Director of Program Implementation - Oosy, SkillUp - Kenya at Educate!

Performance Objectives
Program management and Implementation Strategy (40%)

• Co-design a recruitment strategy to reach thousands of Out-of-School Youth in multiple counties
• Lead the co-creation of a scalable delivery model and expansion strategies for new counties with Impact Unit leaders and frontline teams.
• Experiment with implementation strategies that unlock breakthrough ideas around recruitment, delivery and community partnerships that enhance the org Brand
• Manage the program and take full ownership of driving the impact goals, delivery KPIs and the youth experience.
• Drive broad alignment with other relevant leaders to ensure that both internal and Payer program commitments are met while flagging any potential misalignments or need for trade-offs
• Co-create and track stage and Quarterly goals and objectives with Impact unit leaders and program managers and lead alignment with other functional leaders where necessary
• Create a data driven culture for program management, ensure all decisions are backed by data and all the teams have clear data visibility and are empowered to use data in their day-to-day work

Team culture & Leadership (25%)

• Establish, monitor and reinforce systems and structures that build a high-performing and culturally aligned team.
• Manage the Program management team to achieve program objectives, build strong frontline teams and training the managers to strengthen their leadership capabilities
• Serve as a coach and mentor to staff empowering the team to achieve exceptional results
• Build Leadership Mindset and brand ambassadors among program teams from top to bottom including contractors.
• Model and establish initiatives that promote Educate!'s cultural tenets. Establish a mentor-centered management culture. Ensure honesty, integrity, and professionalism of teams.
• Establish and cascade a culture that places premium on respect, collaboration and inclusivity while continuously ensuring that the team is operating in a psychologically safe environment.
• Create team growth management strategy and maintain a healthy talent pipelining within the program
• Conduct 3 tier management by observing the Program Officers, trainers and other field teams in their role and offering insights on improvements and growth

Collaboration & System Development (20%)

• Oversee the development of Program Management standards, systems and management tools that support the product at scale.
• Co-develop Program procedures and handbooks while building effective communication channels across programs and operations teams.
• Identify areas that need new systems, co-create with the team & improve on already existing systems
• Collaborate with performance metrics, Product Design, Performance Metrics, and Tech to close gaps in strategy and implementation. This can be through but not limited to implementing the rapid assessment process for agile learning
• Create and update the departmental sprint plans and manage the learning process through sprint calls to ensure teams know what has been learnt, and how it has been learnt and make recommendations.
• Partner with Performance Metrics to build end-to-end product dashboards and oversee information management systems (M&E and programs) and adapt as necessary to receive timely and accurate data.

Financial Oversight (15%)

• Co-develop and take full ownership of program budgets and ensure that this is aligned to the product stage strategy that optimizes for cost and strategic alignment to the Educate!'s budgeting philosophy
• Manage the Cost Per Youth in the planning cycle, share proposals that bring the biggest product cost drivers down to the Managing Director
• Instill a culture of cost-effectiveness and cost-consciousness and always think about scalable costs as teams develop budgets and proposals.
• Co- develop and review annual and quarterly program budgets and review Budget vs Actual with the Program managers and ensure that the budget spend is within the approved threshold.
• Work with the program manager on the strategy to uncover issues of fraud and/or misuse of funds. Ensure all members of the programs management team uphold policies and procedures in instances of fraud or misuse of funds.

Qualifications

• Looking for a steady highly organized strategic thinker & operational planner and an implementation superstar with at least 5 years of experience owning and managing programs while building/improving necessary processes/systems
• Experience working in the youth space or entrepreneurship-related programs at a start-up or social enterprise is preferred.
• Managed a diverse team for at least 3 years building a culture for high-performing teams. Can thrive in a very agile/ adaptive environment.
• Passionate about Out-of-School youth and obsession with frontline teams
• Fits our Five Cultural Tenets (see What is Educate! About? below); Learn more by looking at Educate!'s culture deck here