Job Description

About African Leadership AcademyAfrican Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing and connecting a new generation of young leaders who will lead the continent towards lasting peace and shared prosperity for all. Since our inception in 2008, we have worked to lay the foundations of this audacious mission by identifying and developing a group of exceptional young leaders who will work together to shape Africa's future. To deliver on this mission and further their careers, we have created six sector network communities made up of our young leaders, partners and friends of ALA. These networks are focused on addressing Africa's greatest challenges around agribusiness, governance, infrastructure, health, education and the arts.About AL for GovernanceAL for Governance is a network of impact-driven public leaders who share a commitment to address Africa's 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, catalyses connections between members, and fosters powerful intergenerational mentorship relationships to drive lasting change.Position OverviewAs the senior program associate for AL for Governance, you will take full responsibility for the Umholi we Africa Fellowship program with the support of the senior program leader and program associate. This role has the exciting task of building and growing this important Fellowship across the continent and providing the Fellows and their Principles with the best possible Fellowship experience. You will engage with ministers and stakeholders in this space, to build relationships and partnerships to place Fellows in their organisations. You will engage network members to create a pipeline of Fellows. You will coordinate and arrange the relevant events and activities around the Fellowship and be responsible for working with the various internal (IL, Marketing, Finance etc) and external stakeholders (service providers and partners) to drive the success of the program. Lastly, you will find ways of igniting and fostering collaboration where facilitated knowledge transfer and the exchange of ideas can inspire impactful creative solutions for Africa across the ALA and ALG community, as well as building partnerships on campus. You will work closely with the senior program manager to ensure the budget is managed appropriately.Position Responsibilities

• Strategic Management: Can clearly articulate organization's strategic priorities and propose goals connected to those priorities
• Project Management: Assumes project ownership with demonstrated attention to detail and thoughtful gathering, organizing, and interpretation of data
• Human Capital Management: Must engage with various departmental and cross-functional teams. Supports recruitment and interviewing
• Financial Management: Is aware of the budget, avoids needless spending and identifies opportunities for savings
• Relationship Management: Comfortable sharing ALA with the outside world; consistently and clearly communicates mission and model; identifies prospective customers, partners, and stakeholders in network.
• Partnership builder: Sustains existing partnerships and develops new partnerships with possible employer and program partners.
• Program Coordination: Ability to coordinate initiatives, events and programs that will contribute to, and build the network.
• Highly organized facilitator: Ability to plan and deliver on projects timeously. Able to plan, prioritize with good organisational skills.
• Communication skills: Experience with public speaking and able to clearly communicate for marketing and reporting purposes, both verbally and in writing. In practicality, this translates into report writing skills, marketing blurbs, social media posts and newsletter writing.
• Stakeholder Management skills: Ability to confidently work with multiple stakeholders at different levels in organisations, to advance progress and execute on program ideas, both internally and externally.
• Matching and Placements: Responsible to contribute to the internship and job placements in the team as per the agreed annual target.
• Data Management and Analysis skills: CRM Data management and input, generating analytics that can be used for reporting.
• AL for Governance: Any other contributions to the AL for Governance sector activities as required and as per funders requirements.

Desired Experience

• A degree in a related discipline. A postgraduate degree will be an added advantage.
• 4+ years of working experience in a related field with supervisory experience.
• Public Service knowledge and a broad understanding and knowledge of the development challenges and opportunities facing the African continent.
• An awareness about career opportunities in this sector through the lens of leadership development and be passionate and eager to engage in continuous learning and networking in these fields.
• Dedicated to shaping the future of Africa.

Reporting to: Senior Program Manager of AL for Governance and the ArtsStart Date: 1 September 2024

African Leadership Academy