Director of Digital Economies, Africa at Caribou

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Strategic Program Leadership

• Lead a major long-term engagement with a leading African foundation, shaping strategic objectives and ensuring high-quality delivery across all workstreams.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders, acting as a strategic advisor.
• Identify opportunities to deepen and expand the partnership as client needs evolve.
  Represent the program externally, sharing insights through high-profile events, media engagement, and strategic dialogue with ecosystem leaders.

Investment Strategy and Analytic Leadership

• Develop investment theses that balance financial returns with social impact, defining clear criteria for investability.
• Evaluate companies through financial analysis, operational assessment, and impact measurement.
• Conduct primary research, including interviews with executives, investors, policymakers, and industry experts.
• Produce investment-grade deliverables in concise, decision-maker-ready slide decks.
• Work directly with client investment and program teams to shape recommendations.
• Manage commercially sensitive company data with discretion and rigour.

Evidence, Research and Learning

• Co-develop a dynamic learning agenda that is directly informed by, and responsive to, program teams, ensuring research priorities align with evolving strategy and on-the-ground needs.
• Design and oversee high-impact research studies and analytic workstreams that generate actionable insights to guide program direction and investment decisions.
• Select and manage research and implementation partners, ensuring timely, rigorous, and relevant outputs.
• Oversee publications, multimedia outputs, and dissemination strategies to strengthen thought leadership and influence across Africa’s digital economies landscape.
• Deliver peer-learning events and internal knowledge-sharing activities to ensure insights are absorbed, applied, and translated into programmatic action.

Team Management and Capacity Building

• Manage, lead, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of consultants.
• Anticipate emerging program needs and build a strong talent pipeline for the region.
• Lead recruitment for new hires as the Africa portfolio expands.

Financial Oversight and Reporting

• Manage financial resources effectively, including budget planning, forecasting, and cost control.
• Provide quarterly financial and progress reports to the client.
• Ensure rigorous internal tracking and documentation across all program activities.

Caribou Leadership

• Contribute actively to Caribou’s strategy and evolution as a member of the Senior Leadership Team.
• Participate in monthly leadership discussions, annual planning, and company-wide retreats.
• Provide regular updates to the Senior Leadership Team on program progress and learning.
• Offer strategic guidance to other Caribou teams working on Africa-based program components.

Africa Market Growth

• Develop and execute a strategy for Caribou’s business expansion across Africa.
• Cultivate relationships with prospective clients, funders, and ecosystem partners.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the regional funding landscape and competitive environment.
• Lead regional business development efforts, including proposal development and partnership shaping.
• Serve as Caribou’s ambassador in Africa, representing the organisation at major events and engaging with policy-makers and thought leaders.
• Build and maintain a regional talent pool for future hiring.
• Oversee additional Africa-based programs as the portfolio grows.

About You

Essential Experience

Strategy consulting background (5+ years)

• Building analytical frameworks from complex information and producing executive-facing deliverables under pressure
• Experience in top-tier strategy firms or impact consultancies strongly valued

Impact investing experience 

• Reading and analyzing company financials (P&Ls, balance sheets, cash flows) and understanding unit economics, scalability, and business model viability
• Prior work in impact investing, private equity, venture capital, or corporate development

Impact measurement fluency

• Quantifying and qualifying social outcomes (employment, gender inclusion, job quality) and understanding trade-offs between financial returns and social impact
• Experience with gender lens investing or inclusive business models

Africa digital economies / tech expertise

• Deep familiarity with African markets and experience managing investment portfolios or consulting projects in African countries, specifically in digital economies or the tech sector more broadly.
• Existing networks in entrepreneurial, business, government, or development sectors