Overview

The Generation Empowerment Fund (the Fund) is a Sub-Saharan Africa-focused debt fund that applies a ‘child-lens’ investing strategy to financial institutions and companies serving underserved children. The Fund is targeting US$125 million in assets under management, with a first close of US$75 million, and invests primarily in financial institutions that on-lend to community-based schools, early childhood centres and other providers serving children in low-income communities.

Alongside its investments, the Fund operates a grant-funded Technical Assistance (TA) Facility, targeting US$10 million, to strengthen investee capacity, deliver innovation around impact management and deepen impact for children.

GenEm Advisors, a subsidiary of Save the Children Global Ventures (SCGV), manages the Fund's investment portfolio and delivers the TA Facility, with the two workstreams working closely together. The TA Director will lead the Facility's development, delivery and growth, building on its existing programmes and initial funding to scale innovative approaches that combine financial inclusion with improved outcomes for children.

Engagement details

• Reporting to: Managing Director, GenEm Advisors
• Preferred location: Nairobi, Kenya. Other locations in Sub-Saharan Africa where the Fund has significant investments will also be considered (e.g., Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana)
• Employment type: Fixed-term for two years, with the possibility of extension

Position Description

Working closely with the investment team, TA Committee, financial institutions, funders and implementing partners, including Save the Children country offices and external technical organisations, the Director will manage a diverse TA portfolio spanning financial institution capacity strengthening, innovative lending products and impact measurement.

A key component of the Facility is its Incentive-Linked Loans (ILLs) programme, which offers borrowers interest rebates for achieving agreed outcomes for children, including improvements in learning, WASH, safeguarding and climate resilience. The foundational Incentives for Learning (IfL) pilot programme was developed by the IDP Foundation and Global Schools Forum and has been implemented in Kenya since 2025, with a rigorous impact evaluation underway. The expansion and thematic replication of the model has the potential to reach large numbers of underserved community-based schools through existing financial institutions.

The role calls for creativity, strategic leadership, strong partnership-building skills and commercial judgement. The successful candidate will combine the ability to mobilise funding and manage complex partnerships with the practical skills to oversee effective TA delivery and translate innovative ideas into measurable impact.

Design

• Building on the existing TA strategy and its associated funding mandates, lead the design and development of TA programmes, including impact-linked loans delivered through financial institutions (FIs), FI capacity building and other TA priorities as they emerge.
• For the ILL Programme, design incentive structures that offer commercial practicality for both lenders and schools, setting outcome targets, reward levels and payment mechanisms that fit how financial institutions actually lend.
• Adapt programmes to new outcome areas and markets, working with technical specialists to define targets that are meaningful for children and can be measured affordably.
• Bring together investment, technical and partner expertise to develop appropriate delivery models, outcomes, budgets and implementation plans.
• Incorporate learning from existing and past programmes into the design of new TA programmes.

Delivery

• Coordinate delivery of the overall TA programme portfolio, working across GenEm Advisors' investment team, its portfolio of financial institutions, Save the Children country teams, technical partners and external providers.
• Work with FI leadership and loan officers to build impact-linked products into everyday lending operations, including credit processes, loan officer targets, training and data systems.
• Commission and manage the research and assessment organisations that measure and verify outcomes, ensuring methods are credible, locally appropriate and affordable at scale.
• Lead co-design processes to bring together stakeholders around technical and strategic goals.
• Select and onboard implementing partners.
• Manage implementing partners, contracts, budgets, workplans and delivery across the TA portfolio.
• Manage learning capture and reporting.

Portfolio management and funder relations

• Oversee monitoring, reporting and funder requirements, ensuring programme delivery remains on track and that risks and delivery challenges are mitigated.
• Maintain an overall view of the Facility's pipeline, funding, implementation progress and results.

Fundraising

• Support SCGV in growing and capitalising the TA Facility.
• With colleagues, develop proposals, budgets, concept notes and donor materials, coordinating inputs from technical, investment and delivery partners to expand the Facility's funding base.

