Job Description

Program Associate - JhbFull job descriptionAbout African Leadership Academy and the Africa Career NetworksAfrican Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by developing a powerful network of young leaders who will work together to address Africas greatest challenges, achieve extraordinary social impact, and accelerate the continents growth trajectory. Africa Career Networks (ACN) is an ALA program which was established in 2012, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, to address the challenge of successful transitions from education to employment for young people. Over the years, we have built a successful skills development, networking, and talent matching program, which has helped accelerate the careers of thousands of high-potential Africans into competitive jobs and internships while strengthening the early career culture on the continent. To deliver on this mission and further their careers, we have created seven sector network communities made up of our young leaders, partners and friends of ALA. These networks are focused on addressing Africas greatest challenges around agribusiness, governance, infrastructure, health, education, the arts and professional services.About AL for the ArtsAL for the Arts seeks to create a career network focused on the Arts, comprising creative leaders, enablers, artists, and youth passionate about this industry. We are committed to developing young talent on the continent and leading a conversation through the creation of a network of inter-generational leaders eagerly pursuing progress and excellence in this domain. The mission and vision of AL for the Arts is to accelerate the development of the African cultural and creative economy by creating channels for our young leaders to share their work and create opportunities for our network to engage with industry leaders and key stakeholders, ignite collaborative connections, mentorship, and access to capital for ventures and initiatives with our young artists across the continent and globally.About AL for GovernanceAL for Governance is a network of impact-driven public leaders who share a commitment to addressing Africas most pressing governance and development challenges. We believe that lasting peace and shared prosperity on the African continent is only possible if we build and sustain accountable institutions together. Our network aims to develop a new generation of ethical public leaders who will work together to address the public leadership crisis in Africa. The network facilitates diverse career pathways for our young leaders into the governance sector, catalyzes connections between members, and fosters powerful intergenerational mentorship relationships to drive lasting change.Position OverviewWe are looking for a proactive and dedicated Program Associate to join our AL for the Arts and Governance teams. This role supports the Senior Program Associates and program manager in both sectors, helping to build pan-African networks of employers and partners, and facilitating and running programs and initiatives to grow and develop these networks. The Program Associate will help create opportunities to accelerate the career paths of our young leaders through professional development and connecting them to internship and job opportunities within both creative arts and governance.Position ResponsibilitiesSector Success and Challenges: Facilitate and enable sector success programming and deliver sector challenges in both the Arts and Governance, ensuring impactful engagement and development of young leaders.Program Delivery and Iteration: Deliver and iterate programs that leverage technology and learning design to improve learning outcomes for our young leaders in both the Arts and Governance sectors.Employer Engagement: Engage employers with roles that help young leaders pursue careers of impact within the Arts and Governance sectors.Event Coordination: Coordinate and organize events within the Arts and Governance networks, facilitating collaboration and knowledge exchange among key industry players, professionals, thought leaders, and our young leaders.Partnership Support: Assist in sustaining existing and developing new partnerships with potential employers, program partners, and funders.External Communications: Aid in managing external communications, including report writing, grant applications, marketing blurbs, social media posts, and newsletters.Data Management: Support CRM data management and generate analytics for reporting purposes.Professional Development: Provide career guidance and coaching to young, highly skilled, ambitious talent within the network.Requisitions and Payments: Process all stipend and invoices payments through procurement and finance systemsProfile of the Ideal CandidateProgram Implementation Skills: Experience in organizing, facilitating and implementing events and programs that contribute to and build the creative and governance networks.Organizational Skills: Strong planning, priority, and organizational skills, especially when under tight deadlines.Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Experience with public speaking and publishing written work, and/or developing communication strategies and plans.Passion for the Arts and Governance: A strong existing network in the creative and governance spaces, and a passion for building and sustaining relationships and networks.Professional Development Skills: Ability to coach and provide career guidance to young talent.Demonstrating Leadership: Proactively taking accountability and demonstrating initiative in all aspects of the workDesired ExperienceBachelors Degree in an arts-related or governance-related discipline or equivalent experience.2+ years of experience working in or advising creative or governance organizations.Familiarity with the challenges and opportunities facing the African creative economy and governance sector.Experience in using technology to enhance learning outcomes is an advantage.ReportingThis role reports to two Senior Program Associates: These are the Senior Program Associate for AL for the Arts and the Senior Program Associate for AL for Governance.Start Date: 1st September, 2024Location: This role will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Remote candidates will be considered.

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