Mastercard Foundation recrute un Head, Access to Finance – 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 Finance professional looking to increase your impact, read on!

The opportunity

Reporting to the Country Director, WAEMU, the Head, Access to Finance will be responsible for leading and managing the Foundation’s efforts to improve access to financial services for youth and women led enterprises in the WAEMU countries. This includes supporting the development and leading the implementation of strategies to expand financial inclusion, promoting the adoption of digital financial services, and supporting the growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through access to finance.

Ways you can contribute

• Develop an overarching access to Finance strategy to create coherence and continuity in advancing financial inclusion in the WAEMU countries.
• Maintain alignment with relevant contexts and perspectives in financial inclusion in the countries.
• Support program teams in articulating their access to Finance strategies in alignment with Young Africa Works.
• Support program teams in the development and design of their respective access to Finance programs portfolio.
• Incorporate research-based insights in financial inclusion into programs design and ensuring continuous learning by assessing the performance and impact of programs and projects.
• Facilitate co-design workshops and provided financial inclusion subject matter expertise to program teams.
• Lead and facilitate Access to Finance programs integration and innovation across the Foundation and support teams in adopting and leveraging best practices.
• Pilot new programming ideas and collaboration models in financial inclusion.
• Collaborate with partners from the private, public, and non-profit sectors to leverage their expertise and resources to achieve shared goals.
• Work closely with other leaders at the foundation to ensure alignment with the broader mission and goals.
• Participate in the design and implementation of Programs with potential to drive impact at scale in financial inclusion in the WAEMU countries.
• Support program teams to regularly collect and collate learnings from implementation of programs to advance financial inclusion.
• Facilitate financial inclusion learning sessions with program teams and partners.
• Synthesize, socialize, and integrate learning from across the delivery platforms in collaboration with Research and impact teams.
• Facilitate team access to leading technical expertise in financial inclusion.
• Manage effective relationships with key stakeholders and networks in the public, private and non-profit sectors to promote financial inclusion in the continent.
• Maintain effective business partnerships with other teams across the Foundation.

Who you are

• Master’s degree (MBA) in a relevant field.
• 15 years’ experience with at least 5 years in senior management.
• Experience working in West Africa for a global or regional organization in international development and/or commercial banking, microfinance, or private equity.
• Excellent strategic planning skills with the ability to merge technical and operational demands of various delivery platforms into a cohesive structure.
• Proven ability to think in a strategic and transformative way and able to co-design initiatives/processes that will drive large scale change.
• Ability to communicate and engage effectively with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Innovative and entrepreneurial individual with experience across sectors.
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.
• Proven excellence in verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures and to distill complex information and data into accessible conversation and written pieces.
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• You have a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.

Deadline for Applications is June 21, 2023