Programme Lead

The Programme Lead: Ignite will be responsible for end-to-end programme development, strategy and management for the Ignite (Child and Youth Development) afterschool programme that develops well-rounded children and young people (aged 7-18 years) in grades 1 – 12 who are able to achieve their age-appropriate socio-emotional and academic milestones in a safe space. It offers young people a series of activities that unlocks learners' potential through Afrika Tikkun's Cradle to Career model. The incumbent will drive standardized execution of the programme across 5 centres and all outreach sites across the country. The programme underwent strategic development and updating in 2024, and the Programme Lead is required to drive the coordinated delivery and enhanced performance of the Ignite Managers and facilitators at all Afrika Tikkun Centres.

Strategic development:

• Develop and mature the Ignite Programme strategy and operations.
• Further strengthen referral networks and partner relationships with schools, educational institutions, integrated partnerships and other stakeholders in each community
• Work with the Afrika Tikkun Outreach Movement team to ensure strategy to scale and operations

Programme Monitoring:

• Research and facilitate implementation of innovative youth development ideas
• Further develop policy and drive the practice and content of each of academic support and life skills as well as ensure a seamless integration of the Cradle to Career model
• Communicate the progress and performance of the programme regularly through detailed activity reports
• Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager and team to ensure the development of monitoring tools and instruments are in place
• Develop SOPs, SLAs, MOUs and any other stakeholder related agreements

Coordination and Team Management:

• Coordinate teams at a national level to ensure that the programme is implemented consistently across 6 centres and with outreach partners
• Enhance the performance of the Ignite teams by building cohesive and high-performing teams, raising the standard and promoting the sharing of best practice
• Identify the needs of Ignite teams and determine their training requirements

Internal Stakeholder Liaison:

• Coordinate the Ignite teams and the Marketing department in promoting participation to the Ignite programme in each community and online

Academic Remediation and Support:

• Deliver on grade specific outcomes for Gateway Subjects (ie Numeracy & Literacy)
• Drive a strategy that achieves grade age-appropriate academic outcomes

Evaluation, Sharing and Learning:

• Assist in building robust evidence to demonstrate both the need for the Ignite services and the outcomes of the programme
• Coordinate the various assessments of individuals within the Ignite programme and the evaluations of the programme
• Work with the MERL team to ensure the development of evaluation tools and instruments

Budget and Spend:

• Build an annual budget and manage spend for Ignite across all sites

Team Leadership and performance management:

• Responsible for managing 5 Programme Managers
• Drive high performance and SMART execution of activities among Programme Managers and by extension, the rest of the Ignite Team
• Training, developing and coaching the team on effectively and efficiently executing the departmental strategy
• Performance assess Program Managers bi-annually and support them improve on areas of improvement

Qualifications and Experience:

• Degree in Education, Development Studies, Management, Business Administration studies or similar.
• 5 years proven experience managing Educational programmes
• Strong background in management, with proven track-record of enhancing programme performance.
• Experience in working with remote teams and creating and coordinating standardized service delivery
• Building and managing budgets

Required Skills:

• Computer Literate (Word, Excel, Outlook)
• Research skills and an ability to structure, organize and analyse information and processes in a logical and meaningful way
• Strategy development and implementation
• Ability to take initiative and develop resolutions to challenges
• Work with management and teams at various levels to ensure accurate and timeous implementation of projects
• Management and Leadership
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Report writing and planning skills
• Presentation skills
• Fluent in at least 2 or more languages
• Relationship building skills
• Problem solving and critical thinking

Behavioural Competencies:

• Competent, self-motivated, honest, display integrity and friendly
• Effective verbal and written communication
• Ability to work under pressure, multi-task, prioritise workload and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work independently and be accountable
• Ability to function in a challenging multi-faceted NGO environment

Afrika Tikkun is an equal opportunity employer. Afrika Tikkun is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage individuals from designated groups to apply