ACN Affiliates Program Fellow

African Leadership Academy (ALA) exists to develop and connect Africa's next generation of leaders who will drive peace and shared prosperity across the continent. Since 2008, ALA has built a growing ecosystem of high-potential young leaders working across sectors and geographies.

Africa Career Networks (ACN) accelerates scholar-to-career transitions for Mastercard Foundation Scholars and ALA alumni across seven priority economic sectors: Education, Health, The Arts, Agribusiness, Infrastructure, Governance, and Professional Services. Through a network-driven model, ACN has facilitated over 5,000 internships and full-time placements.

To expand geographic and demographic reach, ACN partners with 15 Affiliate organizations across Africa. These Affiliates support scholar recruitment, career readiness programming, employer engagement, and placement outcomes - particularly for young women, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and youth with disabilities.

The Strategy & Systems Fellow is a high-impact, project-based fellowship focused on strengthening the operational architecture and performance systems of the ACN Affiliates Program.

This role is designed for an analytically strong, systems-oriented emerging leader who will work alongside the Senior Program Manager to:

• Strengthen performance tracking systems
• Improve scholar-to-placement conversion analytics
• Standardize Affiliate operating models
• Enhance reporting quality and audit readiness
• Support data-informed decision making across the program

The Fellow will deliver structured outputs that improve scalability, transparency, and performance discipline across 15 Affiliate partners.

• Audit existing reporting templates and milestone frameworks.
• Redesign a streamlined Affiliate performance dashboard (recruitment, training, placement, inclusion metrics).
• Develop standardized reporting guidance and definitions to reduce inconsistencies.
• Propose refinements to milestone-based funding triggers.

• Consolidated Affiliate Performance Dashboard
• Reporting & Data Definitions Guide
• Performance Improvement Memo

• Map the full scholar pipeline: recruitment activation training coaching interview placement.
• Identify drop off points and conversion bottlenecks.
• Conduct comparative analysis across high- and low-performing Affiliates.
• Recommend practical interventions to improve conversion rates.

• Conversion Funnel Analysis Report
• Bottleneck Diagnostic Brief
• 3-5 Evidence-Based Improvement Recommendations

• Document best practices from high-performing Affiliates.
• Develop a standardized Affiliate Operations Playbook covering:
• Recruitment processes
• Ambassador and Peer Coach engagement
• Employer pipeline building
• Reporting compliance standards
• Create onboarding guidance for new Affiliates.

• ACN Affiliate Operations Playbook (Version 1)
• Onboarding Toolkit for New Affiliates

• Support the preparation of quarterly narrative reports.
• Develop concise, executive ready summary briefs.
• Provide structured analysis to inform program strategy discussions.

• Quarterly Executive Summary Templates
• Data Visualization Packs for Leadership Review

• Strengthened clarity and consistency of Affiliate reporting
• Improved visibility into scholar conversion performance
• Developed standardized documentation that supports program scalability
• Enhanced readiness for donor review and audit processes
• Delivered practical tools that remain in use beyond the Fellowship period

• Bachelor's degree in development, economics, public policy, business, data analytics, social sciences, or related field
• 2-4 years of relevant experience in program management, consulting, analytics, operations, or nonprofit delivery
• Strong analytical and problem-structuring capability
• Advanced proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets
• Ability to synthesize data into clear written insights
• Strong written communication skills

• Experience working in youth employment or education ecosystems
• Familiarity with Results-Based Management (RBM), logframes, or KPI systems
• Experience building dashboards or performance tracking tools
• Exposure to CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce)
• French language proficiency (Preferred)

• Structured and systems-oriented thinking
• Analytical rigor and comfort with data
• High attention to detail and documentation discipline
• Independent ownership of workstreams
• Professional judgment and integrity
• Comfort operating in a remote, multi-country environment

• Direct exposure to the pan African program strategy and performance management
• Hands on experience in building scalable systems in a multi partner environment
• Mentorship from senior program leadership
• Opportunity to contribute to improving employment outcomes for young African leaders

Interested candidates should submit:

• CV
• Cover letter outlining interest and relevant experience
• Optional: Sample dashboard, analytical memo, or structured report

Applications must be submitted via the ACN portal or ALA website by 10 April 2026.

African Leadership Academy is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace.