Recruitment at Mastercard Foundation

Mastercard Foundation is a global foundation based across four hubs in Kigali, Rwanda, Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana and Toronto, Canada. Our programs promote financial inclusion and advance education and learning in Africa, primarily for young people, and in Canada for Indigenous youth. The Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. From inception, the Foundation was designed to be a separate entity and independent from Mastercard. Our policies, operations, and funding decisions are made by our President and Board of Directors.

The Foundation believes that youth employment is key to unlocking prosperity, both for youth and their societies. Enabling young women and men from disadvantaged communities to secure dignified and fulfilling work will ensure inclusive development and economic growth in Africa.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Head, Enterprise & Strategic Initiatives

Job Requisition ID: JR-0000000521
Location: Nigeria
Job type: Full Time

The Opportunity

• Reporting to the Senior Director, Risk & Resilience, the Head, Enterprise Risk & Strategic Initiatives is responsible for ensuring the effective execution and integration of risk management activities across non-programmatic functions and key Foundation strategic initiatives.
• The role works closely with the senior management team and functional leads to ensure that enterprise, functional, and strategic risks are systematically identified, assessed, mitigated, and monitored.
• This position is pivotal in strengthening a robust risk culture, enabling informed decision-making, and supporting the Foundation in achieving its strategic and programmatic goals.

Responsibilities
Ways you can contribute:

• Support the Senior Director Risk & Resilience, ensuring the Foundation’s enterprise risk management (ERM) framework and practices are aligned with leading practices, leveraging technology, analytics, using scenario planning and other techniques for risk identification.
• Coordinate risk identification, assessment, mitigation, and monitoring across all internal functions and strategic initiatives to ensure the ERM program is effective and supports the Foundation’s strategic goals.
• Provide risk advisory support for new and ongoing strategic initiatives, ensuring risks are considered during planning and execution.
• Collaborate with Foundation teams and risk champions to foster strong risk behaviours, ensuring a shared understanding of the Foundation’s risk appetite, risk tolerance, and risk management processes.
• Promote the integration of risk management into planning, operations, and strategic decision-making.
• Evaluate and critique risk registers submitted by risk champions, providing actionable insights to enhance the risk identification, assessment, and mitigation process.
• Monitor and analyse emerging risks and trends relevant to the Foundation’s enterprise and strategic activities.
• Plan and conduct regular spot checks and reviews of internal processes, strategic projects, and Foundation functions to assess compliance with risk management policies and procedures.
• Support the development and execution of overall business resilience strategies, including crisis management and business continuity plans for enterprise functions and strategic initiatives.
• Develop and deliver tailored capacity-building initiatives for program staff and implementing partners, ensuring they have the tools, knowledge, and training needed to identify, assess, and manage risks effectively.
• Prepare, consolidate enterprise risk reports and provide regular updates on risk management activities to the Senior Director, Risk & Resilience.
• Escalate significant risks and incidents as appropriate.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Risk Management, Business Administration, International Development, Public Administration, Economics, Finance, or a related field; a Master’s degree and professional risk certifications are strong assets.
• Over 10 years of experience in risk management with at least 5 years in a managerial role.
• Demonstrated experience in risk management, with exposure to strategic risk assessments and implementing risk frameworks in multi-country organisations.
• Experience working in culturally diverse environments, with proficiency in English required and French an asset.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage diverse stakeholders with empathy, cultural sensitivity, and purpose.
• High integrity, sound judgement, and the confidence to uphold principled positions in challenging situations.
• Collaborative and capable of building capacity across teams and partners.
• Agile and adaptable, with the ability to stay informed on emerging trends in the development sector and risk management.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Application Closing Date
4th March, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Job Title: Head, Program Risks

Job Requisition ID: JR-0000000522
Location: Nigeria
Job type: Full Time

The Opportunity

• Reporting to the Director, Program Risk, the Head, Program Risk is responsible for ensuring the effective execution of risk management activities across all programs at the Mastercard Foundation.
• The role holder will work collaboratively with program teams, senior management, implementing partners, and other key stakeholders to ensure that program-related risks are systematically identified, assessed, and managed.
• This role is essential in fostering strong risk behaviours that enable sound decision-making and support the Foundation in achieving its strategic and programmatic goals.

