Project Manager, WiDEF Accelerator

About the Team The GSMA Innovation Team is a unit set up in early 2020 in order to manage all Innovation Fund activities within GSMA. Leveraging on 10 years of M4D experience running Innovation Funds on a multitude of topics, the team is responsible for from the end-to-end grant management of GSMA grantees (from setting up the process, grantees’ selection to grant completion) in strong collaboration with the relevant M4D programmes, who provides strategic guidance and expertise on their respective subject matters. The Innovation Fund Team is a centre of excellence that ensures that the best grant projects are managed to the benefits of the grantees, whilst complying with strong GSMA compliance and risk management processes. The Women in the Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF) is a five-year $60 million initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The Women in the Digital Economy Fund aims to identify, directly fund, and accelerate investment in proven solutions to improve women’s livelihoods, economic security, and resilience. As part of the consortium, GSMA Innovation Fund team will run an India-focused Accelerator to identify, directly fund and accelerate investment in proven solutions to close the gender digital divide – including women-led solutions, products, and tools – thereby improving women’s livelihoods, economic security and resilience. About the Role This role is critical to the success of the overall operational management of the WiDEF Accelerator. You are expected to be a partner to the lead director – from an operational perspective. Be the overall liaison/influencer between subject matter experts, compliance/finance, legal, HR and marketing As a Project Operations Manager for the WiDEF Accelerator, you will have the following responsibilities: Ensure that the timelines are respected and adhered to by all the stakeholders for the different Accelerator rounds Oversee the operational elements of each round – planning, launch, pitch, proposal, panel, contracting and implementation phases Manage the risks and issues and escalate where required to the Director & Head of Innovation Fund. Support the team in creating resolution and mitigation plans Lead the budgeting/forecasting process and provide regular updates to the key stakeholders Manage the relationship with the fund manager to ensure a smooth running of all Innovation Fund related tasks Lead the reporting process and ensure internal and external stakeholders are provided with the required information on all the key performance indicators in the correct format Manage relationship with suppliers, ensure timely delivery, quality and reporting is on track Make sure that the WiDEF Accelerator adheres to the compliance rules of the GSMA Foundation, especially, where relevant, compliance rules related to sub-grants About You The ideal candidate will display the following skills and qualifications: Hard skills Demonstrable operations management experience with donor-funded projects, innovation funds or an interest in socio-economic development Demonstrable experience in managing programmes within a complex compliance environment Proven experience in managing large scale budgets and forecasting Strong escalation management skills, to ensure that issues receive attention and mitigation support from senior stakeholders Project management experience Soft skills Demonstrable emotional intelligence skills and influencing skills Demonstrable experience in various stakeholder management Strong ability to drive collaboration between various departments to drive a common objective Ability to delegate to achieve results Experience of working internationally and cross-cultural environments Contract type Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term) Worker type Employee What We Offer Working at the GSMA offers you unparalleled access to the mobile industry. We offer a chance to truly shape the direction of mobile, whatever your role. By joining the GSMA, you will be exposed to a fast-paced rapidly evolving environment, working on global solutions, genuinely fascinating and industry-changing projects and a stimulating and dynamic environment designed to enable you to flourish. In addition to architect-designed offices and competitive compensation, our benefits include fantastic learning & development opportunities, generous holiday allowances, four additional days off for professional development and many others. To learn more about the GSMA, visit our career site, our LinkedIn page and our Twitter page. Being You at the GSMA We are one of the most diverse companies you will ever come across, we care deeply about equality and inclusivity and aspire to be the best at it. Your well-being and work/life balance is important so if you prefer to work flexi-time or a day from home, just ask. We’re keen to ensure everyone is equal, represented and connected so we particularly encourage applications from all demographics. The success of the GSMA year on year will continue to be contributed by people from all walks of life. GSMA Values Our values not only drive our culture – they shape how we work and interact inside and outside our global organisation. Passionately driven We approach everything we do with unparalleled capability, tenacity and commitment, knowing that the challenging scale, pace and complexity of our work is what leads to its world-changing impact. Insightful leaders We continually develop and engage our expertise, insight and creativity so that we’re always ready to respond to the changing landscape with authority, agility and nuance. Stronger together We lean on each other so the industry can lean on us, embracing our diversity by actively seeking out perspectives and skill sets beyond our own, fuelling each other’s successes and constantly asking how we can help. Underpinning our values is our collective mindset to show up purposefully as good human beings every day, in every situation. When we’re at our best – we are collaborative, considerate and compassionate to others, and we create a safe space for one another to thrive, assuming positive intent in our colleagues. And if we aren’t at our best and the pressure is on – we feel free to be ourselves but still remain curious, lean into the tough stuff and we are always respectful to others and accountable for the part we play.