Head of Programme Implementation, Uganda

Who We Are! 

🌍 Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more young people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined. 

At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent. 

Educate! prepares youth in Africa to learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by: 

1. Introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary and 
2. Delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

To date, more than 500,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa.

Educate! is a team of over 300 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations, and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows. 

We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures, Livelihood Impact Fund,  Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall, CIFF and Echidna Giving. Educate! won a 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a 2015 WISE Award, and has been highlighted by the World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio, an Al Jazeera documentary, BBC, The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work.

Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year.

Good to note: To Our Awesome Applicants! 🚀💫

We know that incredible candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply! 

We’re looking for passionate individuals who believe in our mission and can bring unique perspectives to our team—not just those who check every box. We value diversity and strongly encourage women and individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Position Overview

Educate!, an award-winning non-profit social enterprise, is seeking a Head of Programme Implementation to lead operational excellence across our programs and support functions in Uganda. 

This role is central to ensuring we deliver high-quality programming, strengthen government partnerships, and drive measurable impact for youth. As the Head of Programme Implementation, you’ll apply your leadership and program management expertise to shape teams and systems that fuel growth at an award-winning social enterprise.

What You’ll Do🌟

Program Implementation (30%)  

• Co-create and track stage and Quarterly goals and objectives with Impact unit leaders and program managers and lead alignment with other functional leaders where necessary
• Co-design & lead stage retreats and investment committee reports for the product.
• Co-design a youth recruitment strategy development that validates recruitment funnel tied to a clear user profile to serve scale goals.
• Use information lessons from experiments, pilots to inform strategy inform & enable program quality 
• Monitor and directly inspect program quality, including review of monitoring and evaluation reports regularly.
• Plan and lead program strategy development by leading team retreats, ensuring documentation of strategic decisions.
• Create a data driven culture for program management, ensure all decisions are backed by data and all the teams have clear data visibility and are empowered to use data in their day-to-day work
• Bring in external best practices, implementation standards, research and reports, and personal monitoring to bring strategic recommendations to the Director team. 
• Lead team in risk analysis and mitigation planning

 Delivery Strategy/Model (20%)

• Lead the co-creation and validation of scalable delivery model options with Impact Unit leaders and frontline teams 
• Evaluate plans & staffing structure to be in line with product stage goals. Clear role profiles
• Oversee development of program delivery ways of work and key management tools and ways of work 
• Evaluate program model based on feedback from stakeholders, M&E data, and strategic plans
• Develop a high performance culture providing clear performance expectations
• Define performance KPIs and course of action and ensure the management strategy is integrated into handbooks

Team Culture (20%)

• Establish, monitor and reinforce systems and structures that build a high-performing and culturally aligned team.
• Build Leadership Mindset and brand ambassadors among program teams from top to bottom including contractors.
• Model and establish initiatives that promote Educate!’s cultural tenets. Establish a mentor-centered management culture. Ensure honesty, integrity, and professionalism of teams.
• Create team growth management strategy and maintain a healthy talent pipelining within the program
• Conduct 3 tier management by observing the Program Officers, trainers and other field teams in their role and offering insights on improvements and growth
• Continuous feedback loops with the team through 1:1 conversations, review of staff performance, and resource allocation, and workload reviews. 
• Lead/perform annual staff performance reviews and IDP development
• Manage to team/staff performance evaluation and management ensuring timely feedback, performance decisions are documented and procedures followed.

System Development  (15%)

• Leading a co-creation process for frontline team recruitment process, and building performance management systems
• Oversee the development of Program Management standards, systems and management tools that support the product at scale. 
• Identify areas that need new systems, co-create with the team & improve on already existing systems
• to close gaps in strategy and implementation. This can be through but not limited to implementing the rapid assessment process for agile learningCollaborate with performance metrics, Product Design, Performance Metrics, and Tech 
• Identify areas that need new systems, co create with the team & improve on already existing systems
• Set the program learning agenda to learn about new program systems.

Financial Oversight  (15%)

• Instil a culture of cost effectiveness and thinking about scalable costs as teams develop budgets and proposals.
• Co- develop product cost models that indicate the cost per Youth with the managing Director during the Investment memo process
• Consistently research market and share proposals to the Managing director  bring the biggest product cost drivers down 
• Ensure program managers have clear work plans and budgets 
• Co- develop product budget with the Program manager and submit to the Investment memo committee for approval 
• Develop systems that will cut down program overhead costs
• Support Program Manager during monthly budget review, 
• Coach managers on how to review org-wide financial reports and department specific budget vs. actual reports (budget trackers) to ensure proper use of funds. Submit revised budgets to Managing Director and suggest budget 
• Work with the program manager on strategy to uncover issues of fraudulent and/or mis-use of funds.  Ensure all members of the programs management team follow up hold policy and procedures in instances of fraudulent or mis-use of funds.

Who You Are 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️ 

• Looking for a steady highly organized strategic thinker & operational planner and an implementation superstar with at least 4 years of experience owning and managing programs while building/improving necessary processes/systems 
• Experience working in the Education and youth space or entrepreneurship-related programs at a start-up or social enterprise is preferred. 
• Managed a diverse team for at least 5 years building a culture for high-performing teams. Can thrive in a very agile/ adaptive environment. 
• Experience building efficient processes and systems to ensure quality last mile delivery. 
• Passionate about addressing systemic problems.
• Fits our Five Cultural Tenets (see What is Educate! About? below); Learn more by looking at Educate!’s culture deck here 

What We Offer 💼

• A vibrant, mission-driven environment with a supportive and fun team. 
• Competitive salary based on experience.
• Learning & growth opportunities  

Application Process: Rolling basis, interviews happening soon!

Our Culture & Tenets(Values) 🌱

We’re ambitious. Are you? Educate! is growing fast, so new opportunities are opening up and expanding all the time. We’re inspired by people with drive, and we love to help them reach their full potential. We expect everyone at Educate! to contribute above and beyond their job description, grow their skills, and advance their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey of their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey. 

1. We put Youth First, Impact-Obsessed - We are purpose-driven, focused on impact, and prioritize what truly matters. We listen to youth, design our efforts around their needs, and ensure every dollar creates transformative experiences they value.
2. We Exceed Expectations - We take pride in going above and beyond to achieve the best results—proactively identifying problems and seeking solutions without waiting or stopping at what's requested.
3. We Are Always Learning - We are committed to seeking and applying new knowledge and ideas. We stay open-minded and continuously try new things, experiment, grow, and improve. We invest in learning for ourselves and our teams.
4. We are One Team, Many Views - We value all individuals, believe diverse ideas and open dialogue drive excellence, foster a supportive and respectful environment where everyone can freely express themselves. We work as one team and prioritize the organization's mission over personal or team interests.
5. We have the Startup Mindset - We innovate relentlessly to grow our impact, we never think “we have arrived” or “we’re done.”We constantly challenge the status quo, embrace change, and move quickly toward our vision. Unafraid of failure, we question anything that hinders progress.

Every person at Educate! — from interns to the executive director — is evaluated by how they live up to these five cultural tenets. They are at the core of how we achieve our mission and why we work as well as we do.  Educate is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community. In creating this environment, we encourage people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences to join our diverse team. 

We’re committed to ensuring all candidates are screened for child and youth safety. As part of the process, you’ll need to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct. Educate! reserves the right to withdraw employment offers if any risks to youth are identified.