Communities Programme Manager

Role Overview

The Communities Programme Manager will work with an agile transnational team of community coordinators, digital designers, and editorial experts across 22 countries on the African continent. This senior role is responsible for overseeing the strategic management, expansion, and daily operations of Code for Africa's (CfA) Communities initiatives, both online and offline.

Responsibilities

Your daily responsibilities will include:

• Oversee the day-to-day operations of all online and offline Communities initiatives activities, including meetups, online workshops or forums, conferences or events, etc.
• Lead the expansion and development of new Communities initiatives that are aligned with our product roadmap to effectively grow our network’s user base.
• Oversee and support a distributed team of Communities coordinators who work on clearly defined initiatives or projects across Africa.
• Oversee the engagement and relationship of the Communities coordinators with their particular community on a regular basis via multiple chosen communication mediums.
• Design and oversee the day-to-day implementation of projects/partners, based on their work plans and CfA strategic objectives or expectations.
• Oversee and manage multiple project deliverables to ensure adherence to agreed quality benchmarks and budgets, by facilitating regular progress reviews at appropriate milestones for stakeholders, and by proactively problem-solving where expectations are not met.
• Explore and evaluate new partnerships and initiatives that can significantly increase CfA’s Communities footprint in Africa.
• Keep track of the impact stories sparked by the Communities’ initiatives and share insights with internal teams to improve community approaches and engagements.
• Maintain and foster a database of community influencers, high-impact leaders to partner with on events and content.
• Lead the coordination of the syndication/publication of CfA content with media partners, with the support of the Communities coordinators.

Required Qualifications, Experience, and Skills

Minimum requirements include:

Experience & Qualifications

• A minimum of 7 years of experience working in a programme and project management role.
• At least 3 years of that experience must involve community management and engagement, preferably at development organisations (NGOs/CSO/non-profit), technology/media networks, or high-growth startups.
• Proven experience managing fast-moving, complex, multi-stakeholder communications projects within the NGO/CSO/non-profit, media, or tech/startup sectors.
• Proven experience in designing and organising international events/conferences/webinars, offline and online.
• Experience in forming and managing partnerships, particularly with media institutions, international organisations, or relevant technology players, as well as other private and non-profit stakeholders in the civic technology and media ecosystem.
• Understanding of donor funding and reporting requirements.
• A BA/BSc/HND qualification.

Skills & Attributes

• Demonstrable leadership skills honed from experience in building and growing an effective remote or distributed team of ambitious multicultural and multilingual domain experts.
• Meticulous attention to detail, with the ability to work congenially in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Organizational ability to prioritise multiple simultaneous tasks, coupled with strong people skills needed to engage diplomatically and collaborate effectively with colleagues under tight deadlines.
• A high level of analytical skills and the ability to use initiative, apply creativity, and develop innovative solutions to problems.
• Digital-first workplace skill-sets, including proficiency in collaborative work solutions such as Google Workplace (Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc.), Slack (or equivalents such as Teams, etc), and project management tools like Trello (or equivalents such as AirTable, etc.)
• Strong research and writing skills and the ability to write in a non-academic, accessible, and engaging manner.
• Strong administrative skills and precision in handling budgets and contracts.
• Empathetic communication and listening skills, plus top-notch cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Must be a true team player, enjoying working with a highly collaborative team.