Positions in: anywhere in Africa
Do you want to cultivate positive, collaborative and impact-driven communities amongst media actors, technologists, scientists, data analysts and researchers in Africa?
Code for Africa (CfA) has an immediate vacancy for a full-time Communities Product Manager anywhere in Africa to join its Knowledge team.
Ideal candidates must have demonstrable experience in programme management, community engagement, event planning, and partnership development. Also, candidates must have a growth mindset, be passionate about inspiring success, and believe in unlocking human potential through data-driven journalism, technology evangelism, and capacity-building projects.
CfA’s Knowledge initiative, spearheading training management and partnerships, data analysis, digital journalism, and storytelling initiatives for partner newsrooms, universities, and local community events in Africa. It also includes CfA communities such as the WanaData women data science/storytelling network and the africanDRONE civic drone community, as well as the sensors.AFRICA sensor journalism initiative, with a network of more than 50+ newsrooms and university partners across Africa. The Knowledge team is also the custodian of other major CfA public infrastructure, such as the continent’s largest open data portal, open.AFRICA, and Africa’s largest census data portal, HURUMap.
The successful candidate will work with an agile transnational Knowledge team of other data analysts, in-country community coordinators, digital designers, and editorial experts, with additional support from CfA’s software engineering and forensic research teams, in 21 countries across the continent.
Required: minimum requirements include:
At least 7 years of experience working in a programme and project management role, with at least 3 years of that experience involving community management and engagement, preferably at development organisations (NGOs/CSO/non-profit), technology/media communities, or high-growth startups.
Proven experience managing fast-moving, complex, multi-stakeholder communications projects within the NGO/CSO/non-profit, media, or tech/startup sectors.
Proven experience in designing and organising international events/conferences/webinars, offline and online.
Demonstrable leadership skills honed from experience in building and growing an effective remote or distributed team of ambitious multicultural and multilingual domain experts.
Experience forming and managing partnerships, particularly with media institutions, international organisations, or relevant technology players, as well as other private and non-profit stakeholders in the civic technology and media ecosystem.
Meticulous attention to detail, with the ability to work with congeniality in a fast-paced deadline-driven environment. This includes being an organisational whiz who is able to prioritise multiple simultaneous tasks, while at the same time having the people skills needed to engage diplomatically and collaborate effectively with colleagues under tight deadlines.
Understanding of donor funding and reporting requirements.
A high level of analytical skills and the ability to use initiative, apply creativity, and develop innovative solutions to problems.
Digital-first workplace skill-sets, including proficiency in collaborative work solutions such as Google Workplace (Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc.), Slack (or equivalents such as Teams, etc), and project management tools like Trello (or equivalents such as AirTable, etc)
Strong research and writing skills and ability to write in a non-academic, accessible, and engaging manner.
Strong administrative skills and precision in handling budgets and contracts
Empathetic communication and listening skills, plus top-notch cross-functional collaboration skills.
Be a true team player, enjoying working with a highly collaborative team.
Preferred: candidates who are able to demonstrate the following will have an advantage:
Relentless resourcefulness, ownership mindset, and a proven record of single-handedly building from the ground up and translating projects from the idea stage to launch.
Experience promoting impactful relationships through community programs and ability to moderate, manage and engage within community forums.
Experience in producing toolkits and public awareness materials in various formats like articles, reports, curricula, podcasts, blogs, etc.
Sound understanding of issues related to the intersection of gender, tech, data, investigation, and journalism.
Deep understanding of the technology and media ecosystem in Africa. Passion for media, data storytelling, and technology. An interest in civic technology and digital journalism.
Language and Location Requirements:
Location: Remote
Languages: English
Preferred but not required: Arabic, French, Swahili, or other major African languages.
About the Role:
The successful candidate will join CfA’s Knowledge team which spearheads data liberation or digitisation and analysis for internal programmes at CfA and projects at external partners, including media and universities, assisting with data-driven storytelling or infographics as part of our mission to improve citizen and civic watchdog access to actionable information.
