Recruitment & Program Associate - Shortlist Futures

Recruitment & Program Associate - Shortlist Futures Program: Mastercard Foundation Associate Program Role: Recruitment & Programme Associate Location: Remote within Africa (Preference for Nairobi, Kenya) Reports To: Talent Sourcing & Matching Lead Level: Mid-level (3–5 years experience) Contract Type: Two Years with possibility of extension About Shortlist Futures Welcome to Shortlist Futures! We are a workforce innovation lab working to address twin challenges – driving economic growth and employment opportunities in Africa. Our programs have worked with 1,000+ impact-led organizations, engaged 2M+ job candidates, created 8k+ jobs, and on track to generate $500M+ in income increases. Headquartered in Nairobi, our team sits across the continent. About the Role The Mastercard Foundation Associate Program (MFAP) is a transformative work-based learning initiative designed to address youth unemployment. Shortlist will support the Mastercard Foundation as the East African placement partner, seeking to place 3,550 young Africans (Associates) into dignified, 12-month employment opportunities over two years. We are hiring a Recruitment & Programme Associate to support both recruitment delivery and programme operations across our employer partnerships and donor-funded employment programmes. This is a hybrid role for someone who can confidently manage end-to-end recruitment while also supporting the operational side of programme delivery, including reporting, data management, employer and candidate coordination, and general project support. The ideal candidate is a strong recruiter first, but is also highly organised, operationally minded, and able to support coordination, delivery, and process management and improvement across programme activities. What You’ll Own 1. End-to-End Recruitment Delivery ● Manage full-cycle recruitment across multiple roles and employer partners ● Support role scoping and intake conversations with hiring managers ● Draft and post job descriptions across relevant sourcing channels ● Source, screen, and shortlist candidates across entry- to mid-level roles with a strong eye for role-fit and programme eligibility ● Coordinate interviews, assessments, and candidate communication ● Maintain strong candidate experience and ensure timely process updates 2. Programme Operations and Reporting ● Maintain accurate, up-to-date placement and recruitment data across the ATS, CRM, and internal trackers ● Track and report on key metrics including applications, shortlisted candidates, interviews and placements ● Support reporting cycles by preparing programme updates, employer summaries, and internal and donor-facing reports ● Build and maintain dashboards and trackers that give the team line of sight on delivery. ● Ensure data quality and consistency across all trackers so the programme is reportable at any moment. 3. Employer & Stakeholder Coordination ● Support communication with employer partners and hiring managers throughout the recruitment and onboarding phase ● Schedule and coordinate recruitment touchpoints, interviews, and feedback loops ● Share pipeline updates and recruitment progress with internal and external stakeholders ● Maintain professional and responsive client communication throughout the hiring process ● Help identify and close coordination gaps between recruitment and employer engagement teams. 4. Systems and Process Design ● Identify gaps or inconsistencies in how candidate and employer data flows between the ATS, CRM, and reporting trackers, and propose fixes. ● Design, document, and refine the processes within your team, including those that do not yet exist. ● Spot inefficiencies and bottlenecks across the talent sourcing and other teams, and propose practical fixes ● Spot what's slowing the team down and recommend practical solutions to your team lead. ● Propose and draft SOPs and support their rollout across the team updating as the program evolves. ● Support the rollout of new tools, workflows, and process changes across the team 5. Project & Administrative Support Cross-functional & Programme Support ● Work fluidly across team functions when the programme calls for it. It may include supporting Talent Corps coordination, employer onboarding activities, or programme reporting cycles. ● Assist with tracker management, follow-ups, scheduling, and documentation ● Own other assigned ad hoc programme tasks as needed Required Qualifications ● 3–5 years of experience in recruitment, talent acquisition, or programme coordination ● Proven experience managing end-to-end recruitment independently ● Strong sourcing and candidate screening skills across multiple role types ● Strong problem solver noticing gaps and providing working solutions ● Comfortable with ambiguity in a changing program environment and able to structure your own work without waiting for perfect instructions ● Excellent organisation and stakeholder management skills ● Bias for action acting on available information to deliver a solution ● Strong written and verbal communication ● Comfortable working with data, trackers, and spreadsheets ● High attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities Nice to Have ● Experience in donor-funded programmes, workforce development, or youth employment ● Exposure to employer partnerships or client-facing recruitment ● Familiarity with ATS platforms (e.g. Zoho, Manatal, Breezy, etc.) ● Experience supporting reporting, programme operations, or data reconciliation Our Working Style ● Fast-paced and collaborative ● High ownership, low ego ● Strong attention to detail ● Comfortable with ambiguity ● Practical, responsive, and solutions-oriented