery.
Requirements
- Strong commitment to the vision, mission and values of We Can Work and Light for the World.
- Proven leadership experience, with a participatory and inclusive management style based on trust and influence.
- Extensive hands-on experience managing large, multi-country institutional grants and complex contract management systems.
- Strong knowledge of programme planning, reporting and budget management in line with donor requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to establish effective working relationships in multicultural and multi-country environments.
- Master’s degree (or equivalent) in international development, business administration, project management, finance, or a related field.
- Excellent analytical, writing and verbal communication skills, with strong attention to data quality.
- Full professional proficiency in English; French is an asset.
- Willingness and ability to travel regularly to programme locations (reasonable accommodation will be provided where needed).
Nice to Have
- Extensive experience in managing large-scale economic empowerment programmes in Africa is highly desirable.
Benefits
- You join a highly motivated team, appreciating your experience and eager to jointly shape Light for the World’s monitoring and steering mechanisms.
- We are offering an outstanding opportunity to bring about change through an international development organization with strong expertise and a growing profile.
- We are committed to giving our colleagues space to explore new directions, test new ideas and to excel as individuals through and with their team.
- We emphasize a good work-life-balance, have flexible working hours and Home-Office opportunity.
- We are a professional team that strives towards continuous development. We believe in participatory leadership and expect you to contribute your expertise and ideas. We believe that learning from mistakes is an important way of developing and put emphasis on our culture of learning.
Work Arrangement
Remote (Country) — Austria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda
Team
Team size: 4–5. Structure: Programme Management Unit (PMU)
