Senior Director
Malala Fund
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Hybrid
Location: Abuja • Nigeria
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Job Level
About the role
- In close consultation with the Chief Executive, provide guide implementation and refinement of the Nigeria Country Framework, ensuring advocacy, partnerships, grantmaking, and communications operate as a coherent and mutually reinforcing portfolio.
- Exercise delegated authority over programmatic and delivery decisions, escalating strategic or reputational risks to the Chief Executive as appropriate.
- Apply deep technical and contextual expertise in girls’ education systems strengthening, ensuring work is grounded in a strong understanding of Nigeria’s education system, political economy, and federal–state dynamics.
- Lead the Partnership Managers to ensure coherence across federal and state advocacy efforts and grantee-led work, supporting aligned, mutually reinforcing approaches to systems change.
- Guide the team to track progress against agreed outcomes and ensure the effective use of policy analysis, evidence, and learning, identifying risks and bottlenecks and supporting timely course correction to strengthen accountability and results.
- Advance approaches that engage men, boys, and influential traditional and religious leaders as part of broader systems-change efforts.
- Represent Nigeria delivery priorities in cross-departmental discussions, ensuring organisational decisions reflect country realities.
Requirements
- Significant professional experience and a Masters Degree (typically 10–15 years) in education, gender, public policy, advocacy, international development, economics, or social sciences, with substantial experience working in Nigeria.
- Demonstrated experience engaging policymakers and government institutions and supporting policy adoption and implementation, particularly within complex federal and state systems.
- Strong understanding of Nigeria’s education ecosystem, including governance structures, education financing, and the roles of government, civil society, donors, and coalitions.
- Proven experience leading complex programmes or advocacy efforts in politically nuanced and/or resource-constrained environments.
- Demonstrated people management experience, including leading and developing managers and supporting teams at varying levels of capacity and experience.
- Strong systems-thinking, execution discipline, and ability to translate strategy into action.
- Sound judgement, integrity, and political awareness in complex stakeholder environments.
- Collaborative, low-ego leadership style with a strong coaching and learning orientation.
Benefits
- Malala Fund is an equal opportunity employer and inclusive organization who welcomes employees from under-represented and intersectional communities including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and persons with disabilities.
- We seek people with diverse backgrounds, cultures, ages, experiences and identities to provide a wide range of perspectives, ideas, views and insights into the strategy, policies, culture and ambitions of Malala Fund.
- Malala Fund is committed to safeguarding and ensuring the safety and dignity of all of those involved in our work.
- Our first priority is protecting everyone who comes in direct or indirect contact with our organization, including staff, partners, grantees, and the communities in which we work.
- Malala Fund has a zero-tolerance approach to abuse, exploitation, harassment, or discrimination of any kind by any of our staff, representatives or partners.
- We commit to ensuring that those who work with Malala Fund or on our behalf are able to work in an environment that is safe, respectful, and free from harm.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard Skills & Tools
girls’ education systems strengtheningpolicy analysisevidence-based learningprogrammatic decision-makingadvocacygrantmakingeducation financingpolicy adoptionimplementationsystems change
Soft Skills
people managementcollaborative leadershipcoachinglearning orientationexecution disciplinesound judgementintegritypolitical awarenesssystems-thinkingstrategic translation
Certifications
Masters Degree