Director of Product Strategy -S IFA

We are seeking a seasoned Product Director to lead the strategic development and execution of FIFA’s product portfolio. In this pivotal role, you will oversee the entire product lifecycle, from conceptualization and market analysis to implementation and continuous improvement. Your responsibilities will include collaborating with cross-functional teams to align product vision with business objectives, prioritizing feature development based on user needs and market trends, and ensuring seamless integration with existing systems. Additionally, you will guide product managers, foster innovation, and drive data-informed decision-making to enhance customer satisfaction and revenue growth. The ideal candidate will possess a proven track record in product leadership, a deep understanding of market dynamics, and exceptional stakeholder management skills, along with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, agile environment. Educate and mentor students in a dynamic learning environment, fostering their intellectual growth and academic development. Deliver comprehensive lessons aligned with curriculum standards, ensuring clarity and engagement. Assess student performance through evaluations and provide constructive feedback to support improvement. Collaborate with colleagues to enhance instructional strategies and promote a positive classroom atmosphere. Maintain accurate records of attendance, progress, and behavior while adhering to institutional policies. We seek individuals with a robust educational background and specialized training to fulfill key responsibilities. Candidates must possess relevant academic qualifications, such as degrees, certifications, or vocational training, to ensure proficiency in their field. Prior hands-on experience in practical applications of their education is highly valued, along with ongoing professional development to stay current with industry standards. The role demands adherence to established protocols and the ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world challenges effectively. Management, Business Operations, Education, Computer & Information Technology, and Social Services & Nonprofit sectors require professionals who can oversee teams, optimize processes, and ensure strategic alignment with organizational objectives. These roles demand proficiency in resource allocation, budget management, and stakeholder engagement, along with a strong background in relevant fields. Candidates should possess analytical skills, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous improvement, ensuring sustainable growth and impact within their respective industries. Who We Are! Africa boasts the globe’s youngest and most rapidly expanding population, with projections indicating that by 2035, the continent will annually supply a greater number of young workers to the global labor market than all other regions combined. At Educate!, our driving force is impact, and we harness iterative learning to develop scalable solutions for youth employment that unlock the potential of the world’s youngest continent. Educate! Empowers African youth with the essential skills and knowledge to succeed in today’s economy, enabling them to learn, earn, and thrive through: Introducing a career-oriented academic subject into secondary education curricula, this initiative aims to equip students with essential employment skills and knowledge pertinent to the modern workforce. The subject will cover key areas such as workplace readiness, professional communication, and foundational industry insights, ensuring learners are prepared for future career challenges. Designed to align with educational standards and labor market demands, it seeks to bridge the gap between academic learning and practical job requirements. This program is intended for secondary school students and educators seeking to enhance their understanding of employment pathways and industry expectations. We conduct livelihood boot camps specifically designed for out-of-school youth, placing particular emphasis on supporting marginalized rural girls and young women. To date, over half a million young individuals across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania have experienced tangible benefits, positioning Educate! As the leading organization for youth employment and skills development in East Africa. Educate! Comprises a dynamic team of more than 300 staff members—predominantly African—and an additional 300 volunteer youth mentors. Our organization is committed to fostering a vibrant, rewarding, and professionally enriching work environment. Notably, half of our top 30 leadership team has remained with us for over five years, while ten alumni have launched their own initiatives. Furthermore, six present or former team members have been selected as Acumen Fund East Africa Fellows. Educate! Has garnered support from leading foundations, including Imaginable Futures, the Livelihood Impact Fund, Jack Dorsey’s start small, CLIFF, and Echidna Giving. Our organization has earned recognition with the 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and the 2015 WISE Award, while our impact has been featured by the World Bank’s S4YE Impact Portfolio, an Al Jazeera documentary, BBC, The Brookings Institution—where we were highlighted among 14 case studies on educational scaling—and the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, philanthropist