How you'll help us achieve it

Wave is now the largest financial institution in Senegal, with over 7 million users. And, we’re still in the early days of our product roadmap and potential impact on people’s everyday lives.

You will be the go-to person in keeping our Lilongwe and upcountry offices humming - managing people operations, events, administration and everything in between. We are looking for someone who is fast paced, data driven, energized by building systems and making things happen. 

In this role, you'll;

People Operations

• Implement and maintain HR policies, procedures, and administrative systems across Wave Malawi.
• Onboard new staff and integrate them into Wave's culture.
• Manage employee records including compensation, benefits, insurance, promotions, transfers, performance reviews, and terminations.
• Process work permits for employees as needed.
• Serve as the primary contact and Business Partner for all people-related matters.

Office Management  &  Administration 

• Oversee day-to-day office operations, ensuring quality working conditions and health and safety compliance.
• Create trackers and operational-level reports on a monthly basis.
• Manage the office front desk, utilities, security, supplies, equipment, and inventory levels
• Maintain a clean, tidy and well-organized work environment and manage cleaners
• Manage our security staff.
• Follow up on bill payment for  facility utilities, including but not limited to office (electricity, water, canteen).
• Support in various tasks to ameliorate the working environment of Wave

Logistics

• Arrange domestic and international travel (visas, flights, hotels, car rentals).
• Fleet,  fuel and driver  management.
• Manage office budgets and procurements.
• Monitor and manage the canteen and other vendors.
• Plan corporate events including happy hours, retreats, and conferences.

Key Details

• Location: You'll work from our office in Lilongwe, Malawi and travel to upcountry field locations from time to time.
• Work authorization in Malawi is required.
• This is a permanent position.
• Our salaries are competitive and calculated using a transparent formula. 
• We offer generous health insurance for yourself and your dependents.
• We support working parents - we offer 26 weeks of  parental leave for mothers and 4 weeks for fathers, in addition to subsidized child care when they return to work.
• Airtime reimbursement.
• Free food and a beautiful office space.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or professional training in business administration, HR, or any other related field. 
• At least 4 years experience in a similar role, ideally at a fast paced international company.
• Experience using Google Suite (Doc, Sheets) or Microsoft Office.
• Strong organizational and prioritisation skills. 

You might be a good fit if you

• Demonstrate tenacity and a willingness to go the distance to get things done.
• Have great crisis and stress management skills. 
• Are thoughtful about how physical spaces and environments support team culture.
• Can function autonomously with minimal guidance.
• Possess strong collaboration, communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Display strong work ethics and respect internal policies.
• Are comfortable defaulting to over-communication and overreaching when it comes to coordination.
• Adjust quickly to changing priorities and conditions and cope effectively with complexity and change.
• Are analytical in your approach to problems.
• Have developed processes with minimal guidance and have implemented them.
• Are solution-driven and detail-oriented with strong task follow-through.
• Can understand and follow established priorities.
• Are flexible to work irregular hours.

Location: This role is based in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Priority application deadline: May 20, 2026 or until we've reached critical mass of applications

About this role

GiveDirectly Malawi is growing rapidly - delivering large lump sum transfers at district scale, developing tech-enabled delivery models, and building the operational infrastructure needed to support a significantly larger programme. We need a Director of Operations to take full ownership of our back-office functions and build the systems, team and processes required to operate with excellence at scale.

This role is a new senior leadership position created to address a critical gap: our procurement, logistics, HR, and administrative functions need dedicated expert leadership as we scale from one to multiple operational locations. The Director of Operations will own these functions end-to-end, freeing the Country Director and programmes team to focus on programme quality, research, and strategic growth.

The ideal candidate combines deep operational expertise - particularly in procurement, supply chain, and compliance - with the leadership skills to build and mentor a growing team. You thrive in a fast-paced, non-hierarchical environment, are comfortable making decisions without a predefined playbook, and bring a bias toward action and practical problem-solving.

Reports to: Country Director

Level: Director

Travel Requirement: Regular travel within Malawi to field offices and programme sites. Must be able to travel 1-2 times per year internationally for team retreats.

