Senior Manager/Manager – Scaling and Innovation Team (Global)

You will join Instiglio’s Scaling & Innovation Team — the engine driving Instiglio’s ambition to go from impact to impact at scale. Our mission is threefold: develop pathways to scale Instiglio’s proven approaches, incubate Instiglio’s presence in new regions, and design and spearhead new impact solutions that push the frontier of what’s possible in development.

We pursue this mission through two primary strategies:

1. Scaling partnerships with large development institutions: The core of this team’s work. We partner with major multilateral development banks (MDBs), bilateral agencies, and large philanthropies to strengthen how they drive outcomes at scale — combining impact strategy with deep change management. This isn’t traditional consulting: we embed ourselves in institutional transformation, helping partners overhaul their impact strategies, build internal capabilities, and implement reforms that cascade through the systems they fund. A flagship example is our four-year engagement with the Global Fund, where we supported the scale-up of results-based financing (RBF) to 15 countries, built core institutional capabilities, and helped embed a results-oriented performance culture. Similar partnerships are underway with institutions like the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Swiss Development Cooperation, the IDB, and leading philanthropies.
2. Innovation: Beyond scaling, the team spearheads new impact solutions. Recent examples include an AI-driven reform assistant for government decision-makers, pull finance mechanisms for adoption of climate technology, and practical work on making health regulations drive better outcomes. This is where we prototype the next generation of Instiglio’s tools.

The team also leads the Government Empowerment Network (GEN) — though this is a secondary focus of the role. GEN is Instiglio’s global network that inspires and empowers civil service champions to drive transformational change from within their institutions. It combines an eight-month reform incubator — providing mentorship, peer exchange, and real-time coaching grounded in reform science — with an AI-powered platform connecting public leaders to curated knowledge and global practitioner networks. Launched in Uganda in 2025, with cohorts in Colombia and Morocco following, GEN aims to support 1,500 champion teams and drive 200 institutional transformations impacting 190 million citizens by 2030.

How You Will Make an Impact

This is a role that sits at the intersection of strategy, change management, and innovation — not in the abstract, but in practice. You will lead complex, high-stakes engagements that directly shape how billions of development dollars are spent, and how governments serve millions of citizens.

Specifically, you will:

• Lead high-impact scaling partnerships: Take ownership of multi-year engagements with MDBs, bilaterals, and philanthropies. This means diagnosing how institutions invest and manage performance, designing strategies to strengthen their impact orientation, and driving the change management work needed to make reforms stick. You will translate sophisticated analysis into clear recommendations that senior decision-makers can act on — and then stay in the room to help implement them.
• Spearhead innovation: Help design and pressure-test new impact solutions — from AI-enabled tools for government reformers to new financing mechanisms for climate outcomes. You will bring structured thinking to ambiguous, frontier problems and turn concepts into pilots.
• Manage complex stakeholder environments: Build trusted relationships with senior counterparts in governments, development agencies, and philanthropic organizations. Navigate multi-stakeholder dynamics with confidence, knowing when to push, when to listen, and how to build coalitions for change.
• Lead teams and delivery: Manage multidisciplinary teams across workstreams, geographies, and time zones. Own budgets, timelines, and quality — and develop the people around you.
• Contribute to thought leadership: Help shape Instiglio’s intellectual contributions in results-based financing, performance management, and global partnership strategy, feeding into a growing body of work that influences policy and practice globally.

Who You Are

We are looking for someone who is energized by complexity, undaunted by ambiguity, and deeply motivated by impact. You combine the structured rigor of a top-tier consultant with the entrepreneurial instinct to build something new.

Experience

• Significant professional experience (typically 9+ years for Manager; 11+ for Senior Manager of relevant professional experience) and we welcome candidates whose experience exceeds these thresholds.
• Strong background in strategy consulting, international development, or complex advisory roles — ideally spanning both.
• Demonstrated experience working with or inside multilateral and bilateral institutions, large philanthropies, or global development organizations.
• A track record of leading multi-stakeholder, multi-country engagements from design through implementation.
• Experience designing strategic initiatives or large-scale programs — not just advising on them.
• Exposure to results-based financing, performance management, or impact measurement is highly desirable.

