Head, Workforce Development

Head, Workforce Development

Mastercard is a leading global payments & technology company that connects consumers, businesses, merchants, issuers & governments around the world.

• Job Type Full Time
• Qualification MBA/MSc/MA
• Experience 12 years
• Location Nairobi
• Job Field Sales and Business Development

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Strategy, program design, and delivery
• Identify opportunities to create impact through education and skills interventions aligned with the Kenya Country Roadmap.
• Develop and execute a programmatic approach that creates synergy, strategic coherence, and alignment across education, skilling, school-to-work transitions, and the preparation and placement of young people in work.
• Set workforce development goals and targets—including internships, fellowships, job placement, entrepreneurship, and further education—and monitor and report on progress, results, and learning.
• Integrate education and skills initiatives with transitions, youth engagement and inclusion, youth-led grassroots solutions, access to finance, and digital enablement.
• Provide technical leadership to ensure country programs and partnerships respond to the current and emerging needs of young people, especially young women.
• Prepare and present regular reports to senior leadership on key performance indicators, program effectiveness, learning, and areas for improvement.

Youth engagement and inclusion

• Establish trusted and accessible forums that enable young people’s networks and groups, especially young women, to contribute to program design and implementation.
• Support Country Programs colleagues during partnership co-creation to ensure a strong youth lens across education and skilling, access to finance, and digital enablement.
• Support implementing partners to build effective youth engagement and outreach mechanisms that keep young women and men at the centre of their approach.
• Drive inclusion by ensuring entrepreneurship and transition programs address the specific constraints faced by young people with different needs.
• Facilitate innovation and locally led solutions that engage young people and unlock opportunities in emerging economic sectors.

Partnerships and stakeholder management

• Identify collaboration opportunities within the existing partner network and develop new partnerships relevant to Kenya’s context.
• Manage relationships with senior stakeholders, including educational institutions, mandated public offices, government ministries, private sector actors, and youth-led organizations.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings involving country program partners on workforce development priorities.
• Support the timely preparation of workforce development communications for internal and external audiences and approval.

Financial management and team leadership

• Support development of the Workforce Development unit and country program budgets in line with established policies and processes.
• Coach and mentor colleagues within the Workforce Development unit and across the wider country program.
• Drive and inspire technical excellence within the team.
• Lead the team to deliver results in line with Foundation goals and key performance indicators.

WHO YOU ARE

• Master’s degree in Education, Management, Economic Development, or another relevant social sciences field, together with substantial relevant experience.
• Minimum of 12 years of experience in a similar or related role within a fast-paced environment, including local and multinational experience.
• Strong operational expertise in education policy and planning, with the ability to lead complex policy and strategy dialogue.
• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience, with an established track record of managing and developing high-performing teams.
• Proven ability to influence policy and dialogue across sectors without direct control or authority.
• In-depth experience and a strong record of results working across educational practices, disciplines, and institutional boundaries.
• Strong partnership management experience involving multiple stakeholders across the public and private sectors.
• Excellent prioritization, managerial, interpersonal, communication, writing, presentation, critical thinking, and analytical skills.
• Strong strategic judgement, including the ability to prioritize effectively and exit activities that no longer deliver sufficient value.
• Flexible, adaptable, and agile, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and changing priorities.
• Ability to communicate complex information and data clearly to diverse audiences across cultures.
• Professional maturity, cultural sensitivity, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• Strong commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.

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