Head of Project Management Office

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, young people, and other funders to improve the quality of education and vocational training, prepare young people for the work force, 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.

UNDERSTANDING CANADA PROGRAMS AT THE FOUNDATION

The Foundation has begun working within Canada in partnership with Indigenous communities and post-secondary institutions to listen, learn, and best understand how we can act in meaningful ways. The EleV strategy was co-created with Indigenous communities, young people, and partners to enable 30,000 Indigenous youth to complete their education and transition to dignified work aligned with their values and aspirations.

As reflected in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, education is a key driver of improved socio-economic well-being. Through building partnerships with Indigenous communities, we look to expand our initiative ultimately helping to support a generation of transformative Indigenous young leaders who will be change agents within their communities. We believe that by setting a bold target, we will encourage engagement across sectors and create momentum that will elevate the strengths and opportunities of Indigenous youth. In keeping with our approach, Indigenous communities and young people will be the drivers of this transformation. The program will promote innovations to address longer-term systemic change to achieve economic prosperity and social well-being within Indigenous communities.

The EleV team oversees current and emerging partnerships related to Indigenous education. Consistent with our overall vision and Youth Africa Works strategy, we will share learnings and opportunities to connect across the work of the Foundation. While operating in distinct contexts, the centrality of youth voice and vision, affirmation of culture and identity, and priority to enhance community capacity for self-determination are common threads upon which our work is strengthened and reinforced.

If you are an experienced Project Management Office professional looking to increase your impact, read on!

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Head of Technology, the role will be responsible for delivering approved projects and initiatives to meet business needs, using recognized Project Management techniques and expertise.

The successful candidate will be based in Canada or any of our listed offices in Africa (Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria).

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Contributes to the development and delivery of overall Technology strategy in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders.
• Builds, deploys and operates a PMO Office. Defines the approach for Continuous Improvement of the PMO Office including tools used, education requirements, management systems, metrics, review cycles, projects execution governance and value realization measurement
• Reviews project proposals to ensure they are complete and aligned with the overall foundation strategy.
• Manages the strategic aspects of large programs/engagements and mitigates projects execution risks.
• Establish projects governance structures adjusted to project size, complexity, risk level and priority. Run the project governance calls and address stakeholders concerns. Request support from the governance structure where needed. Document and share PMO Office. performance metrics and continuous improvement work.
• Establishes appropriate project standards, communicates to the cross-functional teams the standards and enforces them across the organization.
• Within the context of approved projects, review and oversee the delivery of business change management activities and business process improvements.
• Review and approve the project communication deliverables and advocacy for the delivered solution and supported business vision.
• Oversee evaluation of impact on the business and ensure business stakeholders are aware of required change management effort and tasks.
• Build project plan in alignment with project scope and priority. Ensure business quarterly and yearly activities are considered when planning projects key milestones.
• Validate project timelines with internal and external stakeholders including project sponsors, IT Operations Team, and vendors.
• Track project budget and ensure project costs are reported on with accuracy and diligence.
• Ensure risks and issues are tracked and reported. Mitigation plans are build and executed.
• Ensure project methodologies are properly selected (waterfall, agile) and take into consideration the project scope, nature, priority and stakeholders’ expectations.
• Manage project vendors contracts and deliverables.
• Coach and support project resources. Support them with capabilities development and workload management.
• Quality control deliverables: business process maps and documentation, systems configuration and development, technical testing, functional testing, users acceptance testing, data migration, interfaces building, reporting and analytics deliverables, training material creation and training execution, change management and communication activities, hand over to IT Support Team and cutover activities. Manage post go live stabilization activities and project closure.
• Perform post go live evaluation. Collect learning and feed them into PMO improvements.
• Mentor, develop and hire strong, service-oriented project teams.
• Develops and oversees the project management schedule goals and the team's capacity planning.
• Leads and maintains a strong team of project and program managers by providing training & skill development in addition to coaching and mentoring.
• Establish solid relationships with external vendors providing point resources for project execution.

WHO YOU ARE

• Bachelor’s degree or diploma and/or certificate in IT related fields is required.
• Experience working as a Project Manager delivering large scale global programs in a complex organization.
• Experience delivering projects with various methodologies: waterfall or agile.
• Experience in project management delivery with a scope across several business processes, business applications, data & analytics applied for core business (Finance, HR, Logistics, Operations, Sales, etc.).
• Experience delivering projects in IT infrastructure space is a plus.
• Experience reviewing and examining business processes and systems, modeling data, organizing activities and developing business strategies leading to successful business projects execution.
• Strong experience with data analysis, management reporting and project management tools is an asset.
• Appropriate project management and/or business analysis training/qualifications are an asset (PMP/PMIBOK, BCS/ISEB diploma, IIBA or equivalent certifications).
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously with a global scope.
• Effective leadership skills and ability to listen, communicate and motivate teams to achieve results. Can demonstrate the ability to manage demanding and challenging stakeholders.
• Demonstrates accountability and leadership.
• Competent ability to deliver under pressure and respond to a changing environment.
• Has worked in and feels comfortable with international, virtual, multi-cultural, multi-disciplined, and high-performance working teams.
• Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures.
• 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.
• Commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.
• Ability to travel 20% of the time as required.

Deadline for Applications is  December 06, 2022.

Mastercard Foundation (the “Foundation”) values and respects your privacy. By submitting an application for this opportunity, you hereby agree to the Foundation’s collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy (available at https://mastercardfdn.org/privacy/). Please note that the Foundation may share your personal information with third-party agencies that support the Foundation’s recruitment activities, and such third-party agencies may contact you directly regarding this opportunity. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Foundation’s Privacy Officer at the address indicated in its Privacy Policy.

The Mastercard Foundation values the unique skills and experiences each individual brings to the organization and we are committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible environment for everyone.

Completion of satisfactory business references and background checks are essential conditions of employment.

For more information and to sign up for the Foundation’s newsletter, please visit http://www.mastercardfdn.org/
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