Mackenzie Scott made a transformative investment in our systems change initiatives. Educate! Aims to develop innovative solutions that deliver measurable improvements in the lives of millions of African youth annually. Noted in advance: To our esteemed applicants! If you find this position compelling, we strongly encourage you to submit your application, even if you feel you don’t meet every listed qualification. We seek driven professionals who align with our mission and contribute fresh, valuable insights to our team—not merely those who meet every criterion. We prioritize diversity and wholeheartedly welcome applications from women and individuals of all backgrounds. Position Overview At Educate!, we design and implement transformative learning experiences that redefine youth employment across Africa, deploying products engaging hundreds of thousands of young people in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Serving as Product Director for FIFA, you will establish a strategic vision for a sophisticated, high-impact digital product, driving results through Product Leads, cross-product collaboration, and a top-tier team comprising designers, engineers, coaching specialists, and product associates. FIFA, educate!’s AI-driven business coaching platform, provides a digital solution tailored to out-of-school youth microentrepreneurs, enabling them to enhance profitability, reinforce cash flow discipline, and minimize capital tied up in customer credit. Serving as the flagship product with the strongest potential to serve as the digital foundation for educate!’s entire ecosystem, it is designed to be scalable, data-rich, and progressively smarter with each successive cohort. The incoming Product Director will inherit a product that has evolved from concept to minimum viable product (MVP), already demonstrating measurable impact, and now faces pivotal strategic choices in its development trajectory: expanding from 1,200 to 20,000 users before ultimately scaling to reach millions of young entrepreneurs. This position requires more than simply managing a high-performing team. You will analyze external research, evaluation data, and experimental outcomes to make critical trade-offs amid significant uncertainty. The role entails full ownership of the investment proposal, resolving complex trade-offs across products and functions, and shaping business unit priorities through the strength of your product strategy—all while aligning with the strategic direction established by the business unit leader and exercising meaningful strategic autonomy within those parameters. The choices made within this role hold significant, long-term consequences. Investment memo recommendations, stage-gate evaluations, and portfolio positioning decisions for FIFA substantially shape Educate!’s digital strategy for years to come. This position seeks a product leader who grasps the weight of such accountability and can cultivate a team culture where evidence quality, learning rigor, and strategic alignment are unwavering priorities. For seasoned product leaders seeking to exercise significant ownership, cultivate a high-performing team, and contribute within a purpose-driven organization, this opportunity provides the platform to achieve their most meaningful professional contributions. Expected Impact This position represents a pivotal moment in FIFA’s evolution, as the product transitions from a conceptual framework to a validated MVP, having already demonstrated measurable impact. The individual selected for this role will play a decisive role in scaling that impact, shaping whether FIFA solidifies its position as the foundational digital infrastructure of Educate!’s ecosystem or remains confined to a successful pilot program. During their tenure, the Product Director will be responsible for achieving the following key deliverables: The MVP v4 delivers a definitive go/iterate/pause decision for the 5,000-youth pilot, supported by compelling evidence in profit enhancement, engagement metrics, credit recovery outcomes, delivery model feasibility, and operational preparedness. The COPY (Cost Per Youth) model for FIFA has undergone comprehensive costing and rigorous stress-testing at the 100,000-youth benchmark, accompanied by a compelling ROI framework presented to the Investment Committee. FIFA’s data architecture is operational, delivering actionable insights, and currently leveraged in quarterly OKR evaluations. The product dashboard presents real-time metrics such as profit uplift, engagement levels, credit recovery, micro-action completion, and platform availability. By 2027, FIFA aims to support 20,000 active users via its digital coaching platform, ensuring sustained engagement while driving measurable enhancements in business performance on a large scale. By 2028, FIFA aims to engage 2 million young individuals, supported by a finalized external Randomized Control and Treatment Study (RCT) that demonstrates a 30% increase in income and a minimum 6x three-year income return on investment at a cost point of 100,000 youth. By 2029, FIFA will serve as educate!’s evidence-based digital foundation for its portfolio, leveraging a validated impact model, a dynamic data pipeline that ensures ongoing learning, and an AI-driven coaching layer. This integration will enhance every cohort across the livelihoods and ESS portfolio, making operations increasingly efficient, cost-effective, and appealing to funders.

