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 a Construction and Housing Program Lead professional ready to build something new and increase your impact, read on! 

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Country Head, Uganda, the Program Lead, Construction will be responsible for supporting the construction/housing sector to grow and have a positive impact on the lives of young people. They will provide technical expertise in the development of programs and interventions, foster a shared understanding of key issues and opportunities in select construction value chains and promote overall learning and knowledge in this area. 

The candidate will initiate and manage assessments to identify evolving needs and priorities in the construction sector; through development of new project ideas, proposal and budgets. They will provide expertise to help identify constraints that prevent construction and workforce systems from functioning effectively at the country level. 

She/he will support the development and design of coherent construction and housing programs aligned with nationally identified priorities and Foundation strategies that respond to the needs of young people and the private sector. They will ensure cross cutting themes of Child Safeguarding and Gender and are fully incorporated into all education programme development and implementation. In addition, they will assist in the design and implementation of a portfolio of Education focused partnerships and draw insights on key questions in the Foundation’s learning agenda. 

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

Program Design 

• Provide construction/housing sector strategic oversight to support the design and management of programs that impact the construction value chain to create dignified work for young women and men.   
• Lead the origination and design of interventions across the construction space and related value chains 
• Integrate impact considerations to ensure the needs of young women and young people in general are addressed within the program design.
• Work collaboratively with Country Program team in the development of strategies relevant to Young Africa Works in Uganda and their interlinkages to construction/housing, construction enterprise growth and development, access to finance, and adjacent sectors. 

Delivery 

• Work closely and collaboratively with colleagues to achieve team goals.  
• Guide and support the growth and diversity of MSMEs in the construction and housing value chain to create work opportunities in the country.   
• Work collaboratively with and support key sector players to create conducive market and access to finance environment for MSMEs in the construction/housing sector.
• Support the effort to equip young people with relevant market facing skills for the construction/housing sectors by contributing to gap analysis, curriculum design and by linking industry and training institution for skill transfer as well as trainee placement.  
• Work closely with various teams to leverage expertise and learning across programs and across geographies.   
• Assist in expanding Foundation colleagues’ insights relating to construction/housing by sharing learning, facilitating trainings, and providing on the job support.  
• Support the design and delivery of appropriate mechanisms to monitor effectiveness and impact of skills development interventions through work with colleagues focusing on impact, monitoring and insights. 
• Lead implementation of portfolio of partnerships in the construction/housing space and related value chains  
• Extract, capture and communicate details to elaborate progress and learnings from programs to colleagues and the wider development community.  
• Collaborate with Country Program team to leverage synergistic opportunities to enhance Impact/outcomes of Young Africa Works programs. 
• Represent the Foundation’s interest in programing governance activities, such as investment committees, advisory committees, or other stakeholders to provide oversight or elevate and leverage learnings. 
• Working closely with implementation partners and beneficiaries to contribute towards systematic learning and reflection processes to enable for continuous adaptive management of the program 
• Partner and guide implementation partner in identifying and overcoming barriers to team effectiveness by sharing knowledge and learnings while offering insights and possible solutions to issues and/or program challenges 

Expertise and Thought Leadership 

• Provide perspective and expertise on emerging issues and trends in the construction/housing sector as well as adjacent sectors in Uganda and region. 
• Identify challenges and opportunities in that can be unlocked through education, labour and financial systems to drive job growth. 
• Stay on top of developments in the construction/housing sector in Uganda – new concepts, key partner, new information being generated, policy movements, important upcoming events, etc. 

People Leadership 

• Lead matrixed/cross functional team in myriad of activities related to co-design and implementation phase 
• Supervise colleagues and/or junior staff experts by providing timely coaching and support necessary for success and growth.  
• Identify and help overcome challenges and other barriers to team effectiveness 

Stakeholder engagement 

• Explore constraints and opportunities in the sector and co-create viable interventions, build partnerships and networks to advance youth employment. 
• Build and maintain relationships with partner organizations, key stakeholders and communities of practice. 
• Represent the Foundation and collaborate with key internal and external audiences. 

 WHO YOU ARE

• Graduate degree in Economics; Professional qualification – CISA. Masters in Strategic Planning -related field. 
• Minimum 10-12 years of relevant experience with 1 to 3 years managerial-level experience. 
• Experience in the design, implementation, and monitoring of at least one relevant construction/housing/real estate activity that involves coordination of various players such as financial institutions, local contractors, etc.  
• Experience working with the non-profit or public sectors, particularly in a role relating to construction/housing project management. 
• Experience living and/or working in Africa 
• Demonstrated ability to lead diagnostic and analytic work as well as project design, partner identification and implementation. 
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects with senior levels of government and the private sector. 
• Experience working with or in partnership with non-profit, private or public sectors, particularly in a role relating to skills development in Africa. 
• Familiarity with country construction regulatory and policies environment, market dynamics and investment landscape.  
• Excellent multi-stakeholder program management skills. 
• Command of quantitative and qualitative business analytics. 
• Excellent presentation and listening skills. 
• Strong written and spoken communication skills in English required. Ability to speak local language(s) is preferred. 
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.  
• Good organizational skills and demonstrated ability to handle multiple tasks. 
• High emotional intelligence and comfort with ambiguity. 
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values. 
• Is willing to travel up to 30 – 40% when required. 
• Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures.  
• You have a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision