JOB SUMMARY:

CARE knows that when barriers to progress are taken out of their way, women entrepreneurs are an unstoppable force. We know that when women business owners have the support, training, access to finance and digital skills they deserve, they thrive, creating opportunities not only for themselves but for everyone around them. Drawing on lessons from our own work and partners and collaborators around the world, CARE launched a Women's Entrepreneurship practice in 2019. This rapidly growing portfolio has already impacted over 150,000 entrepreneurs and unlocked over $150M in loans across the world. CARE takes a human-centered approach to understanding the needs and ambitions of women business owners and works across the private and public sector to deliver powerful, scalable programs that drive business growth, job creation and economic prosperity. We are looking for a dynamic, motivated leader to join our team as a "formal" Financial Inclusion Lead for the Women's Entrepreneurship Unit so that together we can make market systems work for women in order to increase women's wealth.

The Financial Inclusion Lead will oversee and support multiple in-country teams to ensure program quality and consistency is high, and that formal financial and non-financial products are designed with the user in mind (using human-centered design/women-centered design methods), and leverage research and customer insights to define meaningful design changes for women. The position will also be responsible for ensuring team hires are in place, partnerships are secured, all products and services are well-designed, and the overall portfolio is healthy. The position will be key to ensuring coordination across all stakeholders, multiple programs and that partners are actively engaged in financial inclusion for women, specifically women-led MSEs. To ensure programs not only deliver direct impacts but also inform the broader financial inclusion and MSE community, the position will be responsible for capturing and communicating key learnings for CARE and the financial inclusion industry. Finally, this role will be responsible for regular communication and reporting to donors on progress, lessons and challenges. In all cases, the position will require close coordination, communication, and rapport-building with country offices, as well as with CARE USA fundraising, grant management, communication, and research teams.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Portfolio Oversight and Execution

• Oversee end-to-end management of programs, ensuring seamless coordination, timely delivery, and adherence to organizational standards.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive program excellence, product quality, and human-centered design/women-centered design.
• Work closely with the finance team to develop and manage budgets for the Women's Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion unit, as well as grant management and donor reporting tasks that arise
• Provide strategic leadership in developing and executing operational plans for the Women's Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion unit.
  

Partnership Development and External Engagement

• Identify areas for resource optimization and implement strategies to maximize the impact of available resources.
• Lead initiatives to secure additional funding and resources for program expansion and technical expansion: agri-finance and green business specifically.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with external organizations, financial institutions, and stakeholders to enhance program impact and reach.
• Collaborate with the Director to explore new partnership opportunities.
• Demonstrate mid-level technical expertise in financial inclusion and entrepreneurship in important thought leadership spaces and events
• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices to ensure the unit remains at the forefront of relevant developments.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Knowledge Management

• Demonstrate technical expertise in financial inclusion and entrepreneurship, gender, and contributing to the development and improvement of product strategy
• Oversee the design and implementation of robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks to measure program impact across the portfolio
• Utilize data-driven insights to make informed decisions and drive continuous improvement.
• Stay abreast of the financial inclusion industry trends and best practices to ensure the unit remains at the forefront of relevant developments.
• Streamline internal processes and procedures to enhance efficiency and effectiveness and to show impact.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., business administration, international development, economics).
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in leadership roles, with a technical focus on financial services, entrepreneurship, women's economic empowerment, operations and program management.
• Demonstrated experience in human-centered design methods and techniques, as well as trial design
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to formulate recommendations and advice for senior leadership
• Strong experience in oversight of research, monitoring, evaluation, learning, and knowledge management products
• Strong ability to facilitate, communicate and function effectively in local/ international/ multicultural environment
• Strong writing skills
• Proven track record of successful strategic planning and execution.
• Strong financial and budget management skills.
• Language: Fluency in English is mandatory
• Located in European or African time zone