About Ubulu Africa

Ubulu Africa is a pioneering digital innovation hub dedicated to driving impactful digital transformation across the African continent. By focusing on venture building and ecosystem development, Ubulu Africa aims to catalyze economic empowerment and foster sustainable development. We bridge the gap between key players—including innovators, startups, corporate organizations, academic institutions, and government agencies—to co-create a thriving economic future.

The Opportunity: Programme Manager

We are seeking an experienced and highly organized Programme Manager to take on a senior delivery role at the very heart of Ubulu Africa’s programme function. Reporting directly to the Programme Director, you will have end-to-end ownership of planning, managing, and delivering critical innovation programmes from initiation through to completion. This role sits at the intersection of government policy, development agency impact, corporate strategy, and startup agility.

Key Responsibilities: What You Will Do

Full-Lifecycle Leadership: Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of all active Ubulu Africa programmes, including initiation, comprehensive planning, execution, monitoring, and successful closing.
Strategic Planning & Budgeting: Develop and maintain detailed programme plans, schedules, resource allocations, and budgets that account for the unique complexities of multi-stakeholder engagements.
Stakeholder Relationship Management: Manage relationships with senior stakeholders across government institutions, development agencies, corporate partners, and the startup ecosystem, communicating with clarity and confidence.
High-Quality Documentation: Draft and deliver institutional-grade programme documentation, including progress reports, risk registers, stakeholder briefs, and close-out reports.
Proposal & Bid Development: Lead the creation of winning programme proposals and bids, applying rigour to scoping, methodology, costing, and overall delivery planning.
Team Coordination: Align internal teams and external partners to ensure all major delivery milestones are met, potential risks are proactively managed, and accountability is maintained.
Standardize Best Practices: Apply structured programme management methodologies (such as PMBOK or PRINCE2) to elevate and scale delivery standards across the organization.

Qualifications: What You Bring

Proven Track Record: 7 or more years of professional programme management experience, with a solid history of delivering complex, multi-stakeholder projects in innovation ecosystems, development sectors, government, or corporate spaces.
Methodology Expertise: Strong familiarity with established frameworks like PMBOK or PRINCE2. While formal certification is a distinct advantage, demonstrated execution capability is highly valued.
Strategic & Tactical Balance: The ability to operate seamlessly at both the high-level strategic planning stage and the hands-on execution stage.
Exceptional Communication: Superb written and verbal communication skills. You can produce precise reports and present confidently to government directors and internal teams alike.
Proposal & Financial Competence: Experience developing bids for institutional clients, with strong capability in concurrent budget management and resource planning.
Ecosystem Experience: Prior experience working within or alongside the African innovation ecosystem is highly advantageous.

Why Join Us?

At Ubulu Africa, you will be at the forefront of the continent’s digital transition. You will have the unique opportunity to shape programmes that directly empower innovators, drive technological adoption, and create sustainable economic opportunities. If you are a disciplined leader passionate about making a tangible impact, we want to hear from you!