CEO at Ubongo International

CEO

About the job

Reports to: Ubongo International Board of Directors

Location: Dar es Salaam, or Johannesburg/ Nairobi with frequent travel & onboarding period in Dar es Salaam

Recruiter: Shortlist

Can you lead Ubongo to equip and empower 60 million kids across Africa?

Ubongo is a non-profit social enterprise with the mission of using top quality, localized edutainment to help Africa’s 500 million kids learn, and leverage their learning to change their lives. Over 17 million families learn with us weekly on TV, radio and web, and we’re growing rapidly with the goal of having accessible and localized Ubongo edutainment in all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2025.

We’re looking for a growth-stage CEO to lead us through our next phase of Pan-African growth and achieve long term sustainability of our impact! We’ve grown from a small Tanzanian startup founded in 2013 to a multi-country organization reaching millions of users in 9 languages, with rigorous evidence of impact. Our HQ is in Dar es Salaam, and we currently have a team of 51 Ubongoers based in 8 countries. We have registered non-profits in Tanzania, South Africa and the USA.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead and nurture our terrific team of Ubongoers to achieve our mission and vision.
• Take Ubongo truly Pan-African, sustainably driving growth of our impact and our organization!
• Set Ubongo’s short and long term strategy in coordination with the board and Ubongoers, and assure that we’re effectively implementing that strategy towards our objectives and vision.
• Uphold and represent Ubongo’s core values of Ubunifu (creativity), Ustahimilivu (grit), Upendo (love) and Utu (shared humanity). Cultivate our strong culture as we grow our team and organization, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Lead and develop our senior management team, and ensure that they too are equipped to lead and develop their own teams to fulfil Ubongo’s objectives and to thrive in their work. We’ve got a great team of Ubongoers and are ready to upskill and develop leaders and talent across the organization.
• In partnership with our Chief Operating Officer, grow our organizational systems, processes, policies and culture so we can thrive as we grow. Build upon what’s been working and implement new approaches to fill gaps or improve how we work as we scale our impact.
• In partnership with our Chief Business Officer, develop funding streams, partnerships, marketing and distribution strategies to increase our reach, engagement, impact and sustainability. Build upon our successes to date and explore new opportunities and approaches.
• In partnership with our Chief Innovation Officer (current CEO Nisha Ligon hopes to transition to this role), ensure that Ubongo innovates inclusively with the communities we serve, and designs to solve the most pressing challenges for our users, clients, partners and team.

EXPERIENCE

• Have proven experience at CEO or senior leadership level within an impact focused organization working and/or scaling across multiple countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Experience with strategic planning, performance management, managing a P&L/ budget, and overseeing change management at a department or organization level.
• Proven ability to build and lead high-performing, multicultural teams and cultivate organizational culture.
• Experience with non-profit or social enterprise fundraising and revenue generation, and familiarity with the development sector and donor community.
• Track record of ensuring robust governance and compliance within an organization or department, and experience or readiness to take full organizational leadership within Ubongo, reporting to and working closely with our board.
• Understanding of ethical, regulatory, compliance, safeguarding and legal responsibilities for a multi-country organization that works for and with children, and commitment to ensuring our organization upholds the highest standards across these areas.
• Experience in the education and/or media sectors is a plus but not required!

PERSONAL QUALITIES:

• Of African origin or with strong roots in Africa.
• An ethical leader of leaders, committed to empowering and equipping those around them, and leading us towards a shared vision!
• Exemplify Ubongoers Principles and live our values of Ubunifu (creativity), Ustahimilivu (grit), Upendo (love) and Utu (shared humanity)! Read about our team and our Ubongoers principles here.
• An eagerness to learn, adapt, fail fast and fail forward with humility and openness. We work in a rapidly changing world, and no one knows all the answers. As Ubongoers we openly share our challenges and failures to ensure that we are always learning.
• A willingness to travel extensively within Africa and internationally.
• Multilingual, or with a strong appreciation of how language shapes learning and culture. We operate in mostly English, with some Kiswahili, plus we adapt and distribute content in 7+ other languages.
• A passion for kids and the next generation! We’re an edutainment company that does it for the kids!

CLICK HERE TO APPLY