Positions in: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania or Uganda
Do you want to run a continental Data Academy programme?
Code for Africa (CfA) has an immediate vacancy for a full-time Senior Programme Manager who will drive a continental, distributed team of 3 project managers and 10 data analysts and trainers who work with CfA’s partners across Africa. The candidate will be based in Kenya or Nigeria or South Africa or Tanzania or Uganda to drive our distributed Data Academy team.
Candidates must have demonstrable experience in managing a cross-disciplinary team and a track record in managing large training or community projects. The ideal candidate will also have experience in open data and tech for good spaces, and will speak English fluently. Proficiency in additional international languages, such as French or Arabic, will be a plus.
The successful candidate will drive CfA’s transnational Data Academy team, which manages a wide portfolio of internal data-driven projects in 20+ countries, while also supporting a network of external partners in the media and watchdog civil society (CSO) sectors. The data workflow spans from research to mining, cleaning, visualisation and storytelling. The programme also includes a deep knowledge sharing component, including training activities with CfA’s partners in newsrooms, universities, CSOs and selected government agencies.
The candidate will shape the vision of multiple initiatives in order to maximise their wide-range impact. One of the flagship initiatives is WanaData, a network of African women in data science, tech and journalism. Others include CfA’s openAfrica, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and HURUMap
The successful candidate will work as part of a multinational and multilingual team that uses digital collaboration tools to create content for a global audience and international media partners, and make sure the teams receive daily inputs and guidance to solve problems.
Required: minimum requirements include:
- 4+ years experience in programme management in an international NGO, tech-for-good startup environment, or organisation focused on civic tech, civic engagement, open government and open data
- Track record of training and community management
- Track record of transnational training projects and program management
- Proven network of contacts in media, NGOs, government bodies and CSOs in Africa and beyond
- Proven track-record for creative problem-solving in fast-paced impact-driven environments, where solutions involve balancing human/technology considerations
- Demonstrable ability to self-manage, creating your own and wider team timelines and milestones, with clear systems/processes
- Evidence of nurturing leadership skills, for building and growing effective and happy teams of ambitious multicultural and multilingual domain experts
- Digital first workplace skill-sets, including proficiency in collaborative work solutions such as Google Drive (Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc) and Slack (or equivalents such as Teams), as well as project management tools like Trello (or equivalents)
- Excellent English writing and speaking skills
- Self-managed and proactive problem solving attitude
Preferred: candidates who are able to demonstrate the following will have an advantage:
- Proficiency working on gender projects, capacity building projects and digital projects
- Proficiency with data science and data visualisation
- Understanding of data-driven storytelling strategies and campaigns
- Proven understanding and track record working with open data, open government and civic technology
- Strong and engaging social media presence
- Proficiency in French or Arabic
Language and Location Requirements:
- Location: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania or Uganda
- Languages: English
- Preferred but not required: French and Arabic
Responsibilities: Your daily responsibilities will include:
- Coordinate and supervise the daily, weekly and monthly activities of the Data Academy PMs
- Drive the vision and growth of flagship programs including the Academy, WanaData and OpenAFRICA
- Supervise the creation of new Academy MOOC modules and drive its implementation and growth
- Help handle the HR recruitment and management of the Data Academy transnational team
- Facilitate the creation and maintenance of partnerships to amplify the impact of the Data Academy programme and its partner initiatives
- Supervise the communication of Data Academy successes and impact stories, on CfA’s social media, Slack channels and public newsletters
What We Offer:
- A competitive salary, subject to experience, with opportunities for performance-based growth, both in terms of career path and public stature.
- A dynamic workplace, with a transnational team, occasional international travel, and generous vacation benefits.
- Ongoing opportunities to learn new cutting-edge skills and techniques/technologies to future-proof yourself in a rapidly evolving industry.
- A chance to shine on a global stage, writing for international audiences and interacting with colleagues around the world.
How to apply:
Please fill in this form: by October 22nd
About Us:
Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of indigenous African civic technology and investigative data journalism laboratories, with over 70 staff in 19 countries, who build digital democracy solutions that are intended to give citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions and that strengthen civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability.
This includes building infrastructure such as the continent’s largest open data portal, open.AFRICA, and largest open source civic software portal, commons.AFRICA, as well as the largest repository of investigative document-based evidence, source.AFRICA, as well as incubating initiatives as diverse as the africanDRONE network that gives citizens their own ‘eyes in the sky’, the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative in 12 African countries, and the sensors.AFRICA remote-sensing citizen science initiative to combat air/water pollution.
CfA also incubates the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), as an association of the continent’s best investigative newsrooms, ranging from large traditional mainstream media to smaller specialist units. ANCIR member newsrooms investigate crooked politicians, organised crime and big business. The iLAB is ANCIR’s in-house digital forensic unit, with teams in east, south and west Africa. ANCIR uses its resources to strengthen newsrooms’ own internal capacity, by providing access to the world’s best whistleblower encryption and investigative semantic analysis technologies, as well as skills development, and seed grants for cross-border collaboration.
At CfA, we don’t just accept differences – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. CfA is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
To all recruitment agencies: CfA does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our employment application line, CfA employees or any other CfA contact. CfA is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.