Senior Manager, Higher Education Inclusion

Role Overview

The Senior Manager, Higher Education Inclusion leads the strategy and technical support that help refugee, displaced and host-community youth access, complete and move forward from education across multiple African contexts. Working with more than 40 partners, WUSC teams and donor representatives, the role strengthens pathways from secondary school into higher education and onward to employment, while putting the participation and success of young women at the centre of program design. The manager also develops a capable, accountable team and ensures that partner support, budgets and learning contribute to the initiative’s goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Set technical direction for the higher education inclusion portfolio and guide partner institutions, refugee-led organizations and the project team in delivering practical, context-sensitive support.
• Help partners improve young people’s access to and completion of secondary education, including through academic preparation, bridging programs, referrals and stronger transitions into postsecondary study.
• Advise education institutions on more inclusive admissions, recognition of prior learning, flexible documentation requirements and coordinated referral processes.
• Strengthen student retention and education-to-work pathways through career guidance, work-readiness support, language and psychosocial referrals, and connections to employers, internships and further study.
• Develop peer-advisory approaches and build the capacity of local organizations to lead outreach, recruitment and transition support for displaced learners.
• Apply gender-responsive and intersectional approaches across partner assistance, program delivery and learning; use sex-disaggregated evidence to identify barriers and track progress toward the 70% young women target.
• Manage the portfolio budget, forecast resource needs and coordinate with grants colleagues so technical support and partner funding advance agreed institutional and capacity-building priorities.
• Maintain strong relationships with government bodies, UNHCR, employers, education networks, refugee-led organizations and other stakeholders; contribute to sector working groups, convenings and policy discussions.
• Lead and develop the higher education inclusion team through clear priorities, effective delegation, regular coaching, performance support and tailored professional development.
• Work with monitoring, evaluation and learning colleagues to assess the quality and impact of partner support, and collaborate with communications teams to share evidence, lessons and results.
• Monitor developments in displacement, complementary pathways and durable solutions; identify operational, safeguarding, data-protection and contextual risks and ensure appropriate mitigation.
• Coordinate with WUSC’s global Durable Solutions team and other project leaders to identify shared priorities, research opportunities and ways to strengthen the wider network.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a relevant discipline such as international development, education, public policy or international relations.
• Seven to ten years of experience in higher education or technical assistance programs, including at least five years managing or coaching multi-country teams in Africa across locations and time zones.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing staff, including technically skilled early-career colleagues; able to set expectations, delegate, provide constructive feedback and foster an inclusive, collaborative team culture.
• Experience managing donor-funded, multi-country program budgets with a portfolio of at least US$1 million, including financial monitoring and reporting.
• Strong record of expanding higher education access for displaced or otherwise underserved populations, and providing participatory technical assistance to partner institutions. Experience creating practical guidance, training materials or tools for institutional leaders is important.
• Experience supporting secondary access, retention or completion and building pathways into higher education for marginalized youth, especially young women.
• Knowledge of higher education, technical and vocational education, accreditation and qualification systems, and youth employment across East, West and Horn of Africa; familiarity with both Anglophone and Francophone contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to apply gender equality and intersectional inclusion throughout program design, implementation, partnerships and monitoring, including strategies that address barriers faced by refugee and displaced young women.
• Understanding of career-planning resources, education policy and reform priorities, with experience working alongside government agencies, employer groups, private-sector organizations and development partners.
• Excellent English communication, writing and editing skills; professional French is an advantage.
• Highly organized and resourceful, with the judgement to work independently and hands-on in a fast-moving environment. Willingness and ability to travel frequently within Africa, estimated at approximately 25% of working time.