Job Openings at at Mastercard Foundation – Apply Now

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Country Director, the Finance Lead has a primary focus on broadening access to financial services and providing strategic guidance for our country’s programs. S/he will play a central role in shaping and implementing strategies that empower underserved communities, improve access to financial services, and enhance economic opportunities in these vital sectors across Nigeria.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Develop and execute a comprehensive financial inclusion and access to finance strategy that aligns with the Mastercard Foundation’s mission and values. This strategy will focus on expanding access to financial services for underserved populations.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, partners, regulators, and governmental agencies to drive sustainable and impactful financial inclusion and access to finance initiatives.
• Lead the creation of a long-term vision for financial inclusion and access to finance in Nigeria, with special attention to the agriculture, creative, and digital sectors, ensuring alignment with the Foundation’s objectives.
• Design, lead, and oversee access to finance initiatives that enhance the availability and affordability of financial services for underserved communities.
• Develop and implement innovative and blended financing models, including digital financial services and risk mitigation instruments, to reach remote and marginalized populations.
• Foster the growth of microfinance institutions and community-based financial service providers to extend financial access.
• Develop and deliver sector-specific capacity-building programs for stakeholders, enhancing their ability to provide and utilize financial services effectively. Organize training workshops, seminars, and knowledge-sharing events within the agriculture, creative, and digital sectors to promote skill development and growth.
• Identify, cultivate, and manage partnerships with financial institutions, technology providers, government bodies, regulators, NGOs, and other relevant stakeholders to enhance the reach and impact of financial inclusion and access to finance programs.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders to foster collaboration and drive collective action towards achieving financial inclusion and access to finance goals.
• Provide expert advisory for sector programs in agriculture, creative, and the digital economy, identifying opportunities to integrate financial inclusion and access to finance strategies for maximum impact.
• Identify, cultivate, and manage partnerships with stakeholders in these sectors, including agricultural associations, creative industry players, technology firms, and government bodies.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships to foster collaboration and drive collective action towards achieving financial inclusion and access to finance goals.
• Design, implement, and oversee innovative financial inclusion and access to finance programs tailored to the agriculture, creative, and digital sectors. Leverage technology, data analytics, and best practices to expand access to financial services, credit, savings, and insurance.
• Monitor the progress of programs and initiatives, ensuring alignment with sector-specific objectives and desired outcomes.
• Advocate for policies and regulatory reforms that foster inclusive financial systems and support sector growth, using insights from foundation-sponsored research to drive tangible economic impact.
• Define sector specific KPIs and metrics to assess the impact of financial inclusion and access to finance programs and advisory efforts.
• Prepare regular reports and presentations for internal and external stakeholders, showcasing progress and outcomes within the agriculture, creative, and digital sectors.

WHO YOU ARE

• A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in financial services, Impact Investing, inclusive and blended finance, microfinance, fintech, or related fields.
• Master’s degree in finance, economics, business administration, or a related field (Ph.D. is a plus).
• Strong knowledge of the Nigerian financial landscape, regulatory environment, and the entrepreneurship, agriculture, creative, and digital sectors.
• Proven track record in designing, implementing, and enabling successful financial inclusion strategies and initiatives, with expertise in providing advisory for sector programs.
• Demonstrated experience in partnership development, stakeholder engagement, and coalition building.
• Experience working with international development organizations, such as the World Bank, USAID, CGAP, and DFIs, is a valuable advantage.
• Ability to think strategically, analyze complex problems, and make data-driven decisions.
• Flexible, adaptable, agile, and able to execute a range of job duties with multiple deadlines and changing priorities.
• Proven excellence in verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures and to distill complex information and data into accessible conversation and written pieces.
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• You have a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.

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THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Program Lead, the Program Partner will be responsible for supporting design and implementation activities related to program delivery in Nigeria. The role will provide expertise and interact effectively with partner organizations and ecosystem stakeholders to advance the delivery of the Young Africa Works strategy at the country level.

WAYS YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE

• Provide support to the Program Lead in diagnosing and contributing to expertise on the financing environment and policy to inform country strategy design, partnership development, and monitoring processes.
• Collaborate with Program Leads / Partners to review proposals, develop strategic outcomes and program roadmaps.
• Contribute to evolution in thinking and new approaches needed to get to scale.
• Integrate impact considerations to ensure the needs of young women and young people, in general, are addressed within the program design. 
• Support the adaptation of the Foundation’s programming and learning related to MSME/Financing to specific country contexts, leveraging country diagnostics and learning from our portfolio of partners.
• Manage current and future financing programs, implement partner coordination, review narrative and financial reporting, undertake regular partner/site visits and distill learnings.
• Support the delivery of appropriate mechanisms to monitor effectiveness and impact of Financing interventions in collaboration with Impact staff.
• Communicate progress and learnings from projects to colleagues and the wider development community.
• Identify challenges and opportunities facing the creatives sector that can be unlocked through education, skills, business development services, market, regulatory support, and financial systems to drive job growth.
• Contribute insights to the Foundation’s thought leadership on youth employment in Africa.
• Build relationships with partner organizations, communities of practice, and relevant support systems.
• Serve as a local point of contact and collaborator across a range of interested parties on issues of common concern to leverage positive impact toward common goals.
• Represent the Foundation and collaborate with key internal and external stakeholders.

WHO YOU ARE

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business and development economics or a related field.
• Relevant professional qualification and a member of a relevant professional body.
• Minimum of five (5) years’ relevant experience in a similar organization.
• Experience and expertise and ability in designing and managing relevant and appropriate solutions for MSMEs in various sectors and various stages of development.
• Experience working on MSME support programs in Nigeria and knowledge of Nigerian and West African social, economic, regulatory, business, and political contexts.
• Demonstrate experience in project design and management with focus on enterprise development and MSME support.
• Excellent understanding of MSME segments (from early-stage start-ups to growth-stage SMEs) in Africa and the systemic challenges constraining their growth, with a particularly understanding of the Nigeria context.
• Excellent understanding of the role MSMEs can play in economic transformation and job creation.
• Excellent budgeting skills with the ability to manage a portfolio of commitments.
• Excellent project management skills, including multi-stakeholder projects.
• Flexible, adaptable, agile, and able to execute a range of job duties with multiple deadlines and changing priorities.
• Proven excellence in verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures and to distill complex information and data into accessible conversation and written pieces.
• Possess professional maturity, sensitivity with different cultures, and impeccable integrity that exemplify the Foundation’s values.
• You have a commitment to Mastercard Foundation’s values and vision.