What you’ll do:

Build and Lead the Malawi Operations Team

• Build, mentor and manage a high-performing operations team including procurement, field office management, and stores/logistics functions.
•  Recruit, onboard and develop team members across multiple locations, ensuring the team has the skills and capacity to manage increasingly complex operations
• Create clear roles, responsibilities, and standard operating procedures that enable the team to operate independently and at a high standard.

Design Cost-Effective Systems for Scale

• Build systems and processes capable of supporting a significantly larger programme footprint, anticipating future needs (e.g. direct procurement, warehousing, in-country tech capacity).
• Drive measurable improvements in back-office processes - in terms of speed, cost, and oversight.

Lead Procurement, Logistics and Supply Chain Function

• Own end-to-end procurement, vendor management, and payments processes, ensuring full compliance with GiveDirectly policies and Malawi regulatory requirements.
• Design and implement new/improved strategies for Malawi supply chain management, secure storage, and transport across multiple operational locations – working closely with Global Supply Chain leadership
• Chair the Malawi Procurement Committee and exercise delegated authority to approve procurement and purchase orders.
•  Eliminate operational blockers to ensure programmes teams have what they need to deliver at scale. 

Oversee HR, Administration and Office Management

• Own day-to-day HR operations, office management, asset management, and security across all Malawi locations.
• Ensure administrative systems are robust, efficient, and future-proofed to support significant scale.
• Manage detailed operational budgeting and planning, working closely with  Finance staff

Drive Compliance and Risk Management

• Oversee internal audit and safeguarding functions via existing dotted-line arrangements; serve as the responsible owner for case resolution and interaction with programmes.
• Proactively identify and mitigate operational risks, maintaining a risk register and escalating appropriately.
• Ensure all operations meet GiveDirectly’s global standards and local regulatory requirements, adapting global policies for the Malawi context.
• Lead collaboration with the Finance function to manage external audits, ensure regulatory and financial compliance, and maintain timely payment processes. 

What you’ll bring:

• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income and/or historically marginalised communities that we serve.
• Significant experience (8+ years) in operations management, with deep expertise in procurement, supply chain, logistics, and compliance. 
• Proven track record of building or maturing operational functions - taking systems from ad hoc to structured, compliant, and scalable.
• Strong financial and budget management skills, with experience managing operational budgets and driving cost-effectiveness.
• Experience managing and developing teams, including recruiting and mentoring staff in resource-constrained environments.
• Comfort in a fast-paced and changing environment that lacks predefined playbooks and requires figuring things out independently.
• Highly analytical with a strong attention to detail and a bias toward data-driven decision-making.
• Familiarity with INGO standards, donor compliance frameworks, internal controls, and audit processes.
• Strong cross-cultural communication skills and experience working effectively in matrixed organisations.
• Experience and aptitude leveraging new technologies and AI to advance operational effectiveness. Comfort with an agile and iterative approach.
• Knowledge of Malawi’s regulatory environment for NGO operations, procurement, and employment law is a strong advantage.
• Language Requirement: English. Language Preferences: Chichewa.

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third party salary aggregator to calculate what we believe to be competitive pay based on role, location, and cost of living. We also have a no negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. Read more about our compensation philosophy here.

Unless otherwise noted, the benefits stipend may be used to cover benefits or taken as additional taxable income.

• Base Salary: $94,576
• Bonus at Target Performance: 15% (~$14,186, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization's current performance multiplier, this amount would be $16,598 in 2025)
• Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $108,762+
• Annual Benefits Stipend: $8,453

 #LI-REMOTE

About Imagine Worldwide

All children have immense potential, but hundreds of millions don’t have access to the learning they need. Imagine Worldwide believes that every child should be empowered with the basic right to literacy and numeracy. We provide an innovative education technology solution and implementation model to the global literacy/numeracy learning crisis using the onebillion application and various toolkits and systems to support implementation. Our model is massively scalable, evidence-based, and can deliver foundational learning to millions of the most marginalized children.

Imagine Worldwide partners with governments, organizations, and communities to provide child-directed, tablet-based learning that is accessible, effective, and affordable. We are incorporated in California (United States) as a nonprofit organization, but operate in Sub-Saharan Africa through locally-registered entities in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. Learn more on our website.