Education Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Public Policy, Economics, Business, Development Studies, or related fields.

Languages

• Excellent fluency in English (written and verbal).
• French or Spanish is a plus

Core Skills & Competencies

• Structured problem-solving & strategic thinking: You break down complex, ambiguous problems quickly and develop clear, actionable recommendations — the kind that a minister or a multilateral VP can act on.
• Change management & implementation: You understand that strategy without implementation is just paper. You know how to design for adoption, manage resistance, and build institutional ownership.
• Entrepreneurial & builder mindset: You can take an idea from whiteboard to pilot. You are comfortable with unstructured environments and motivated by building something, not just delivering it.
• Stakeholder management & communication: You engage credibly at the highest levels — with government ministers, donor executives, and foundation leadership — while remaining effective across teams and cultures.
• Project & team leadership: You manage multiple concurrent workstreams without dropping the ball, develop junior colleagues, and hold yourself and your team to a high bar.
• Global & cross-cultural collaboration: You have worked across geographies and cultures, and you know how to coordinate distributed teams effectively.
• AI-enabled working: You are genuinely curious about — and actively embrace — AI-powered workflows. At Instiglio, AI is not a future aspiration; it is central to how we research, synthesize, analyze, and deliver. The ideal candidate is already integrating AI tools into their daily work and is excited to push further.
• Adaptability & resilience: You thrive in ambiguity, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and bring a low-ego, roll-up-your-sleeves attitude to whatever the work demands.

How You Can Grow with Us

This role offers a rare opportunity to work at the frontier of global development — not in a supporting role, but as a central player shaping strategy, building institutions, and pioneering new models of impact. You will develop deep expertise across donor strategy, government transformation, results-based financing, and innovation in development finance.

You will receive structured mentorship, regular feedback, and a clear path toward increasing leadership — including the opportunity to shape new global initiatives, and contribute to Instiglio’s growing influence in the field.

Working Model & Benefits

This position is open to both local and international candidates, with a strong preference for those based in our offices in Kenya, Morocco, Mauritius, or Uganda. Instiglio offers a comprehensive benefits package including personal days, remote work allowance, health and travel insurance, company holidays between Christmas and New Year’s, and parental leave.

Location: Kenya or Mauritius (strongly preferred)

Term: Full-time position

Expected Starting Date: June 1, 2026 or earlier

Application Deadline: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis

Join Our Team

Submit your application by attaching your CV and cover letter in English answering the following questions:

1. Tell us about a time you persuaded a decision-maker or group of people to take action — what was the situation, what did you do, and what was the outcome?
2. Tell us about a complex strategic or advisory engagement you led: what was the challenge, how did you approach it, and what impact did it achieve?
3. What excites you about working at the intersection of strategy, change management, and innovation in international development?

We read every cover letter carefully — please write yours in your own voice rather than using AI-generated text, as authenticity matters to us far more than polish.

About the ONE Academy Project

ONE Academy is a free dynamic online learning platform designed to equip global activists and young people with the knowledge, tools, and skills to drive social change, promoting healthier lives and economic vitality in their communities. The platform is built to be accessible, interactive, and scalable, delivering high-quality educational content while fostering peer learning and community engagement, including in low-bandwidth environments.

For this project, ONE Academy will build on its existing platform to support foundational learning reform and youth-led advocacy in Kenya and Senegal to improve learning outcomes. This training module will be hosted on the ONE Academy platform and delivered in English, French, Wolof, and Swahili, with the aim of supporting real-world foundational learning system reform efforts in both countries.

Role Purpose

The Foundational Learning Lead will drive the end-to-end design and delivery of ONE Academy’s flagship learning module. As the technical authority on learning design and pedagogy, they will both create high-quality learning materials and ensure all content meets rigorous standards of instructional quality, relevance, and evidence-based practice.

They will play a critical role in translating foundational learning concepts into engaging, accessible, and action-oriented learning experiences for young people, with a strong emphasis on advocacy and real-world application. The role includes leading curriculum design, aligning inputs from partners, and overseeing the creation of engaging, evidence-based learning materials. 

