Summary
Date Posted: Friday, October 28, 2022 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Partner, MSME
About Mastercard Foundation
Mastercard Foundation seeks a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn and prosper. Through its Young Africa Works strategy and Canadian EleV program, the Foundation works with partners to ensure that millions of young people, especially young women, access quality education, financial services and dignified work. Mastercard Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. The Foundation is independent with its own Board of Directors and CEO.
The Work At The Foundation
We have entered a very exciting time at the Foundation as we scale up our operations across Africa to realize our Young Africa Works strategy. Our role at the Mastercard Foundation is to be a catalyst. Our Young Africa Works strategy focuses on working with others to spur systemic change so young people have the opportunity to find work that is dignified and fulfilling.
The Foundation has opened offices in Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda, building a broader leadership presence in Africa to develop specific strategies that support youth employment. Within a country, we work with governments, the private sector, educators and other funders to improve the quality of education and vocational training, prepare young people for the workforce, expand access to financial services for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and connect job seekers to dignified and fulfilling work.
We are ambitious and driven. Our values transcend and rise above everything else as our guide. We encourage you to bring your bold ideas, curiosity, and expertise to your work. We laugh at ourselves and with each other. We are a team. Our journey together makes our impact even more meaningful.
The Opportunity
Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a critical role in employment and job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa. As part of the Young Africa Works strategy, the Foundation has committed to improving the quality and quantity of jobs in African countries that address youth unemployment. Working with MSMEs is vital to this mission. The Foundation pursues systemic approaches to diagnose and work on interventions to address the numerous constraints on the growth of MSMEs.
The Foundation’s strategy in Uganda is anchored on the MSME (entrepreneurship) to exploit the opportunities generated by Agriculture, the Digital Economy and emerging adjacent sectors like Creatives, Tourism and Construction through a holistic approach. We envision Uganda having a strengthened and resilient MSME ecosystem that supports young women and men to setup, grow & scale their enterprises sustainably.
Our interventions focus on financial, information and market resource flows, skilling/ human capital development, business development support, mindset transformation and support to policy implementation to address key sector barriers. This will enable MSMEs and other enterprises to enjoy conducive business environment, accessible and affordable services and markets that support growth, expansion and thereby create work opportunities for young people.
Reporting to the Country Lead, MSMEs, the Partner will work collaboratively with the program country team to support a portfolio of existing and new programs and partnerships. They will interact effectively with senior levels of partner organizations to develop and design programs to support MSMEs.

Ways You Can Contribute
• Provide perspective and expertise on emerging issues and trends in the Financial Inclusion field, the MSME sector and entrepreneurship growth in Africa to support the Country team design and management of programs to scale country-level inclusive, financial programs.
• Support and contribute to conducting due diligence of potential partners and projects, reviewing project design and appropriate documentation, reporting and data collection as well as budget reviews.
• Build relationships with partner organizations, communities of practice, and global stakeholders.
• Identify and overcome barriers to team effectiveness by sharing knowledge and learnings while offering insights and possible solutions to issues and/or program challenges.
• Manage current and future programs and provide key support working in close collaboration with other technical experts in the various sectors that involve MSME development.
• Initiate discussions and share lessons across country wide MSME expertise groups on progress, challenges and opportunities as well as linkages with other sectors.
• Communicate progress and learnings from projects to colleagues and the wider development community.
• Collaborate with program 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.
• Represents the Foundation in MSME and private sector engagement related partner coordination working groups, task forces and other meetings where relevant.
• Lead and supervise small teams of colleagues and/or junior experts by providing coaching and support necessary for success and growth.

Who You Are
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Finance, Business, Development Economics and/or Financial Inclusion. Master’s degree or equivalent is an added advantage.
• A minimum of seven (7) years of experience in business development support, financing and non-financial support to MSMEs or new enterprises is highly preferred. This should include commercial experience and project management in enterprise business development, investing in and/or financing MSMEs in developing countries.
• Good understanding of MSME segments (from early stage startups to growth-stage SMEs) in Africa and the systemic challenges constraining their growth, with particular understanding of the Uganda context.
• Experience living and working on MSME support programs in Uganda with command of quantitative and qualitative business analytics. Knowledge of African social, economic and political contexts would be an asset.
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects. Experience especially in designing market systems development programs.
• Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures. Strong ability to communicate progress and learnings from projects to colleagues and the wider development community.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team with excellent prioritization and time management skills. Excellent people skills, ability to coordinate technical and cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrates strong analytical skills, the ability to think strategically and contribute as a thought partner in the Foundation’s strategy development.
• Astute ability to provide expert technical advice to implementers.
• Proactive, engaged, a self-starter, flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.
• Ability to travel up to 30%.
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to execute a range of job duties and changing priorities.
• 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.
Deadline for Applications is November 17, 2022.

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 84

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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