Africa Strategy & Growth Associate (12 Months Fixed-Term Employment/Remote)

ABOUT GENERATION

At Generation, we believe in the power of employment to change lives. We are a global nonprofit organization that supports adults to achieve economic mobility through employment. Generation trains and places adult learners of all ages into careers that are otherwise inaccessible, working in partnership with governments, employers, and other system actors. We also conduct original research and share data insights on high-priority global workforce transition topics to inform decision-making by workforce system stakeholders. Launched in 2015, Generation comprises a global hub (Generation You Employed, or GYE) and a network of in-country affiliates. To date, the network has 150,000+ graduates and 23,000+ employers across 50 professions and 17 countries.

When learners join Generation, 91% are unemployed, of which nearly half are long-term unemployed.  Three months after completing our program, graduates have a 78% job placement rate, rising to 88% within six months. Of our employed graduates, 79% are hired by repeat employers who have previously hired Generation graduates, and 89% are in jobs directly related to the profession for which we have trained them. Employed graduates immediately earn an average of 3-4X their previous earnings.  Two to five years after graduation, 77% of our alumni from upper-middle income countries continue to meet their daily financial needs and 63% can save for the future. To date, Generation’s global graduates have earned more than $1.9 billion in wages. Generation graduates typically have a secondary school background, 52% are female, 28% have dependents, and the majority identify with underrepresented communities in their country.

JOB OBJECTIVES

Generation operates across multiple African countries, currently anchored in Ghana and Kenya, with strong ambition to deepen its impact, expand into new markets, and build more financially sustainable operating models. Over the next two years, Generation seeks to scale multi-country operations to four or more countries, pilot a sector ecosystem model, and establish a trajectory towards earned revenue and reduced donor dependency in Africa.

The Africa Strategy & Growth Associate is a new, strategic role within the SAMEA regional team, sitting at the intersection of market development, programme innovation, and business model design. The Associate will drive Generation's exploration of new geographic markets and programme opportunities across Africa, and lead the design and early testing of commercial revenue models that can reduce the organisation's reliance on philanthropic funding over time.

This is primarily an exploration and design role: the Associate conducts rigorous market and opportunity analysis, develops investment cases and model designs, and supports country and regional teams in piloting and eventually scaling validated approaches. The role requires entrepreneurial thinking, strong analytical capability, and the ability to build trusted relationships across diverse stakeholders. 

12-month fixed-term contract, renewable subject to performance and funding, with strong potential for extension and long-term growth.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

1. New Country Exploration & Expansion

• Lead market scoping and feasibility analysis for potential new Generation geographies in Africa, with an initial focus on Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Africa
• Map labour market conditions, employer landscapes, training ecosystems, regulatory environments, and competitive dynamics in priority markets
• Develop structured opportunity assessments and investment cases to inform go/no-go decisions by regional and global leadership
• Coordinate with relevant global functions (Program Delivery Support, Data & Impact, Digital) and existing country teams to contextualise Generation's model for new market entry
• Support handover of validated expansion plans to country or regional operating teams for implementation

2. Portfolio Growth: New Sectors & Programmes

• Identify and evaluate opportunities for Generation to expand its programme portfolio into new sectors or professions in Africa (beyond current GBS/digital focus)
• Conduct landscape analysis of employer demand, learner supply, salary benchmarks, AI resilience, training feasibility, placement potential and career pathways for candidate new programmes
• Develop programme concept notes and pilot designs in collaboration with PDS and country teams
• Lead employer outreach and engagement to validate hiring demand, role requirements, and employer pain points, ensuring these insights inform programme design, secure employer commitments for pilot hiring, and build a strong pipeline of job opportunities. Collaborate with our Employer Partnerships teams on these efforts.
• Track and synthesise emerging sector trends across Africa (e.g., healthcare, construction, green economy, logistics) to surface high-potential opportunities                                                                                  

3. Revenue Model Design & Testing

• Design and test new commercial and earned revenue models to reduce Generation Africa's donor dependency, including employer cost-sharing arrangements, fee-for-service models, and social enterprise structures
• Conduct stakeholder research with employers, training partners, and sector bodies to validate willingness-to-pay assumptions and model parameters
• Develop model blueprints, pilot frameworks, and business cases for regional and global leadership review
• Lead the design, development, and launch of an employer-funded BPO/ITO manager upskilling program in partnership with the Employer Partnerships and Curriculum & Instruction teams.
• Support key existing revenue-generating pilots, namely the Digital Talent Hub and the Kenya Garment Hub, which each seek to employ Generation alumni to directly meet customer/client needs and create revenue for Generation while providing apprenticeship to alumni. For each, you would help to refine its commercial model, document learnings, and extract transferable insights for other markets.

4. Sector Ecosystem Development

• Support the design and piloting of a sector skilling ecosystem model to coordinate skilling providers and crowd in employer, donor, and government funding
• Map key ecosystem actors (employers, government bodies, sector associations, training providers, development partners) in priority sectors
• Develop stakeholder engagement strategies and partnership frameworks to convene and align ecosystem participants around Generation's approach

5. Knowledge Management & Strategic Communication

• Maintain a living pipeline of growth opportunities (new countries, new sectors, new revenue models), updated regularly and accessible to regional and global leadership
• Produce high-quality analysis, briefings, and presentations for internal decision-making and, where relevant, funder reporting.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Bachelor's degree required in a relevant field (e.g., business, economics, international development, social sciences, public policy)
• Master's degree in a related discipline is an advantage but not required

Experience

• 4–8 years of relevant professional experience in strategy, management consulting, business development, programme design, market entry, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated ability to assess new markets, sectors, or opportunities, and translate analysis into clear recommendations for senior decision‑makers
• Experience designing, testing, or supporting new programmes, pilots, products, or business models, particularly in settings with ambiguity and limited precedent
• Strong commercial and financial intuition, with the ability to reason clearly about revenue models, sustainability, incentives, and cost structures (deep finance expertise not required)
• Proven ability to engage credibly with diverse stakeholders across public / private / social sector and influence without formal authority
• Experience working in or across Sub-Saharan African markets (e.g., Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana)

Nice to have (but not required):

• Exposure to workforce development, skills training, youth employment, or social enterprise contexts
• Experience in goal‑ or impact‑driven organisations, though candidates from the private sector are welcome

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong analytical and research skills; able to synthesise complex market data into clear, decision-ready recommendations
• Entrepreneurial mindset with genuine intellectual curiosity about African labour markets, employer ecosystems, and social enterprise models
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship-building skills across diverse cultural and institutional contexts
• Commercially minded; able to think rigorously about financial sustainability, employer value