Project Duration

May - October 2026

In this role, the successful candidate will:

• Define the learning architecture, curriculum, and progression pathways;
• Develop high-quality learning materials across all units;
• Guide, review, and ensure the quality of all materials;
• Align inputs from partners to ensure coherence;
• Ensure the program is pedagogically sound, engaging, and actionable.

 Core Responsibilities

1. Learning Strategy & Curriculum Design

• Lead the design of the overall learning framework and curriculum structure that is engaging, interactive, and tailored to youth audiences.
• Define learning objectives, competencies, and progression pathways.
• Structure the module across thematic units including:
  1. Structured Pedagogy Fundamentals;
  2. Targeted Instruction Principles;
• Science of Teaching Principles;
• Data & Evidence for Decision-Making;
• National Language Instruction – teaching kids in a language they understand;
• Responsible AI for Learning Outcomes;
• Investment Case for Foundational Learning – cost effectiveness + budgeting;
• Government Engagement, Civil Society Collaboration, and Coalition building;
• Youth Movement-Building.

1. Pedagogical Oversight & Quality Assurance

• Set instructional design standards for all learning materials.
• Review and validate materials produced by multimedia teams, ensuring it is evidence-based; contextually relevant, and engaging for youth audiences.

1. Content Design

• Design detailed lesson plans, core instructional content, and activities for each unit, ensuring clarity and coherence, strong learning outcomes, and practical applicability.
• Develop assessment tools such as quizzes, reflection prompts, and applied learning tasks.
• Incorporate interactive and participatory elements (e.g. decision-making exercises) to drive youth engagement and retention.

1. Localization & Relevance

• Ensure curriculum is adaptable across Kenya and Senegal contexts as well as multiple languages (EN, FR, WO, SWA).

1. Low-resource Settings Adaptation 

• Define learner experience requirements for accessibility and engagement in low-resource settings (e.g., offline features, mobile-first, low bandwidth).
• Assess and validate whether ONE Academy’s features effectively support learner uptake, comprehension, and engagement in low-resource settings. Recommend adjustments to content and learning design as needed.

1. Youth-Centered Design

• Integrate youth feedback into curriculum refinement.
• Ensure the learning experience supports:
  • Action-oriented advocacy;
  • Movement-building skills;
  • Real-world application including clear pathways from learning to action.

1. Collaboration & Advisory

• Work closely to advise product and platform teams, external subject-matter experts, and country partners.
• Support coherence across all components of the program.
• Learning Framework & Curriculum Architecture

• (competencies, structure, unit outlines)
• Detailed Module Design & Learning Material
  (learning objectives, authored lesson content, scripts, activities, and assessments across all units)
• Instructional Design Guidelines
  (for external multimedia content developers)
• Quality Assurance Reviews
  (validated script and learning materials)
• Localization Guidance
  (adaptation approach for Kenya & Senegal contexts)
• Feedback Loop & Continuous Improvement (to glean outcomes and feedback from learners, country partners, and stakeholders)

  Success Indicators

• Curriculum is:
  • Pedagogically sound;
  • Coherent across all units;
  • Adaptable across countries and languages.
  • Tailored to youth audiences (18-35).
• Learning content produced meets defined instructional quality standards.
• Demonstrated impact through positive feedback from pilot learners, country partners, and key stakeholders.
• Strong learner engagement and completion during the pilot phase.

 Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree (or higher) in Education, Curriculum Design, Pedagogy, or related field.
• 5+ years’ experience in foundational learning and curriculum and instructional design.
• Proven experience designing engaging, action-oriented learning experiences for youth (18-35), ideally linked to advocacy, civic engagement, or social impact.
• Demonstrated expertise in evidence-based pedagogy and learning design for low-resource context.
• Strong skills in youth-focused storytelling, messaging, and learner engagement.
• Excellent ability to translate theory into practical learning design and provide structured feedback to multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong understanding of advocacy with civil society and engagement with government.
• Experience reviewing and guiding e-learning content development.
• Proven experience designing youth-focused programs or campaigns. 

Preferred

• Multilingual with proficiency in English and French (Compulsory).
• Experience in Kenya and/or Senegal.
• Familiarity with multilingual education environments.
• Exposure to digital learning platforms or edtech.