Program Director

Program Overview:

The Inclusive Africa Program (IAP) is a transformative initiative designed to break barriers preventing youth with disabilities from accessing Africa’s digital economy. The program operates under four pillars: standards development, skills development, knowledge generation, and institutional environment enhancement. This three-year program (2025-2028) aims to implement Kenya’s Digital Accessibility Standards and harmonize them across Africa, fostering systemic change. IAP will also train youth with disabilities as Digital Accessibility Champions and host the annual Inclusive Africa Conference. inABLE will partner with other stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private sector organizations.

Role Summary:

The Program Director will provide strategic leadership, operational oversight, and stakeholder engagement to ensure the successful implementation of the Inclusive Africa Program. This role requires a visionary leader with extensive experience in program management, disability inclusion, and digital advocacy across Africa.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Leadership & Program Execution:

•  Lead the implementation and management of the program throughout its life cycle, ensuring the achievement of goals, objectives, targets, and deliverables.
•  Provide leadership, inspiration, technical guidance, operational management, and quality assurance for the program.
• Oversee program execution, ensuring timely delivery of activities, budget compliance, achievement of outcomes, and donor reporting.
• Manage risks, challenges, and adaptations to optimize program impact.
• Promote the sustainability of Activity interventions by fostering links to other programs, identifying new local partners, and contributing to institutional strengthening.
• Support the digital accessibility manager’s efforts to advocate for adopting and implementing Digital Accessibility Standards across multiple African countries.
• Support the partnerships manager in engaging stakeholders and organizing the annual Inclusive Africa Conference and quarterly convenings, business roundtables, and policy discussions to enhance accessibility adoption in Africa.
• Lead the monitoring and evaluation function using the Activity Info M&E system to track progress, evaluate program impact, and report findings.

2. Team & Stakeholder Management:

• Supervise and mentor a team of program managers, coordinators, and technical experts.
• Oversee recruitment, hiring, onboarding, management, professional development, and supervision of all staff, consultants, and team members.
• Provide support for positions and deliverables when required.
• Foster equitable, inclusive, and mutually respectful partnerships with all consortium members, and collaborate on the design, implementation, and evaluation of activities.
• Maintain a clear organizational structure with defined roles, responsibilities, and accountability.
• Establish partnerships with key stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector partners, Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs), and African standards bodies.

3. Institutional Strengthening

• Oversee the designing, development, implementation, and evaluation of programs in alignment with inABLE’s goals and the funders’ requirements.
• Cultivate and manage strategic partnerships with governments, NGOs, donors, and private sector organizations to enhance the impact of inABLE’s program.
• Represent inABLE in high-level meetings, conferences, and forums to promote collaboration and learning.
• Provide oversight in operational functions, including finance, Human resources, and procurement, to ensure efficiency and compliance.

Qualifications & Experience:

1. Master’s degree in International Development, Public Policy, Disability Studies, ICT, Business Administration, or a related field.
2. 10+ years of experience in program leadership in youth development programs and or ICT for development projects.
3.  Proven track record in multi-country program management, donor relations, and large-scale stakeholder engagement.
4.  Experience working with African government agencies, standards bodies, financial institutions, and the private sector.
5.  Exceptional leadership, negotiation, and public speaking skills.
6. Ability to travel within Africa for program implementation and advocacy engagements.

Preferred Skills:

•  Experience leading accessibility initiatives in fintech, education, or e-government services.
•  Familiarity with assistive technologies, digital skilling programs, and workforce inclusion for persons with disabilities.
•  Strong project management skills (PMP certification is a plus).
•  Proven experience in business development, grant writing, and donor engagement.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Competitive salary based on qualifications and experience.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance and retirement contributions.
• Professional development opportunities in digital accessibility and leadership.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates should submit 1 PDF document that includes a cover letter (mentioning the expected salary) resume, and three professional references to careers@inable.org/Eassy Apply with the subject line “Application: Program Director – Inclusive Africa Program”.

Interviews will be done on a rolling basis.

Application Deadline: 2/3/2025.

The NGO is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from persons with disabilities, women, and individuals from diverse backgrounds.