Governance

• Manage the effective operation of the TA Committee, including planning meetings, preparing proposals and facilitating approval decisions.
• Support SCGV's leadership and oversight of the TA Facility, ensuring TA funds are used appropriately and accountably.
• Ensure the TA Facility meets funder governance and accountability requirements, including reporting on the use of funds, compliance with grant conditions and, where agreed, funder involvement in TA Committee decisions.

Qualifications

Essential

• Good understanding of financial inclusion and lending to low-income communities, including how financial institutions operate and develop lending products.
• Experience managing multi-partner technical assistance, grant-funded or development programmes across organisations with different roles and accountabilities, including governance, external implementing partners or consultants, budgets, contracts, workplans, risks and donor reporting.
• Ability to advance strategic priorities into practical programmes, bringing together technical expertise, outcomes, budgets and delivery plans.
• Experience developing funding proposals and working with institutional or philanthropic funders.
• Experience managing research or evaluation partners, with an understanding of practical, cost-effective approaches to measuring outcomes.
• Strong understanding of financial inclusion, enterprise development, impact investing or related approaches in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Excellent relationship management, judgement and communication skills, including the ability to work effectively with investment colleagues without owning investee relationships.
• An entrepreneurial mindset, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, think creatively, take initiative, and build something new from the ground up.
• A relevant educational degree or equivalent professional experience.

Desirable

• Experience establishing or managing a technical assistance facility linked to an investment fund or financial institution.
• Experience designing or delivering impact-linked finance, results-based incentives or financial institution capacity building.
• Experience working on outcomes for children, education, safeguarding, climate or other sectors relevant to the Generation Empowerment Fund.
• Experience supporting a committee or similar governance body, including preparing papers and tracking decisions.
• An understanding of the low-fee private school sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Lead the design and development of TA programmes, including impact-linked loans delivered through financial institutions, FI capacity building and other TA priorities.
• Design commercially practical incentive structures for the Incentive-Linked Loans Programme, including outcome targets, reward levels and payment mechanisms.
• Adapt programmes to new outcome areas and markets, defining meaningful and affordable-to-measure targets for children.
• Coordinate delivery of the overall TA programme portfolio with investment teams, financial institutions, Save the Children country teams, technical partners and external providers.
• Work with FI leadership and loan officers to integrate impact-linked products into lending operations, credit processes, targets, training and data systems.
• Commission and manage research and assessment organisations to measure and verify outcomes.
• Lead co-design processes, select and onboard implementing partners, and manage partner contracts, budgets, workplans and delivery.
• Manage learning capture, monitoring, reporting, funder requirements, risks and programme progress.
• Support growth and capitalisation of the TA Facility by developing proposals, budgets, concept notes and donor materials.
• Manage the effective operation of the TA Committee and ensure appropriate use of funds and compliance with governance and accountability requirements.

• Financial inclusion and lending to low-income communities
• Financial institution operations and lending product development
• Technical assistance and grant-funded programme management
• Strategic programme design and delivery planning
• Funding proposal development and institutional or philanthropic funder engagement
• Research, evaluation and cost-effective outcome measurement
• Partnership and relationship management
• Budget, contract, workplan, risk and donor reporting management
• Governance and committee management
• Communication, judgement, creativity and initiative

• Good understanding of financial inclusion and lending to low-income communities, including how financial institutions operate and develop lending products.
• Experience managing multi-partner technical assistance, grant-funded or development programmes across organisations with different roles and accountabilities.
• Ability to advance strategic priorities into practical programmes, bringing together technical expertise, outcomes, budgets and delivery plans.
• Experience developing funding proposals and working with institutional or philanthropic funders.
• Experience managing research or evaluation partners and understanding practical, cost-effective approaches to measuring outcomes.
• Strong understanding of financial inclusion, enterprise development, impact investing or related approaches in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Excellent relationship management, judgement and communication skills.
• An entrepreneurial mindset and ability to navigate ambiguity, think creatively, take initiative and build something new from the ground up.
• A relevant educational degree or equivalent professional experience.