About the Role

The Operations Manager is responsible for ensuring the smooth, efficient, and compliant functioning of Imagine Worldwide’s Malawi office. The primary purpose of this role is to provide strong operational leadership and oversight that enables program delivery at scale. Working closely with Finance, Programs, and Technical Services, the role ensures that systems, processes, and support services are well-coordinated, responsive, and aligned with organizational standards. The role will report to the Director of Finance and Administration and will oversee other Administration and Operations Officers 

This position is accountable for delivering high-quality administrative and operational services that support staff, management, and partners. Key outcomes include effective office and facilities management, streamlined operational processes, strong vendor and asset management, and full compliance with organizational policies and procedures. 

By strengthening the operational backbone of the Malawi office, this role directly contributes to Imagine Worldwide’s strategy of testing and scaling tablet-based learning solutions. Efficient and reliable operations enable program teams to focus on delivering impact—helping children become literate and numerate—while ensuring the organization can expand sustainably and responsibly.

Key Responsibilities

Cross-Team Coordination & Operational Support

• Provide day-to-day operational support to program, finance, and technical teams to enable timely and effective delivery of activities. 

• Coordinate logistics for internal events, donor engagements, stakeholder visits, and special projects, while ensuring international staff administrative needs (e.g., visas, work and residence permits) are efficiently managed.

Office, Facilities & Administrative Management

• Oversee the smooth running of office and warehouse facilities, ensuring they are safe, functional, and compliant with workplace standards. 

• Manage leases, utilities, and service contracts (including internet, security, and cleaning), ensuring high-quality vendor performance. 

• Deliver responsive administrative services that support staff productivity and maintain a professional working environment.

Procurement, Vendor, Asset & Fleet Management

• Lead and manage procurement processes in line with organizational policies, ensuring transparency, value for money, and timely delivery. 

• Oversee vendor selection, contracting, and performance management. 

• Maintain accurate asset registers and ensure proper safeguarding of organizational resources.

• Manage fleet operations, including vehicle registration, licensing, insurance, maintenance, and supervision of drivers.

Compliance, Governance & Systems Management

• Maintain all corporate records, licenses, and statutory filings, ensuring timely renewals and full compliance with local regulations and organizational standards. 

• Work closely with the Director of Finance & Administration and global teams to uphold governance requirements and strengthen internal systems.

Risk Management & Security Oversight

• Support the identification, assessment, and monitoring of operational risks, maintaining the risk register and tracking mitigation actions across teams. 

• Facilitate regular risk reviews in alignment with Imagine’s global risk framework. 

• Serve as the country office focal point for security, ensuring staff and visitors receive appropriate briefings and that relevant information is shared with leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations, or a related field.
• Minimum of 6 years’ experience managing office, compliance, or operations functions — ideally with an NGO or international organization.
• Proven experience dealing with government agencies, corporate registration, and statutory compliance in Malawi (or similar contexts).
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with experience in vendor and contract management.
• Strong problem-solving ability and high attention to detail.
• Proficiency with MS Office tools (Excel, Word, PowerPoint); familiarity with cloud-based document systems is a plus.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strong ability to plan, coordinate, and oversee day-to-day operations.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and coordinate complex logistics in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively engage with internal teams, global colleagues, partners, vendors, and government stakeholders.
• Sound knowledge of procurement processes, contract management, and supplier performance monitoring, with a focus on transparency and value for money.
• Basic financial management skills, including budgeting support, cost tracking, and understanding of administrative systems and controls.
• Familiarity with HR processes such as recruitment coordination, onboarding, staff welfare, and maintaining a positive workplace environment.
• Ability to identify operational challenges, assess risks, and implement practical, timely solutions with sound judgment.

Qualities

•  Passion for Imagine’s mission and vision 
•  Demonstrated commitment to equity in educational access and outcomes
• Passion for project management
• Demonstrated ability to think independently and solve problems
• Collaborative team player; clear and proactive communicator
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to work in a fast-paced, changing environment

Compensation & Benefits

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Location

The Operations Manager must be based in Lilongwe, Malawi.

* * *

Imagine Worldwide is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

About Imagine Worldwide

All children have immense potential, but hundreds of millions don’t have access to the learning they need. Imagine Worldwide believes that every child should be empowered with the basic right to literacy and numeracy. We provide an innovative education technology solution and implementation model to the global literacy/numeracy learning crisis using the onebillion application and various toolkits and systems to support implementation. Our model is massively scalable, evidence-based, and can deliver foundational learning to millions of the most marginalized children.

