Senior Director, Health Workforce Initiatives at Mastercard Foundation

• Provide strategic direction for Health Workforce Initiatives and ensure alignment with the HECSI integrated strategy.
• Translate the Foundation’s higher-level strategies into actionable plans for workforce development initiatives.
• Represent the Foundation in regional and global forums on health workforce, higher education, and system strengthening.
• Contribute to thought leadership and strategic positioning through evidence generation, technical insights, and best practices.
• Promote the Foundation’s values and support initiatives that expand opportunities for African youth.

• Strengthen and coordinate multidisciplinary collaboratives involving universities, ministries, training institutions, and development partners.
• Support partners in proposal development, program design, and operational planning.
• Establish and facilitate governance structures such as Steering Committees and Technical Working Groups.
• Build and maintain relationships with senior leadership in partner organizations, universities, regional bodies, and civil society.
• Promote cross-country learning and facilitate communities of practice focused on health workforce transformation.

• Oversee the design and rollout of programs that expand competency-based training, applied learning, and workforce readiness.
• Support the development of innovative education and training models that respond to evolving workforce needs.
• Ensure that programs draw from evidence, global guidelines, and relevant frameworks.
• Promote scalable and sustainable approaches to workforce development across countries.

• Develop robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to measure program effectiveness and outcomes.
• Work with the Impact team to align indicators, data systems, and learning processes across the portfolio.
• Produce high-quality evidence and synthesize lessons to inform ongoing program improvement.
• Facilitate learning exchanges between partners, higher education institutions, and government counterparts.

• Develop communication strategies that highlight the Foundation’s work on workforce initiatives.
• Represent the Foundation with external audiences, including governments, donors, academic institutions, and regional bodies.
• Support the production of technical briefs, case studies, learning reports, and other documentation.

• Support partners in reviewing and managing budgets, ensuring timely adjustments and compliance.

• Lead and mentor program and operations staff within a matrixed environment, ensuring high-quality work and alignment with Foundation values.
• Drive team engagement, collaboration, and inclusivity, fostering a culture of oneness and diversity.
• Support performance management, career development, and capacity building for team members.

• Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in a relevant field such as public health, health policy, education, international development, or a related discipline.
• At least fifteen (15) years of progressive experience in health workforce development, health systems strengthening, higher education, or a related field.
• Experience designing and implementing complex, multi-country programs.
• Demonstrated success managing partnerships with governments, universities, regional bodies, and development partners.
• Progressive experience in health workforce development, health systems strengthening, or related areas, including developing roadmaps and executing programs for health workforce development.
• Experience leading multi-stakeholder collaboratives and governance structures.
• Strong understanding of health workforce frameworks, policy environments, and strategic planning processes.
• Proven ability to think in a strategic, transformative way, able to conceptualize initiatives/processes that will drive large-scale change.
• Possess excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate information to a variety of constituents across cultures.
• Experience building communities of practice and supporting knowledge exchange.
• Strong communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills across diverse cultural contexts.
• Experience managing teams and providing leadership in complex organizational environments.
• Familiarity with higher education systems in Africa is an asset.
• French or a local African language is an advantage.
• Knowledge of development, political, and social issues affecting Africa’s health and education systems.

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