Programme Manager

Reports to: Executive Director, working very closely with the Director of Strategy, Research & MEL

Target start: December 2026, Jan 2027 if needed, later for the right candidate

Purpose: Own the design and delivery of our in-depth programmes end to end: the country fellowships and careers programmes that are the deep end of our talent funnel.

Responsibilities

• Own the design and delivery of our in-depth programmes end to end: cohort-based fellowships that support participants to found new organisations and develop their careers, and targeted careers programmes.

• Working closely with the Director of Strategy, Research & MEL, who holds functional authority over programme content and strategic design.

• Manage the Programme Coordinator, including their priorities and development.

• Implement participant selection: assessing and scoring candidates.

• Deliver programme content and in-person components.

• Hold the supportive relationship with participants, alumni and incubated organisations, including accompaniment through career transitions and early organisational stages.

• Coordinate with local partners, Effective Animal Advocacy (EAA) group leads and external capacity builders supporting our participants.

• Feed programme learnings back into design for subsequent cohorts.

Essential

• Experience designing and delivering programmes with cohorts of participants: fellowships, accelerators, training programmes or similar.

• Demonstrated management experience, or clearly demonstrable capability, since this role manages others from early on.

• Strong organisational skills and comfort holding many moving parts at once.

• Able to work in close partnership with a colleague who holds design authority while retaining clear ownership of delivery.

• Strong interest in effective animal advocacy and in the African context.

• Ability to travel for roughly two weeks per year.

Desirable

• Experience in incubation, entrepreneurship, or start-up environment.

• Experience in one of our priority careers paths.

• Experience working across multiple countries or in African contexts.

• Comfort with data tools and AI-supported workflows.

• Arabic (strong plus), French, or another regionally relevant language.