Lead, Access to Finance - Pan Africa at Mastercard Foundation

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Head, Access to Finance, the Lead, Access to Finance will be responsible for the supervision, implementation support and management of a portfolio of financial inclusion programs and partnerships to support regional and country strategies, as well as support the development and operationalization of the Access to Finance strategy. S/he will support and backstop the Head, Access to Finance.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Conduct access to finance assessments to understand the financial ecosystem as it applies to specific target groups, considering supply- and demand-side issues.
• Advise on financial inclusion strategies based on international best practice, lessons learned from the programs and partnerships, and emerging trends to support the Foundation’s design and management of financial inclusion programs in a variety of target groups including MSMEs, youth and women, to drive youth employment.
• Manage current and future programs as appropriate and distil learnings to share with internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicate progress and learnings from programs to colleagues and the wider development community.
• Collaborate with regional and country teams to leverage synergies across programs and geographies.
• Participate in governance activities related to programs, such as investment committees, advisory committees, or other stakeholders to provide oversight or elevate and leverage learnings.
• Provide perspective and expertise on emerging issues and trends in the Financial Inclusion field, the MSME sector and entrepreneurship growth in Africa.
• Contribute insights to the Foundation’s thought leadership on youth employment in Africa.
• Contribute to work plans, assessments and reports as requested.
• Build relationships with partner organizations, communities of practice, and global stakeholders.
• Represent the Foundation and collaborate with key internal and external audiences.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing between various Foundation programs and partners.
• Lead and supervise small teams of colleagues and/or junior experts by providing coaching and support necessary for success and growth.
• Identify and overcome barriers to team effectiveness by sharing knowledge and learnings while offering insights and possible solutions to issues and/or program challenges.

WHO YOU ARE

• Master’s degree or equivalent experience in Finance, Economics, Business, or Economic Deep experience in the management of multi-million-dollar programs and stakeholder relationship management.
• Minimum of 5 years professional experience in financial services in the private sector and demonstrated ability to apply those principles to financial inclusion in a creative, energetic, and non-traditional development approach.
• Qualifications in project management will be an added advantage.
• Experience in the development of digital financial services is an advantage.
• Advanced knowledge of the financial inclusion sector for MSMEs, women, youth, and other marginalized groups, in Africa, demonstrating a strong understanding of MSMEs segments in the continent.
• In depth technical understanding of one or more of the Foundation’s areas of focus: financial sector development, market development and business development, and astute ability to provide expert technical advice to program managers and implementers.
• Proven track record of working with various types of financial institutions to enhance their ability to serve the underserved segments in Africa, including MSMEs.
• Experience working on donor funded financial inclusion programs across multiple financial sub-sectors will be an advantage, either in a program management function or technical expert.
• Experience working in a complex, fast-moving environment, and dealing professionally with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience living and working in Africa and especially in Francophone or Lusophone Africa is an advantage.
• Strong ability to communicate progress and learnings from projects to colleagues and the wider development community.
• Command of quantitative and qualitative business analytical skills.
• Strong budgeting skills with the ability to manage a large portfolio of assets.
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects management.
• An understanding and experience in the use of technology to drive the development of alternative delivery channels for financial institutions.
• Ability to speak a local language is highly preferred. French is an asset.
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.
• Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures.
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• Demonstrate a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.