About ALX Africa
ALX Africa, a non-profit organisation under the ALX Foundation, is dedicated to unlocking the potential of Africa's digital future. We provide world-class tech skills training and career acceleration programmes, with a mission to bridge the digital divide, upskill talent, and create a generation of innovative leaders. By 2030, we aim to empower 2 million Africans to secure sustainable tech careers.
We achieve this by:
- Providing young professionals with access to the most in-demand tech skills.
- Empowering the next generation of technology innovators and business leaders through real-world coursework.
- Building a lifelong, impactful community of tech professionals.
Role Summary
The Special Projects Lead will serve as a high-trust strategic and operational partner to the Chief Operating Officer (similar to a Chief of Staff). This person will help drive the COO's highest-priority initiatives, ensuring that critical cross-functional work moves from idea to execution with clarity, pace, and accountability. The role requires a structured, resourceful operator who can move fluidly between strategy, execution, stakeholder management, and problem-solving across all business functions.
Specific Responsibilities
Drive strategic projects for the COO
- Lead or support cross-functional projects across ALX.
- Translate strategic priorities into clear project plans, owners, milestones, risks, and decision points.
- Identify bottlenecks, escalate risks, and ensure timely resolution.
- Prepare project updates, decision memos, and executive briefings.
Strengthen organisational execution and accountability
- Support the design and management of org-level dashboards, operating reviews, and performance routines.
- Coordinate follow-ups from leadership meetings and ensure clear ownership of next steps.
- Support quarterly and sprint planning, retrospectives, and execution reviews.
Support revenue and sustainability priorities
- Support workstreams connected to fundraising, partnerships, and corporate training.
- Coordinate cross-functional inputs needed to unlock revenue opportunities.
- Prepare materials for internal decision-making, partner conversations, and funder engagement.
Enable COO communications and decision-making
- Prepare briefing notes, talking points, and presentation materials.
- Conduct research, analysis, and problem-solving on ambiguous business questions.
- Capture decisions and ensure follow-through after leadership discussions.
Act as a cross-functional connector
- Build strong relationships with functional and regional leaders.
- Facilitate alignment across teams with different priorities, constraints, and timelines.
- Support sensitive or high-priority initiatives that require discretion and strong stakeholder management.
Ideal Candidate Profile
- 5+ years of experience in strategy, operations, consulting, project management, or business operations.
- Experience managing complex, cross-functional projects from ambiguity to execution.
- Excellent structured thinking and problem-solving skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare executive-level materials.
- Comfort working with senior leaders and influencing without formal authority.
- Strong proficiency in Google Workspace, especially Sheets, Slides, and Docs.