Executive Director – YouthConnekt Africa

About YouthConnekt Africa

Africa’s greatest resource is its youth. Yet, this abundant resource has been relatively untapped and facing cross-cutting issues such as limited access to education and finances, deterring health, scarce employment opportunities and low wages, and often excluded from local decision-making.
YouthConnekt Africa Hub was launched at the YouthConnekt Africa Summit 2018 and endorsed by the African Union as a continental body that will coordinate national chapters.

YouthConnekt is a platform designed to connect the youth for socioeconomic transformation. The purpose of the YouthConnekt Africa (YCA) Hub is to provide a holistic solution to alleviate the challenges faced by African youth by widening the pool of economic, social and civic leadership opportunities through National YouthConnekt initiatives. Essentially, the Hub will be supporting already existing African youth empowerment initiatives to propel and scale their efforts further. Please visit the website https://youthconnektafrica.org/  for information.

The Role

The Executive Director will be working closely with the Board of Directors, government officials, and the institution’s wide range of stakeholders within Rwanda, across the continent, and globally. She/he will focus on building strong partnerships and collaboration with national and international institutions with common values and interests, while ensuring that staff members are aligned with the company’s mission and vision and that the team is working cohesively to achieve the organisation’s strategic objectives.

The Executive Director will oversee all aspects of the work of the YCA Hub and programme and will support the growing network of YC national initiatives. As a senior leader, he/she will help set the strategic direction of the Hub and empower the YCA Hub team to perform their functions in pursuit of the organisation’s mandate. As a strategic collaborator and eloquent communicator, he/she will create and nurture partnerships that increase YCA outreach and enable the Hub to succeed and be sustainable. He/she will report to the YCA Hub Oversight Board and Steering Committee and will lead an Africa-wide youth empowerment programme that aims at nurturing the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and motivation of African youth to shape a better future for themselves and the continent.

Person Specification

Education: Advanced university degree from an accredited institution in Public Policy, International Development, Business Administration, Economics, Development Policy or other job-related fields.

Experience: Minimum 15 years of progressively responsible experience in managing national and international programmes on youth empowerment, business development, SME & entrepreneurship, and youth engagement preferably in Africa. Experience managing staff to implement youth focused programs in an international organization is highly desirable.

Citizenship: Candidate should be the citizen of an African Union member state.

Key Competencies

Required: Experience in policy advisory work at senior level in innovation, entrepreneurship, and youth empowerment, or related areas Experience working with development partners, governments, and private sector Knowledge and experience in youth empowerment, and economic development issues of the African youth.

Desirable: A track record in Project Management and in leading teams to develop and implement youth development projects Knowledge and understanding of the innovation and youth entrepreneurship ecosystem in Africa and the actors with a stake in empowering youth in the region.

How to apply