Imagine Worldwide partners with governments, organizations, and communities to provide child-directed, tablet-based learning that is accessible, effective, and affordable. We are incorporated in California (United States) as a nonprofit organization, but operate in Sub-Saharan Africa through locally-registered entities in Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. Learn more on our website.

About the Role

The Senior Program Manager will report to the Director of Programs at Imagine Worldwide Malawi. Their role is to manage their assigned implementation service providers (ISPs) to ensure timely execution of all program activities in Malawi, to support Program Managers to conduct data-driven program management, and to support the Director of Programs as required with leadership of the Programs Team and coordination with the other country departments. 

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Program Manager’s responsibilities will include - but will not be limited to - the  following: 

Program planning and coordination

• Under the direction and guidance of the Director of Programs, draft and review program plans, budgets, and schedules across all existing sites, and support the expansion to new sites. 
• Review, summarize key insights, and investigate issues arising from program reports such as ISP termly progress reports, ISP financial reports, and others. 
• Support the sourcing, vetting, selection, and contracting of implementation service providers as guided by the Director of Programs.
• Under the supervision of the Director of Programs, manage school feasibility assessments and school selection to collect accurate data and ensure successful selection of schools. 
• Facilitate regular coordination meetings with Program Managers and ISPs to monitor implementation progress, address operational challenges, and ensure consistent delivery of program activities across districts.
• Provide leadership support to the Director of Programs by representing the program in internal coordination meetings and stakeholder engagements when delegated, to ensure continuity in program oversight, decision-making, and coordination.

Data-driven program implementation:

• Engage regularly with implementation partners to track progress and oversee implementation, including check-in meetings, progress reports, site-visits, and any other relevant activities. 
• Collaborate with colleagues from MEAL, Analytics, Logistics, and other relevant teams to improve tools, systems, processes, and methodologies to support implementation and monitoring.
• Review and analyse monitoring data and share actionable insights with relevant stakeholders, i.e. identify successes, flag challenges, and make recommendations about adapting activities and approaches to achieve results.
• Work with the program and research teams to support program assessments, surveys, and impact evaluations.

Data-driven accountability and learning:

• Lead efforts to maintain and improve data-driven practices for measuring program effectiveness and continuous improvement of all program operations.
• Facilitate cross-partner learning and own the process capturing key lessons and findings to inform evidence-based program design and implementation.
• Oversee implementation of strong accountability and beneficiary / community feedback mechanisms, including quality assurance of established processes.
• Coordinate learning processes and documents, including periodically organizing learning summits for reflections on program performance, dissemination of M&E findings, and  driving partnerships and donor engagement.
• Collaborate with communications teams to collect, document, and disseminate impact stories. 

Stakeholder management:

• Coordinate and manage relationships with local community leaders, schools, parents, local education authorities, and other project stakeholders and partners.
• Support dissemination of project processes and outcomes with local and government stakeholders and share any feedback with Imagine’s team.
• Ensure effective communications between Imagine, the ISPs and the Ministry, by detailing key activities, challenges, and programmatic needs to achieve program success.
• Represent the work in local meetings and forums relevant to the progress of the project in various sites.

Capacity building:

• Support the Director of Programs in strengthening program quality by reviewing Program Managers’ implementation reports, monitoring key performance indicators, and identifying trends, risks, and opportunities for improvement. Provide constructive feedback to Program Managers to enhance learning and continuous improvement.
• Provide Program Managers, ISPs, and other colleagues who support program delivery with guidance on Imagine’s standard processes, norms, and standards to ensure consistent, high-quality program implementation across all sites.
• Provide Program Managers with thought-partnership and coaching in technical and program management skills, including data use and operational problem-solving.
• Train team members, implementation partners, ministry staff, district officials on adopting and using the standardised systems that enable us to manage programs efficiently and effectively at scale.
• Support the Director of Programs in the documentation of program implementation lessons, best practices, and innovations emerging from ISP implementation.
• Support the design and facilitation of training sessions, reflection workshops, and performance review meetings to enhance program effectiveness and scalability.

