Director of Strategy and Partnerships at AFRICAN CENTURY GROUP LTD: (Deadline 13 August 2023)

Director of Strategy and Partnerships at AFRICAN CENTURY GROUP LTD: (Deadline 13 August 2023)

Organizational Overview              

African Century Group is dedicated to supporting transformational institutions and leaders making this Africa’s Century – one of rapid progress for people, planet, and prosperity. Our organization provides tailored, context-specific support that institutions and leaders require in order to accelerate their growth and impact, including strategic advisory services, implementation support, partnership facilitation, and links for financial resources.

Founded in 2022, African Century Group is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda and works with a portfolio of many of the world’s leading partners for development at national, regional, and global level, including on public policy and accelerating food systems action to deliver the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

Position Overview

African Century Group seeks a world-class Director of Strategy & Partnerships who can drive priority strategic engagements and help shape and lead the growth of the organization from its earliest days.

The Director of Strategy & Partnerships will serve as a key partner to the Managing Director to advance African Century Group’s vision, strategy, and several of its most critical initiatives and partnerships. The role will have primary responsibility for the organization’s strategy development function and be responsible for cultivating and implementing strategic initiatives with many of African Century Group’s priority partners. A focus of the role from its outset will be strategic leadership on an initiative to enhance public policy and public sector leadership on key issues facing the African continent and the globe, as well as another to accelerate food systems transformation as one of the best opportunities to deliver on the SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063. With these and other emerging efforts, the position offers an exciting opportunity to directly support and drive teams composed of several institutions and leaders making this Africa’s century and delivering significant impact towards Rwanda’s and the continent’s goals for people, planet, and prosperity.

The Director of Strategy & Partnerships will be based in Kigali, Rwanda – one of the most dynamic and fast-growing hubs on the continent – with occasional regional and global travel. They will report to and work directly under the supervision of the Managing Director, and with close partnerships to the external leaders they are supporting. The Director will help grow and manage the African Century Group team also play a key role in building the organization’s talent and culture.

Responsibilities

The successful candidate will be ready to make this role their own and grow it along with the growth of African Century Group. There are several ways they will be expected to contribute from the outset:

Strategy Development

• Conceptualize and develop strategies for partnerships, initiatives, and institutional workstreams that advance critical development priorities in Africa
  • Conduct research to inform and shape the effort(s) within the field and best practices
  • Understand and structure problems, tailoring options of recommended action
• Prepare project documents to advance the effort(s) with African Century Group’s leadership, partners, and key external stakeholders (e.g. governments, companies, UN agencies, and development partners)
• Prepare and implement workshops and meetings with key partners and stakeholders

Strategy, Partnership, and Initiative Implementation for Transformation

• Use strategic insights, leadership skills and ability to mobilize others to incubate and advance strategic partnerships and initiatives during their formative phases with the Managing Director, team members, and any outside partners and stakeholders as required
• Serve as the engagement lead and relationship manager to several of African Century Group’s priority partners
• Deliver on ambitious work plans that ensure each compelling vision the organization gets behind translates into reality and results

Team Leadership and Management

• Manage and oversee day-to-day work of project teams composed of staff, consultants, and partners
• Manage against existing agreements to ensure timely and quality delivery of all requirements and ensure African Century Group is managing proactively through its strategic partnerships to deliver against the organization’s goals
• Prepare and contribute to reports and updates for partners

Investment Mobilization

• Prepare proposals and investment cases to mobilize resources in support of priorities from public, private, and philanthropic partners
• Scope new priorities for African Century Group’s support and strengthen its positioning as key partner for institutions and leaders

Thought Leadership

• Work with African Century Group’s leadership to shape and prioritize the organization’s leadership engagement, key messages, and communications products
• Stay abreast of relevant issues in African development and share related updates and advice with colleagues
• Develop case studies, white papers, and social media to raise visibility on priorities and continuously refine African Century Group’s business lines, approaches, and tools
• Speak to issues in public forums where appropriate to advance the firm’s mission

Terms

The Director of Strategy & Partnerships is a full-time position with the opportunity for growth within the organization over time. The candidate will gain significant new skills, training, and networks to build on the strengths they bring to the organization.

Reporting

The Director of Strategy & Partnerships reports to the Managing Director, and with close partnerships to the leaders and institutions they are supporting.

Key Competencies and Qualifications

• Passionate about the mission and opportunity African Century Group has to support institutions and leaders in accelerating their impact for people, planet, and prosperity and make this Africa’s Century.
• Brilliant strategist who can learn quickly, solve a range of strategic problems, and deliver at a top level on any effort or partnership. Ability to identify and pursue strategic initiatives which provide the greatest value and sustainable impact; balance long-term and short-term trade-offs; and communicate clearly and precisely the strategic goals and the strategies for achieving them.
• Deep understanding of African economic and social development priorities, as well as knowledge of the contributions being made by leading Pan-African institutions.
• At least 7 years of relevant work experience with a proven track record of highest success in previous roles. Experience having worked in a strategy role and/or in public sector in any country will be an added advantage.
• A post-graduate degree and excellent academic record in a relevant field required (e.g. government, public administration, public policy, business, law, economics, finance, development studies, agriculture, etc…).
• Dedicated and hard-working, willing to do what it takes to get the job done.
• Excellent diplomatic and interpersonal skills. Excels at building and maintaining relationships and working in multi-cultural and complex teams at all levels internally and externally to help deliver collective impact.
• Demonstrates strong leadership skills and the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and trust.
• Excellent communications and writing skills, with ability to present the work of African Century Group externally at high levels.
• Proven track record of highest success in previous roles.
• English fluency required. Language abilities in Kinyarwanda, French, and/or other languages will be an added advantage.

Compensation and Benefits

Competitive salary and benefits.

Qualified Candidates should submit their application letter, Curriculum Vitae (CV) at [email protected] and [email protected]