job
Senior Manager, Refugee-led Organization (RLO) Opportunity Fund
Organization World University Service of CanadaType FULL TIMEPosted 20 May 2026Deadline 27 May 2026 ⚠️
Donor Relations/Grants Management
Full Description
**Start date:** ASAP (Ideally July 1, 2026)
**Supervisor: Deputy** Project Director, DREEM
**Location:** Preference for Nairobi, Abidjan, Accra, Kigali, or Addis Ababa
**Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we encourage interested candidates to apply early, as the vacancy may close once the right candidate has been identified.**
**Background:**
World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian international development organization driving positive education and economic change for young people around the world. Our vision is a world where every young person thrives and belongs. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to fulfill their aspirations and create their own futures. To help achieve this goal, we develop initiatives that: deliver lasting, measurable impact; are powered by partnerships across the globe; stay true to our core programming principles; and respond to the priorities and aspirations of the people with whom we work.
WUSC is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and has offices across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East. Our global team of development professionals bring deep expertise and open minds to identify new solutions to old problems and create a better world together. 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 for youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in the communities they serve.
**Project Description:**
WUSC has launched the second phase (2026-2031) of an exciting initiative, which aims to significantly expand efforts to help refugee, displaced, and host community (RDP) youth, particularly young women, secure dignified and fulfilling work and access education opportunities across Africa. Building on prior successes, this Phase II will deepen engagement in new geographies, strengthen local ecosystems, and equip partners with necessary knowledge and tools for lasting change. A core strategy is emphasizing the engagement and strengthening of Refugee-Led Organizations (RLOs) to provide sustainable, locally-led technical assistance.
Over the next five years, Phase II’s ambitious goals include indirectly enabling one million RDP youth to secure dignified work and 35,000 to access education through the provision of expert technical assistance to a broad ecosystem of actors. Key implementation strategies involve working closely with RLOs through three pathways: providing financial access via RLO Engagement , strengthening their capacity to provide technical assistance to partners, and embedding them across Phase II’s functional areas. WUSC will serve as a network orchestrator, facilitating connections for scale and training partners and other stakeholders on RDP inclusion. The initiative will achieve its targets by increasing knowledge among partners, enhancing capacity to develop innovative programming, improving collaboration and inclusive policies, and strengthening the institutional ability of RLOs to design, implement, and sustain RDP solutions.
**Role Description:**
The **Senior Manager, RLO Opportunity Fund** is a strategic leadership position responsible for designing, managing, and scaling the RLO Opportunity Fund, the central mechanism within the DREEM 2030 initiative for providing financial and capacity-building support to RLOs across Africa. Serving as the primary architect of the program’s localization agenda through the Fund, the Senior Manager oversees a multi-million dollar portfolio across diverse geographical contexts, including expansion into fragile settings.
The role moves beyond traditional grant-making by implementing a “Grants Plus” model, pairing direct financial resources with tailored technical assistance to ensure that RLOs become “funding-ready” and sustainable primary actors in their communities. The Senior Manager will lead a high-performing regional team and supervise staff and consultants to achieve the target of 5,000 RDP youth (70% of whom are young women) securing dignified and fulfilling work. Working closely with the Training and Curriculum Development Specialist and the MERL team, the Senior Manager will foster an ecosystem where RLO-led economic solutions are professionalized and scaled. This position requires strategic vision, partnership management, and a deep commitment to refugee leadership and inclusion.
**Responsibilities:**
## *Strategic Leadership & Fund Management*
- **Design and Oversee the Opportunity Fund:** Lead the strategic implementation of the Fund, including the design of grant-making processes, open calls, eligibility criteria, funding cycles, and transparent selection processes to ensure effective and equitable resource allocation.
- **Budgetary Stewardship:** Develop and manage the Fund’s multi-million dollar budget, ensuring effective and comp
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