Requirements

Education and Work Experience

The successful candidate will possess the following competencies, experiences, and qualities: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field (development or social studies).
• Minimum of 7-10 years of proven work experience in program management of development programs, with at least 3-5 years in a senior or leadership role managing teams and implementation partners
• Proven track record in managing multi-site, multi-partner program implementation in complex environments

Ideal Candidate Profile

Exceptional project management skills and proven experience that includes: 

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and Chichewa 
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills 
• Ability to work effectively in multicultural environments and teams 
• Strong organization skills and superior attention to detail 
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines 
• Ability to proactively manage and resolve conflicts
• Good knowledge of computer hardware and software 
• Experience in managing multi-site and multi partner projects 
• Ability to positively influence partners decisions and actions 
• Proven facilitation and training skills with diverse audiences 
• Ability to prioritize and display a high level of adaptability/flexibility while handling job responsibility
• Ability to design and coordinate implementation of MEAL systems
• Excellent skills in MS Excel and other tools for organizing, performing calculations, analyzing and presenting data
• Proven understanding of systematic knowledge management within development organizations and a capacity to promote organizational learning
• Proven understanding of evaluation methodologies, analysis, and presentation of key findings to inform decision making and facilitate adaptive programming
• Strong communication skills and ability to write clear and concise reports

Additional Skills 

• Passion for Imagine’s mission and vision
• Demonstrated commitment to equity in educational access and outcomes
• Strong writing and communications skills
• Relationship builder with the flexibility and finesse to ‘manage by influence’
• Team-oriented, collaborative, flexible, adaptable, and comfortable working in an inclusive, low-ego, matrix-management environment
• Self-starter, able to work independently, and enjoys creating and implementing new initiatives.
• Collaborative team player; clear and proactive communicator
• High integrity, conscientious and willing to take responsibility

Qualities

•  Passion for Imagine’s mission and vision 
•  Demonstrated commitment to equity in educational access and outcomes
• Passion for project management
• Demonstrated ability to think independently and solve problems
• Collaborative team player; clear and proactive communicator
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to work in a fast-paced, changing environment

Compensation & Benefits

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Location

The Senior Program Manager must be based in Lilongwe, Malawi.

* * *

Imagine Worldwide is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

About Imagine Worldwide 

All children have immense potential, but hundreds of millions don’t have access to the learning they need. Imagine Worldwide’s mission is to empower millions of children across Sub-Saharan Africa with the literacy and numeracy skills they need to reach their full potential. We provide a tablet-based, personalized learning solution designed for the most challenging environments. Nine Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) across multiple countries and settings have shown dramatic learning gains, increased school attendance, and gender parity, all for less than $7 per child per year.

Imagine Worldwide partners with governments, organizations, and communities to provide child-directed, tablet-based learning that is accessible, effective, and affordable. We are a California-based (United States) nonprofit organization operating across seven Sub-Saharan African countries. 

In Malawi, under the BEFIT program, Imagine works with the Malawi Ministry of Education and partners onebillion and VSO, among others, to eventually serve 3.8 million children per year in Standards 1-4 across all 6,000 public primary schools in Malawi. The BEFIT program began rolling out in September 2023 and served 500 schools in Year 1 across 18 districts. Year 2 will serve an additional 460 schools across the remaining 16 education districts in Malawi.

About the Role

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Project Manager will play an instrumental role in coordinating and delivering key projects that enable Imagine's mission to test and scale tablet-based learning solutions. This role manages project implementation across multiple locations, ensures alignment with organizational priorities, and coordinates with government agencies, implementing partners, and internal teams to drive results.

Key Responsibilities

The Project Manager will work closely with Imagine Malawi’s Executive Director and the management team to provide project and operational support. The Project Managers responsibilities will include - but will not be limited to the  following: 

Strategic Project Management

• Support planning, implementation, and monitoring of project activities across assigned districts and partners, ensuring alignment with Imagine’s strategy and government priorities.
• Develop detailed project implementation plans with clear timelines, deliverables, budgets, and M&E indicators.
• Track progress against work plans, budgets, and performance targets, proactively identifying risks and bottlenecks and proposing mitigation actions.
• Coordinate with government education offices, implementing partners, and internal teams to ensure smooth execution of activities at both central and district levels.