You will serve as the champion for all CfA’s Communities’ networks and lead the CfA’s Communities team. You will drive engagement and accelerate the growth of CfA’s networks of changemakers across the continent by organising offline and online community-related projects and other activities, including training and events. You should feel comfortable working with a specialised audience of investigators, journalists, and civil society organisations. You will also play a key managerial role, be given a breadth of responsibility, and work with multiple teams across Africa. You will, from time to time, coordinate with CfA’s business development team and the Knowledge Senior Programme Manager to initiate, expand, and maintain relationships with CfA’s institutional partners across Africa and support grant writing and applications.

Successful candidates will assist to conceptualise and produce data-driven journalism projects, leveraging CfA toolkits and resources as appropriate. In addition, the role will include mentoring journalists, providing input on story plans, helping shape digital design/packaging for projects, and assisting with the publication/syndication of CfA’s content with media partners. You will also manage the Communities’ projects, such as providing fellowship opportunities to Communities’ members and ensuring that fellowship deliverables and deadlines are met.
Responsibilities: Your daily responsibilities will include:
Oversee the day-to-day operations of all online and offline Communities initiatives activities including meetups, online workshops or forums, conferences or events, etc.
Lead the expansion and development of new Communities initiatives that are aligned with our product roadmap to effectively grow our networks’ user base.
Oversee and support a distributed team of Communities coordinators who work on clearly defined initiatives or projects across Africa.
Oversee the engagement and relationship of the Communities coordinators with their particular community on a regular basis via multiple chosen communication mediums.
Design and oversee the day-to-day implementation of projects/partners, based on their work plans and CfA strategic objectives or expectations.
Oversee and manage multiple project deliverables to ensure adherence to agreed quality benchmarks and budgets, by facilitating regular progress reviews at appropriate milestones for stakeholders, and by proactively problem-solving where expectations are not met.
Explore and evaluate new partnerships and initiatives that can significantly increase CfA’s Communities footprint in Africa.
Keep track of the impact stories sparked by the Communities’ initiatives and share insights with internal teams to improve community approaches and engagements.
Maintain and foster a database of community influencers, high-impact leaders to partner with on events and content.
Lead the coordination of the syndication/publication of CfA content with media partners, with the support of the Communities coordinators.
What We Offer:
A competitive salary, subject to experience, with opportunities for performance-based growth, both in terms of career path and public stature and medical insurance.
A dynamic workplace, with a transnational team, occasional international travel, and generous vacation benefits.
Ongoing opportunities to learn new cutting-edge skills and techniques/technologies to future-proof yourself in a rapidly evolving industry.
A chance to shine on a global stage, writing for international audiences and interacting with colleagues worldwide.
How to apply:
Please fill in this form by June 16
About Us:
Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of indigenous African civic technology and investigative data journalism laboratories, with over 90 staff in 22 countries, who build digital democracy solutions that are intended to give citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions and that strengthen civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability.
This includes building infrastructure such as the continent’s largest open data portal, open.AFRICA, and largest open source civic software portal, commons.AFRICA, as well as the largest repository of investigative document-based evidence, source.AFRICA, as well as incubating initiatives as diverse as the africanDRONE network that gives citizens their own ‘eyes in the sky’, the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative in 12 African countries, and the sensors.AFRICA remote-sensing citizen science initiative to combat air/water pollution.
CfA also incubates the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), as an association of the continent’s best investigative newsrooms, ranging from large traditional mainstream media to smaller specialist units. ANCIR member newsrooms investigate crooked politicians, organised crime and big business. The iLAB is ANCIR’s in-house digital forensic unit, with teams in east, south and west Africa. ANCIR uses its resources to strengthen newsrooms’ own internal capacity, by providing access to the world’s best whistleblower encryption and investigative semantic analysis technologies, as well as skills development, and seed grants for cross-border collaboration.
At CfA, we don’t just accept differences – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. CfA is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.
To all recruitment agencies: CfA does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our employment application line, CfA employees or any other CfA contact. CfA is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.