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.

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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 One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions.

To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

About the Young Professionals Program

One Acre Fund’s Young Professionals Program offers high-performing African graduates meaningful internships and training opportunities at a high-performing, mission-driven organization. Our internships are paid and all interns can expect to receive substantive work assignments working on high-impact projects that support One Acre Fund's operations.

When joining, interns will participate in an onboarding program and receive training on how to design and execute projects. Over the period of your internship, you will get the opportunity to work with like-minded individuals and receive learning opportunities to build strong foundations for your future career. 

About the Role

The Procurement Intern will play a crucial role in supporting the Malawi procurement team in executing various sourcing and procurement activities. The Procurement Intern will ensure procurement excellence, cost reduction, and timely payments. You will provide customer service, maintain quality control, and handle documentation for deliveries.

Responsibilities

Procurement Excellence:

• Deliver with +90% On Time in Full (OTIF), at market competitive COGS, 5% cost savings, while ensuring quality assurance and +80% on-time payment for Malawi purchases.
• Ensure quality control standards are maintained throughout the procurement process to ensure we are sourcing quality products for our farmers and internal stakeholders
• Coordinate order deliveries to OAF warehouses/ procurement stores.
• Support in identifying and building new supplier relationships for new and existing products

Customer Service

• Deliver world-class customer service to stakeholders by proactively and professionally communicating the status of their orders and payments at all times
• Address inquiries and resolve issues related to procurement orders and payments.

Timely and Compliant Deliveries

• Ensure timely and compliant deliveries by ensuring correct and compliant documentation is in place to process orders and payments
• Generate and execute RFQs for open-sourced products
• Process purchase orders and contracts for assigned products and services
• Support SAP data entry and payments for assigned orders

Support administrative tasks:  

• A procurement intern will organize records and digitize paperwork. Will assist the procurement team in operating more efficiently, focusing on strategic tasks, and ensuring easy access to up-to-date information.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we deeply invest in our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training, and regular feedback on your performance. We’ll hold career reviews every one-three months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and gain rewarding technical experience.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Diploma/Bachelor’s Degree in Procurement, Business Administration, Management, or a related field
• Minimum of 1+ year of experience in Procurement (Non-negotiable). 
• Problem-solving skills, analytical thinking, ownership of work, and the ability to learn. (Non-negotiable)
• Data analysis skill.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office
• Stakeholder management and collaboration skills.

Preferred Start Date

As soon as possible

Job Location

Zomba, Malawi

Benefits

Interns will be provided with a reasonable stipend for the duration of their contract. Rural area-based fellows will be provided assistance in locating suitable housing.

Eligibility

This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Malawi.

Application Deadline

06 May 2026. We hire on a rolling basis, which means that applications are reviewed and processed on a continuous basis until a hire is made. 

One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.

We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

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.