Operational Support

• Lead in the development of tools, manuals and training resources needed to ensure successful project implementation. 
• Coordinate and supervise the implementation of all program activities to achieve their outputs
• Conduct relevant research to inform program implementation and disseminate relevant information to relevant stakeholders. 
• Convene, document and follow-up on the outcome of monthly project accountability meetings.

Executive Director Support

• Manage the flow of information for the Executive Director in a timely and accurate manner to support coordination and productivity across the country team.
• Coordinate with internal teams and external stakeholders on behalf of the Executive Director to ensure alignment on priorities and follow-through on key actions.
• Schedule and coordinate meetings for the Executive Director with country teams and partners; assist in the preparation and distribution of meeting agendas and materials.
  Support the Executive Director in coordinating priority initiatives, including tracking actions, timelines, and follow-ups across teams.
• Support the Executive Director in promoting the effective use of collaboration and productivity tools to enable asynchronous work and maximize team efficiency.
• Perform a variety of administrative, coordination, and document preparation tasks to support the Executive Director in managing country operations.

Donor Support

• Prepare comprehensive quarterly reports for management information and decisions. 
• Actively participate in donor review and reflection meetings, and highlight project successes, challenges, and mitigating measures to overcome challenges. 
• Track and monitor compliance with donor requirements and reporting deadlines
• Support board meeting preparation, including agenda development, materials preparation, and follow-up on action items

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

The successful candidate will possess the following competencies, experiences, and qualities: 

• Bachelor's degree in Project Management, Business Administration, Development Studies, Public Policy, or related field. Project Management Certification  is an added advantage.
• Minimum of 6-8 years of progressive experience in project management, program coordination, operations, or strategy roles within education, international development, or nonprofit sectors
• Strong digital literacy and proficiency with project management tools and methodologies

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Proven track record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects from initiation through completion
• Experience working in Malawi or similar contexts, with deep understanding of the education sector and government systems
• A track record of managing large, multi-stakeholder initiatives across community, district, and national levels.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship building skills 
• Results-oriented with strong execution capabilities
• Strategic thinker with ability to translate vision into actionable plans
• Natural coordinator who thrives managing multiple priorities
• Excellent working knowledge of MS Office
• Ability to prioritize and display a high level of adaptability/flexibility while handling job responsibility

Qualities

•  Passion for Imagine’s mission and vision 
•  Demonstrated commitment to equity in educational access and outcomes
• Passion for project management
• Demonstrated ability to think independently and solve problems
• Collaborative team player; clear and proactive communicator
• Flexible, adaptable, and able to work in a fast-paced, changing environment

Location

The Project Manager must be based in Lilongwe, Malawi, with travel to field sites as required. The Project Manager will frequently collaborate and coordinate with the local team and Imagine Global. 

Compensation & Benefits

Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience.

* * *

Imagine Worldwide is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

About Imagine Worldwide

All children have immense potential, but hundreds of millions don’t have access to the learning they need. Imagine Worldwide believes that every child should be empowered with the basic right to literacy and numeracy. We provide an innovative education technology solution and implementation model to the global literacy/numeracy learning crisis using the onebillion application and various toolkits and systems to support implementation. Our model is massively scalable, evidence-based, and can deliver foundational learning to millions of the most marginalized children.

Imagine Worldwide partners with governments, organizations, and communities to provide child-directed, tablet-based learning that is accessible, effective, and affordable. We are incorporated in California (United States) as a nonprofit organization, but operate in Sub-Saharan Africa through locally-registered entities in Malawi, Sierra Leone and Tanzania. Learn more on our website.

About the Role

The Senior Director of Delivery is the second most senior leadership role in the organization, reporting directly to the Executive Director and serving as a key driver of Imagine Worldwide Malawi’s strategy and impact. This position plays a central role in advancing Imagine’s mission to design, deliver, and scale high-quality tablet-based learning solutions that enable children across Malawi to achieve foundational literacy and numeracy at national scale.

This role carries significant organizational value and influence. The Senior Director of Delivery is responsible for translating strategy into execution by ensuring that programs, technology, logistics, data systems, and partner engagement are aligned and operating effectively. The position provides executive-level oversight to ensure that implementation plans move beyond design into measurable, real-world impact in schools and communities.

