Program Manager at ReBoot

Job Description

• Reboot works with change agents who care about creating a better future—within governments, foundations, international organizations, media, and civil society groups.
• We innovatively apply methods pulled from ethnography, design, political science, and other disciplines to the challenges of global development and public sector innovation. Reboot puts empathy for people and user-centered design at the core of our work in our three program areas:
  • Reboot Governance: Co-creating open, participatory, and accountable governance;
  • Reboot Media: Fostering vibrant information ecosystems; 
  • Reboot Institutions: Putting innovation into practice with leading organizations.
• We are seeking an experienced Program Manager to be part of our Programs team. This person will be a key member of our team, helping lead and manage a range of projects that bring together media, civil society, communities, and government to advance social justice, with a focus on user-centered design and ethnographic research. The Program Manager’s portfolio of work will primarily include media development and open government programs.
• Our ideal candidate is deeply committed to the issues Reboot works on, and has the intellectual courage and curiosity to develop innovative new solutions. You are equally comfortable meeting government officials in Abuja or chatting with patients at a rural health clinic. You are enterprising and have the chops to become a star all on your own, but you value being part of a multidisciplinary team.
• This is a full-time position based at our West Africa hub in Abuja, Nigeria. During project periods, the position will require significant travel throughout Nigeria and beyond (approximately 30%).

Responsibilities
Project Work (80%):

• Lead projects from start to finish, which includes research, design, implementation, and evaluation. Manage collaborations with diverse subject matter experts, both internal teams and external consultants.
• Manage key relationships with clients and partners through proactive communication and successful project execution, always with a strong focus on optimizing the partnership experience.
• Manage project staff and consultants, ensuring their timely and effective inputs. Ensure the high performance of project staff, subcontractors, and consultants; provide additional training or support as needed.
• Coordinate work across team members, project schedules, and budgets to ensure high quality, timely delivery of project activities within budget.
• Manage partnerships and relationships with media organizations, journalists, civil society organizations, and government MDAs across various Reboot engagements.
• Design, produce, and facilitate project workshops, which may include dynamic co-design and capacity building exercises.
• Help partners understand Reboot’s design approach, and lead discussions on project scope, methodology, and outputs.

Organizational Growth & Innovation (10%):

• Contribute to process innovation within Reboot to improve organizational agility, efficiency, and impact.
• Ensure lessons from industry best practices and client engagements are effectively integrated across Reboot’s work.
• Ensure frequent knowledge transfer between programmatic team members and technical specialists, and support cross-pollination of expertise across the organization. 

Communication & Business Development (10%):

• Identify and cultivate new areas of business growth and project opportunities to expand our West Africa media and governance portfolio.
• Contribute to Reboot’s internal learning and external communications and advocacy by creating content (including articles and blog posts), representing Reboot at events, sharing articles for discussion, and contributing to Reboot’s online presence.

Requirements
An ideal candidate has:

• At least 8 years of relevant professional experience, ideally in fast-paced and growing company, social enterprise, or nonprofit. At least 5 years of experience in media development and open government programming at the national level.
• Graduate degree in a relevant field, including journalism, international development, public policy, political science, or anthropology. Candidates with an undergraduate degree and significant professional experience will also be considered. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to effectively synthesize and present complex ideas to diverse audiences. Written and spoken fluency in English is required, knowledge of Nigeria’s local languages and context is an asset.
• Knowledge of user-centered design, user-centered design processes, ideally with experience using design methods to discover, define, and develop programs and policies to address social issues.
• Significant work experience in low resource settings and ability to operate effectively in unfamiliar cultural contexts and poor infrastructure environments. Experience working in West Africa required.
• Established media network in Nigeria, and a familiarity with the broader regional and global media development space.
• Experience leading deep qualitative research exercises, with expertise in: applied ethnography, generative design research, political economy analysis, and/or institutional ethnography.
• Comfort with public speaking and workshop facilitation.
• Poise, professionalism, and client services orientation.
• Ability to work under tight time constraints. Can multitask with ease and adapt to frequently changing priorities.
• Appreciation of complexity. Comfort with ambiguity. Sense of humor.