#IkoKaziKE // Project Manager with Code for Africa

#IkoKaziKE // Project Manager with Code for Africa

Do you want to help drive high-impact projects in the civic technology and digital democracy space?

Code for Africa (CfA) has an immediate vacancy for a full-time Project Manager to join Code for Africa’s New Initiatives team.

The role will preferably be based at any of CfA’s primary hubs in Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa. CfA has full-time staff in 18 African countries, and is therefore also open to exceptional applicants from elsewhere on the continent.

CfA is a nine-year-old pan-African network of digital democracy and journalism technology labs, registered as a public benefit non-profit organisation. Our New Initiatives team is made up of two portfolios – Business Development (BizDev) and the Impact Accelerator. The BizDev team is responsible for CfA’s fund-raising and other revenue generative partnerships, while the Accelerator helps incubate/scale CfA grantees and initiatives. Both teams are managed by the CEO.

In order to thrive in this role, candidates should enjoy fast-paced creative problem-solving and systems building, in a multicultural transnational environment, and should have experience in programme/project management or leadership roles in the digital media and/or technology space.

The successful candidates will work as part of a multinational and multilingual team using digital collaboration tools to train and mentor newsroom partners and media houses across the world.

About Code for Africa

Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of indigenous African civic technology and investigative data journalism laboratories, with over 84 staff in 20 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.

Required

Minimum requirements include:

• Bachelor’s degree or significant experience in project management, or a related field.
• 2+ years of experience as a project manager, project officer, project coordinator or a related position.
• Demonstrable experience in all aspects of project management, including developing and maintaining project documentation (such as work plans and M&E trackers); report writing for a variety of audiences; stakeholder engagement and management etc
• 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 and prioritise, creating your own and wider team timelines and milestones, with clear systems/processes
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to get across complex details in an understandable and accurate way
• 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)
• Empathetic communication and listening skills, plus a sensitivity to and ability to work with cross-cultural dynamics
• Experience in managing training across multiple platforms, including but not limited to, in-person, one-on-one and online trainings, as well as in individual mentorship

Preferred:

Candidates who are able to demonstrate the following will have an advantage:

• 4+ years of experience as a project manager or a related position.
• Experience building and managing relationships with media institutions, governments, international organisations, educational institutions, relevant technology players, and other private and not-for-profit relevant stakeholders in the civic technology and media ecosystem.
• Experience managing multiple projects, partners and team members across multiple time zones and cultures
• Experience working with a variety of teams, such as software engineering teams, journalists, trainers and data analysts
• Deep understanding of and experience in the technology, media ecosystem and/or digital innovation space in Africa.

Language and Location Requirements:

• Location: Kenya). While applicants from these territories are preferred, the role can be performed remotely, and applicants across Africa will therefore be considered.
• Languages: English
• Preferred but not required: Arabic and French, plus major African languages such Fulani, Kiswahili, isiZulu, Yoruba, etc

About this role

Your role is to work with CfA’s rainmakers to help ensure that CfA’s partnerships and projects live up to their full potential.

As one of a small team of project & programme managers for New Initiatives, you will oversee in-country teams across the continent who actively manage incubated projects, such as africanDRONE, the iLAB, PesaCheck and sensors.AFRICA. You will help build their teams and shape their systems, and improve their products. You will work with the project teams to ensure that partnerships and project deliverables are met and that stakeholders are kept informed and engaged.

CfA operates in a fast-paced environment, so you will need to be agile in your management approach, quick to understand and learn new things, and creative in finding solutions to any problems that arise. You will also need an obsessive attention to detail and be comfortable handling multiple tasks and deadlines.

Responsibilities:

Your daily responsibilities will include:

• Actively monitor and evaluate implementation and qualitative progress on the projects in your portfolio, including ensuring that expenses and work plans remain on-track, project documentation is created and maintained, and project reports are drafted and delivered on time
• Ensure projects remain on track, meeting their targets and delivering on their milestones timeously
• Ensure that projects and milestones are delivered on time, that they are of the highest standard and quality standards and meet/exceed donor expectations.
• Actively find solutions to problems as they arise, reporting and escalating challenges and risks to management when needed
• Proactively manage CfA’s relationship with external stakeholders, keeping them informed about project progress, managing expectations and synchronising partnership activities.
• Coordinating internal resources and teams across the continent for the flawless execution of projects

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:

If this is you, please complete this form by 15 January 2022.