Working across both global and in-country teams, the Senior Director of Delivery drives alignment, accountability, prioritization, and cross-functional problem-solving. The role ensures that learning programs launch successfully, operate reliably, and continuously improve through strong systems, data-driven decision-making, and collaborative leadership. As a senior organizational leader, the Senior Director of Delivery also contributes to shaping institutional culture, strengthening operational excellence, and guiding teams through periods of growth and scale.

The successful candidate will join a highly committed and collaborative leadership team dedicated to empowering every child, everywhere to reach their full potential. This position requires a strategic thinker with strong execution skills, the ability to lead across diverse teams and stakeholders, and a passion for delivering large-scale education transformation in Malawi.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Delivery Leadership

• Provide leadership and accountability for coordinated delivery across Programs, MEAL, Logistics, and Technical Services, ensuring work is coordinated to achieve program outcomes and operational reliability
• Serve as the country's primary integrator for delivery execution, ensuring leadership receives one coherent view of delivery progress, constraints, and decision needs.
• Shape and translate the country scale plan into clear delivery outcomes (e.g., launch readiness, device uptime, training completion, data completeness, time-on-task enablement) and hold delivery leaders accountable.
• Ensure coordination with global functions as needed and alignment with Imagine’s key performance areas and indicators.
• Contribute to discussions, policy notes, etc., as needed, on national scale and government transition.

Delivery Planning 

• Develop and own a single integrated delivery plan that synchronizes all delivery workstreams (launch preparation and recurring operations), with clear milestones, dependencies, resourcing assumptions, and accountable owners.
• Establish and lead a delivery operating rhythm (planning, execution reviews, performance reviews, and retrospectives) that drives disciplined execution, early risk detection, and timely decision-making.
• Balance competing priorities across delivery functions and make unified prioritization calls grounded in mission outcomes, data, capacity constraints, and delivery risk.
• Define and monitor delivery KPIs; track performance trends via a delivery performance dashboard; and drive corrective actions through structured data reviews and cross-functional problem-solving.
• Own delivery risk management and escalation by maintaining a delivery risks and issues register, proactively identifying material risks, defining mitigation plans with clear owners and timelines, and ensuring risks are escalated early through agreed pathways.
• Lead incident response for material delivery disruptions (e.g., rollout delays, uptime failures, safety/security incidents impacting learning, partner underperformance) by coordinating rapid triage, containment, root-cause analysis, and prevention of recurrence.
• Ensure transparent progress and governance reporting, including decision logs, escalation pathways, and measurement systems that support delivery improvement through data quality assurance and actionable insights.

Operational Excellence

• Build and maintain standardized training systems, SOPs, and capacity-building programs that ensure consistent, high-quality delivery at scale. Oversee delivery-critical partner performance (e.g., ISPs and service providers), ensuring clear expectations, coordinated work, and timely issue resolution.
• Codify best practices and policies that reduce institutional knowledge gaps and increase delivery resilience.
• Partner with the ED as a senior leader, providing integrated delivery oversight and escalating only the highest-priority issues requiring ED intervention. Contribute to the country leadership team by role-modeling Imagine values, driving organizational health, and leading through ambiguity and change.

People Management

• Line manage the delivery function leads (Directors of Program, Director Technical Services, Logistics Manager, and MEAL Manager). 
• Lead and manage staff reporting to them, setting clear expectations, priorities, and performance standards.
• Develop leadership capacity through coaching, feedback, performance management, and succession planning to support scale and sustainability.

Requirements

The successful candidate will possess the following competencies, experiences, and qualities:

Education and Work Experience

Bachelor's degree or higher with a minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in operations leadership, program delivery, or a similar senior role, including at least 5 years managing teams. Management consulting experience is a plus. 

Role-Specific Skills Required

• Significant experience in managing successful program scaling.  
• Proven track record in managing scale operations in complex environments working with multiple partners 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
• Strong ability to analyze and interpret data to inform decisions, coupled with proven project management skills to plan, execute, and deliver projects effectively.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills and ability to proactively manage and resolve conflicts
• Excellent understanding of budgets, financial processesR, reporting requirements, and compliance regulations within donor-funded grants and contracts
• Ability to work effectively in multicultural environments and teams 
• Strong organizational skills, superior attention to detail, ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Compensation & Benefits

Location

The Senior Director of Delivery must be based in Malawi

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis

* * *

Imagine Worldwide is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.