Autres informations

• Develop and execute a forward-thinking strategic vision for a sophisticated, high-impact digital product. Leverage significant influence by guiding Product Leads, fostering cross-product collaboration, and leading a high-caliber team comprising designers, engineers, coaching specialists, and product associates. Evaluate external research, assessment outcomes, and experimental data to inform critical trade-off decisions in the face of genuine uncertainty. Develop and oversee the investment case to ensure comprehensive evaluation and alignment with strategic objectives. Proactively address and reconcile conflicting priorities and dependencies across various products and teams to ensure cohesive and effective solutions. Devise and champion product strategies that compellingly shape and elevate business unit priorities, ensuring alignment with overarching organizational objectives.
• Establish an organizational culture that upholds uncompromising standards for evidence quality, intellectual rigor in learning, and alignment with strategic objectives. Develop and execute a comprehensive product strategy to drive business growth and enhance market competitiveness. Align product roadmaps with company objectives and customer needs, ensuring timely delivery of innovative solutions. Conduct market research to identify emerging trends, customer pain points, and competitive opportunities. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including engineering, marketing, and sales, to define product requirements and prioritize features. Monitor key performance indicators to assess product success and iterate based on data-driven insights. Lead stakeholder communications to secure buy-in and ensure alignment across departments. Leads and manages a high-performing team, fostering collaboration, accountability, and professional growth among members. Guides to team members in aligning their efforts with organizational goals, ensuring productivity and adherence to deadlines. Mentors employees, providing constructive feedback and development opportunities to enhance their skills and performance. Resolves conflicts and mediates disputes to maintain a positive and cohesive work environment. Communicates effectively with both the team and senior leadership to clarify expectations, track progress, and address challenges proactively.
• Responsible for examining and interpreting complex datasets to extract meaningful insights and support informed decision-making across various business functions.
• Applies statistical techniques and analytical tools to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies within structured and unstructured data.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams to define data requirements, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and project goals.
• Develops and maintains dashboards, reports, and visualizations to communicate findings effectively to stakeholders at all levels.
• Utilizes programming languages (e.g., Python, R) and data visualization software (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) to perform advanced analyses and automate reporting processes.
• Ensures data integrity, accuracy, and compliance with relevant regulations and internal policies throughout all analysis activities.
• Provides actionable recommendations based on data-driven insights to drive strategic initiatives and operational improvements.
• Participates in the design and implementation of data collection systems, enhancing data quality and accessibility for future analyses. Interpreting research findings involves synthesizing complex data into actionable insights, ensuring accuracy and relevance. This requires a keen analytical mindset, attention to detail, and the ability to distill intricate information into clear, concise summaries. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential to effectively convey findings to stakeholders at all levels of an organization. Familiarity with research methodologies, statistical analysis, and industry-specific trends is crucial for drawing meaningful conclusions. Additionally, the role demands proficiency in data visualization tools to present insights compellingly and support informed decision-making. Collaborate effectively with various departments and teams to ensure cohesive project execution and alignment with organizational objectives. Responsible for making pivotal strategic decisions that align with organizational objectives and drive long-term growth. Requires a keen ability to analyze complex data, forecast trends, and evaluate risks to determine the most effective course of action. Must possess strong leadership skills to guide teams through implementation while ensuring alignment with company vision and stakeholder expectations. Essential to prioritize initiatives that maximize efficiency, innovation, and sustainable competitive advantage. Demonstrates a commitment to making informed, data-driven choices by leveraging empirical evidence and proven methodologies to support strategic and operational decisions. Seasoned product executive with extensive leadership expertise in guiding product development initiatives, driving strategic vision, and leading cross-functional teams to achieve business objectives. Demonstrates a strong capacity for independent decision-making and accountability in executing responsibilities. Demonstrates exceptional leadership in assembling and guiding high-performing teams through collaboration, mentorship, and strategic talent development to achieve shared objectives. Demonstrates a strong commitment to mission-driven initiatives and derives motivation from contributing to meaningful goals. A bachelor’s degree is required for this role, ensuring candidates possess foundational academic qualifications relevant to the position. This credential demonstrates a commitment to education and the acquisition of specialized knowledge necessary for the responsibilities outlined. Employers value this level of academic achievement as it often correlates with critical thinking, discipline, and expertise in a particular field, thereby enhancing an individual’s capacity to perform effectively in professional settings.

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