Senior Manager, Strategy & Systems Transformation

Position Title: Senior Manager, Strategy & Systems Transformation

Position Location: Accra, Ghana

Reports To: ACTIVATE Project Director

Contract Term: 2 Years

Salary Level: PRO-4

Languages Required: English

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15th July 2026. Applications will however be reviewed on a rolling basis. Once suitable candidates have been identified, we may proceed to the next stages of the recruitment process.

EXPECTED START DATE: 17th August 2026

Are you a proactive systems architect who can evaluate macro-ecosystem, institutionalize systemic change frameworks, and act as the driving force behind strategic alliances.? WUSC is currently looking for a Senior Manager, Strategy & Systems Transformation to serve as the primary visionary engine for the ACTIVATE project’s cross-cutting priorities, ensuring our technical strategies are seamlessly woven into everything we do.

BACKGROUND

WUSC is a Canadian global development organization working to catalyze positive education and economic outcomes for young people. We bring together and collaborate with a diverse network of partners (including students, volunteers, schools, governments, not-for-profits, and businesses) who share this mission. Together, we influence systems change, and foster inclusive, youth-centered solutions that enable young people to thrive and belong. We work with all young people, with a focus on women and displaced populations. WUSC currently operates in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in Canada, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $65 million. Our global team includes over 100 staff in Canada and more than 250 staff internationally, implementing a diverse portfolio of development projects in collaboration with numerous multilateral and bilateral donors, and philanthropic foundations.

The Accelerating Change Through InnoVation in Agricultural TVET (ACTIVATE) project is a 5-year collaborative initiative that will contribute to a stronger, gender-responsive, socially inclusive and market-driven Agriculture Technical, Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) System that facilitates sustainable employment pathways, well-being and resilience of young women and men in Ghana. ACTIVATE will blend education and high quality, market relevant skills training in specific agriculture value chains and support growth of agripreneurship.

The project will reduce gender specific barriers, elevate the voice and aspirations of youth and integrate a strong inclusivity lens, with respect to gender and disability while building collaboration and linkages among key stakeholders such as public and private actors, academia, and agriculture value chain actors to create decent work for young people.

ACTIVATE will respond to key challenges facing the agriculture and adjacent sectors including insufficient management capacity of ATVET sector facilitation bodies, non-alignment of new TVET policies and reforms across sector ministries, low quality of ATVET instruction, curriculum and equipment, lack of ATVET engagement with industry, poor business skills among others

Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Project Director, the Senior Manager, Strategy & Systems Transformation will be responsible for providing strategic leadership to a matrixed team of specialized technical advisors across MERL, GESI/Safeguarding, and Communications. This role demands an exceptional blend of policy diplomacy and technical rigor—tasked with aligning high-level government ministries, steering critical project governance structures, and building the capacity of institutional actors to guarantee a sustainable, system-wide transformation in ATVET.

Cross-Cutting Portfolio Oversight

• Provide high-impact supervision and performance oversight to the MERL, GESI/Safeguarding, and Communications teams to ensure their interventions are unified and effective.
• Establish a rigorous reporting cadence to track milestones across MERL, GESI, and Communications portfolios; consolidate raw updates into strategic periodic performance reports for management review, ensuring data-driven learning directly informs adaptive management and team accountability.
• Coordinate and monitor implementation of cross-cutting work-plans and budgets, moving teams beyond simple tracking to achieve elite quality standards on time and within budget.
• Proactively diagnose implementation stalls within technical portfolios, designing rapid mitigation strategies to unblock progress.
• Enforce the deep integration of MERL data, GESI, safeguarding standards, and market messages across all project workstreams and partner operations.

Government Alliances & Systems Transformation

• Lead the day-to-day coordination with key government bodies (including MoFA, MoE, MoTI, CTVET, GTVET Service, GTEC) to align national policy reforms with project objectives.
• Build robust relationship frameworks that turn high-level agreements into practical, collaborative action plans among diverse ATVET system actors
• Design and lead high-level policy platforms, breakfast meetings, and multi-stakeholder consultations to position ACTIVATE as a thought leader in the sector

Project Governance & Committee Secretariats

• Direct the operational planning, strategic agenda development, and execution of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) and Technical Working Group (TWG).
• Act as the strategic secretariat, ensuring high-level advisory decisions and resolutions are accurately documented, tracked, and aggressively executed by project teams.

Institutional Capacity & Change Management

• Design and deploy comprehensive institutional capacity strengthening interventions targeting ATVET system actors, Sector Skills Bodies (SSBs), regulatory agencies, and other strategic institutions.
• Facilitate agency-level change management processes to optimize service delivery, transparency, and collaboration, and with the broader ATVET ecosystem.
• Evaluate the long-term impact of systems strengthening interventions, ensuring institutional reforms and self-sustaining beyond the project lifecycle.

Work environment

• Promote and maintain an organizational culture that advances gender equality, reduces power abuse and inequalities, and fosters trust, respect and safety.
• Create a working environment is free from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH)
• Ensure high standards of prevention and response measures for SEAH are in place consistent with the WUSC's safeguarding policies and WUSC's Code of Conduct.

QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

Education

• Master's degree in Development Studies, Project Management, Public Administration, Education, Agriculture, Business Administration, Social Sciences, or a related field.

Experience & Competencies

• Minimum of 10 years of relevant professional experience leading multi-stakeholder coordination, macro-level systems strengthening, or policy-driven development programming.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience managing multidisciplinary teams of technical specialists (such as MERL, gender, or advocacy advisors).
• Proven track record of successfully navigating and collaborating with senior government ministries, boards, and regulatory agencies.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating governance structures, advisory committees, technical working groups, or similar multi-stakeholder platforms.
• Direct experience designing and executing organizational development, institutional capacity building, or change management strategies.
• Experience in TVET/ATVET, workforce development, systems strengthening, or agricultural development programs will be an advantage.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Curious, enthusiastic and willing to innovate and adapt.

Key Skills and Competencies Required

• Strategic Matrix Leadership: Exceptional capacity to manage, inspire, and extract high performance from technical experts across disparate fields (data, gender, communications)
• Ecosystem Diplomacy: Elite relationship management and consensus-building skills; comfortable presenting to and negotiating with senior government officials, institutional heads, and donor entities.
• Systems Thinking & Change Architecture: Deep understanding of how to drive institutional reforms, modify organizational behaviors, and build sustainable frameworks within complex public sectors.
• Adaptive Results Management: Sharp analytical mind capable of identifying systemic gaps and turning MERL evidence into immediate operational pivots and strategic solutions.
• High-Impact Communication: Superior report-writing, presentation, and facilitation skills, with an innate ability to lead high-level policy dialogues and translate complex concepts into accessible strategic roadmaps.

Languages

• Complete fluency in English is required.

WHY WORK WITH WUSC?

Join Us. Our work is important, cutting-edge, and rewarding. We encourage curiosity, innovation, and flexibility.

WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference in the lives of youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, economic opportunities and empowerment.

WUSC’s office in Ghana is located in Westlands. Here’s some of what you can expect working with us:

• 37-hour workweek, some ability to work flexible hours
• 20 days annual leave
• Health Insurance cover
• Free access to an e-learning platform with 350+ courses on various topics
• Get to know and exchange with people from all over the world
• Being part of a friendly, caring and enthusiastic team!

APPLICATIONS

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form.

Persons with disabilities who need accommodation in the application process, or those needing job postings in an alternative format, may e-mail a request to jobs-ghana@wusc.ca.

WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and abilities. Accommodations are available upon request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. Please note that only the candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.