Jobs at Ashoka

Role Overview

• We are seeking an entrepreneurial and dynamic leader to join Ashoka as the Africa Financial Director. This individual will play a pivotal role in driving financial strategy and supporting our mission of empowering changemakers across the African continent. 
• This role will oversee financial operations, growth planning, and strategy alignment for Ashoka Africa, ensuring robust financial management to strengthen our initiatives across the region. 

Key Responsibilities

• Financial Vision and Leadership: Lead and implement the finance vision for Ashoka Africa, aligning with our strategic plan to scale the Everyone A Changemaker movement across the continent. 
• Advisory Role: Serve as a strategic financial advisor to the Africa Diamond Leader and senior management, guiding financial planning, budgeting, cash flow, and policy development. 
• Budgeting and Performance Management: Oversee the development of annual and multi-year budgets with Africa’s team leaders for approval by regional leadership and Ashoka's global board. 
• Growth and Financial Controls: Champion Ashoka Africa’s growth strategies by ensuring strong financial control, risk management, and transparency across the organization. 
• Stakeholder Engagement: Collaborate with Ashoka’s global finance teams and external partners to support regional and organizational goals, building relationships with key financial and programmatic stakeholders. 

Qualifications

• Education: Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or an MBA (CPA preferred). 
• Experience: Significant experience in financial management within decentralized, mission-driven organizations, ideally with a background in scaling operations and working with social sector organizations. 
• Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communicator with the ability to translate complex financial concepts for diverse audiences. 
• Entrepreneurial Drive: Proven ability to innovate and lead within dynamic, growth-oriented environments. 

Personal Qualities
Ashoka is committed to hiring individuals who bring not only skills but also qualities that align with our mission: 

• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Demonstrates initiative, ownership, and creativity—having founded or reshaped organizations or movements, with a drive for translating ideas into impact. 
• Changemaker Mindset: A deep understanding and belief in Ashoka’s vision of Everyone a Changemaker, with a passion for social transformation. 
• Emotional and Social Intelligence: Highly collaborative, respectful team player who puts organizational goals first. 
• Strong Ethical Standards: Trustworthy, self-reflective, and possessing strong empathy and integrity. 
• World-Changing Ambition: A dedication to creating lasting, positive change across Africa and the globe.

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The Opportunity

• Ashoka is seeking a highly entrepreneurial and innovative leader to drive the “Everyone a Changemaker” movement across Africa, reporting directly to the Africa Diamond Leadership team. 
• As the Africa Diamond Framework Change lead, you will forge partnerships with media, educational institutions, corporations, and other strategic stakeholders to activate networks that champion changemaking across the continent. 
• This role is central to fostering a culture where changemaking becomes the norm, with a focus on instilling core skills—empathy, initiative, teamwork, and leadership—at all levels of society.

Key Responsibilities

• Movement Storytelling: Design and implement a regional storytelling framework that showcases the shift toward youth empowerment and citizen agency, promoting a collaborative approach to solving shared challenges across Africa.
• Movement Marketing: Lead Ashoka’s efforts in developing a cohesive marketing strategy that advances initiatives like “Lead Young” and “Everyone a Changemaker.” Ensure the narrative aligns with Ashoka’s vision and empowers both internal teams and external partners.
• Media Partnerships: Develop and manage a media strategy that aligns with Ashoka’s regional objectives, fostering relationships with key influencers, media partners, and publishers to amplify the movement’s message.
• Strategic Partnerships: Identify, cultivate, and solidify partnerships with funders, corporations, foundations, unions, educators, and other entities to expand Ashoka’s reach and deepen the impact of the Everyone a Changemaker movement.
• Movement Messaging: Spearhead a social media campaign across Africa to spread the “Everyone a Changemaker” message, engaging a broad range of audiences through various digital platforms.
• Movement Building: Grow a network of young people, parents, educators, and citizens who embrace and identify as changemakers, helping to establish changemaking as a societal norm throughout the continent.

Qualifications
This leadership role within Ashoka’s Africa team requires an individual with significant experience in social impact and changemaking. The ideal candidate will possess:

• Experience in Social Impact: A demonstrated ability to identify systemic issues and develop innovative solutions with regional or sector-wide impact, ideally including the creation or expansion of impactful organizations or movements.
• Entrepreneurial Drive: Proven experience in launching or transforming initiatives, whether through founding an organization, reshaping an existing one, or leading systemic change in a sector.
• Strategic Partnerships: A record of building partnerships with key stakeholders to amplify social impact and drive systemic change.
• Communications Expertise: Strong communication skills, particularly in social media, storytelling, and public speaking, to elevate Ashoka’s mission across Africa.
• Movement Building: Experience in creating a movement’s marketing framework, including social media strategy, storytelling, and communications architecture.
• Fundraising Skills: Ability to support Ashoka’s mission through strategic communication that aligns with fundraising efforts, or direct experience in raising funds to support a mission-driven organization.

Core Competencies:

• Entrepreneurship: A demonstrated record of taking creative initiative and ownership in creating change (founding an organization, starting a movement, or reshaping an existing organization).
• Understanding of Ashoka’s Vision: Deep commitment to and understanding of the “Everyone a Changemaker” philosophy, with the intellectual curiosity to connect social trends and identify patterns.
• Emotional and Social Intelligence: Ability to work collaboratively and respectfully within teams, with a strong sense of empathy and ethics.
• Ethical Standards: High integrity and alignment with Ashoka’s values.
• Self-Definition: A strong sense of purpose in creating meaningful, positive change across Africa.