Responsibilities
Ways you can contribute:

• Support the Director, Program Risk, in coordinating risk management activities across the Foundation’s program platforms and adjacent activities.
• Provide risk advisory services and insights to Foundation program teams, offering guidance on risk identification, mitigation, and response strategies and ensuring risk management is embedded in the entire program cycle from ideation to closure.
• Collaborate with Foundation program teams, risk champions and implementing partners’ risk focal points to foster strong risk behaviours across programs, ensuring a shared understanding of the Foundation’s risk appetite, risk tolerance, and risk management processes.
• Review and critique risk registers submitted by risk champions and implementing partners, and provide actionable insights to enhance the risk identification, assessment, and mitigation process.
• Monitor and analyse emerging risks and trends relevant to the Foundation’s programs.
• Conduct regular spot checks and reviews of program activities, partners, and processes to assess compliance with risk management policies and procedures.
• Develop and deliver tailored capacity-building initiatives for program staff and implementing partners, ensuring they have the tools, knowledge, and training needed to identify, assess, and manage risks effectively.
• Prepare, consolidate program risk reports and provide regular updates on risk management activities to the Director, Program Risks.
• Escalate significant risks and incidents as appropriate.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field such as Risk Management, Business Administration, International Development, Public Administration, Economics, or Finance; a Master’s degree and professional risk certifications are strong assets.
• Over 10 years of relevant experience in risk management, with at least 5 years in a managerial role.
• Demonstrated experience in programmatic risk management within the non-profit, philanthropic, or international development sectors, with a proven ability to implement risk frameworks in multi-country organisations.
• Strong understanding of regulatory, operational, financial, and reputational risks relevant to the international development context
• Experience working in culturally diverse environments, with excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills; proficiency in English required and French an asset.
• High integrity, sound judgement, and the confidence to uphold principled positions in complex or challenging situations.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across teams, build partner capacity, and engage stakeholders with empathy and cultural sensitivity.
• Agile and adaptable, able to respond to evolving priorities while staying informed about emerging trends in risk management and international development.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Application Closing Date
4th March, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Job Title: Director, Enterprise Risk

Job Requisition ID: JR-0000000523
Location: Nigeria
Job type: Full-time

The Opportunity

• The Director Risk, Programs is responsible for leading the design, execution, and oversight of risk management activities across all programmatic activities of the Mastercard Foundation.
• Reporting directly to the Senior Director, Risk and Resilience, the Director works closely with program teams, senior leadership, implementing partners, and other key stakeholders to ensure that program risks are proactively identified, assessed, mitigated, and monitored in alignment with the Foundation’s mission, values, and strategic goals.
• This role requires strong collaboration across functions to embed a risk-aware culture and support effective decision-making at all levels of programming. The role holder will directly oversee and manage the Head(s) and Lead(s), Program Risks.

Ways You Can Contribute

• Develop and implement comprehensive risk management framework and strategies for all Foundation programs, positioning risk as a strategic enabler.
• Communicate the Foundation’s risk appetite to stakeholders and help integrate it into decision-making processes across programs and Foundation functions.
• Provide risk advisory services and insights to Foundation programs teams and implementing partners, offering guidance on risk identification, mitigation, and response strategies.
• Ensure alignment of programmatic risk management practices with Foundation-wide policies and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to promote a risk-aware culture across the Foundation.
• Prepare and present regular risk updates to senior leadership and the risk management committee, highlighting key trends and recommendations.
• Monitor emerging risks and trends relevant to the Foundation’s programmatic work.
• Foster a culture of risk awareness and continuous improvement through training, knowledge sharing, and sharing lessons learned across programs to support integration into other ongoing and future programs.
• Support the Senior Director Risk & Resilience coordinate ERM activities as required across various stakeholder groups.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing risk management team.

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s Degree in Risk Management, Business Administration, International Development, Public Administration, Economics, Finance, or related disciplines.
• Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Risk Management, International Development, Public Policy, or related fields
• Advanced professional certifications in risk management will be an added advantage.
• Over 12 years of experience, with at least 8 years in senior leadership roles in ERM or the programs’ function/department preferably within the non-profit, philanthropic, or international development sectors.
• Demonstrated experience leading teams and working across diverse geographic and cultural contexts.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing risk frameworks for complex, multi-country programs.
• Experience collaborating with Senior Leadership on strategic risk management and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong understanding of regulatory, operational, financial, and reputational risks in the context of international development.
• Experience working in culturally diverse environments; proficiency in English required, French desired.
• Cultural awareness and sensitivity, ensuring meaningful engagement and influence across diverse stakeholder groups.
• Strategic and forward-thinking mindset.
• Excellent facilitation and communication skills.
• Strong integrity, courage, and confidence to uphold convictions even in challenging situations.
• Ability to collaborate across the organization as well as drive capacity at the partner level.
• Strong inter-personal skills and ability to engage with empathy and purpose.
• Agile and adaptable to the Foundation’s strategic priorities, needs, and values.
• Able to keep abreast of emerging issues, innovations, and trends in the development sector and risk management standards.

Application Closing Date
11th March, 2026.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online