Learning and Development Lead at Jaza Energy

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | Lagos or Ibadan, Nigeria | Remote (Africa-based)

Reporting to: Head of People and Culture

Company Overview

Jaza is working to power Sub-Saharan Africa. We build solar-powered shops which charge batteries customers use to power their homes. Since 2022, we’ve achieved over 4 million battery swaps, providing approximately 225,000 people access to clean, affordable energy.

We employ women from each community (known as Jaza Stars) to run the service, empowering our team to become leaders, entrepreneurs and drivers of economic growth within their communities. For more information on what we are building, check out www.jazaenergy.com and watch the video the BBC made about Jaza here.

Position Overview

As the Learning & Development Lead, you will be responsible for creating, executing, and measuring a world-class learning strategy that drives high performance across all levels of Jaza, from global leadership to our local Jaza Stars. This role combines traditional corporate L&D leadership including managing the global learning budget, strategy, and systems with the unique, innovative mandate of designing the Jaza Star Academy. You will lead curriculum design and work closely with software and business teams to deliver engaging, scalable capacity-building programs for people living in rural Africa.

Roles & Responsibilities

Group Learning Strategy & Leadership Development

• Design and execute a comprehensive, group level L&D strategy that aligns with Jaza's mission and rapid global expansion goals
• Conduct annual skills gap analysis for corporate, country, and regional teams to identify critical development needs
• Lead the design and delivery of global programs for leadership development and management training across the organization to promote Jaza’s unique culture and leadership values
• Own and manage the L&D budget, vendor relationships, and global learning technologies
• Partner with the Talent Lead and Hiring Managers to integrate L&D programs with performance management and talent acquisition strategies

Jaza Star Academy Innovation & Curriculum Design

• Work closely with Jaza's software and business teams to conceive, build, and launch an innovative Academy for Jaza Stars
• Lead curriculum design for technical skills training and foundational business/entrepreneurship skills programs tailored for people living in rural Africa
• Develop capacity-building programs that empower Jaza Stars to become leaders and entrepreneurs within their communities.
• Oversee the content creation, delivery method, and learning outcomes (e.g., in-person, digital, job aids) for all Jaza Star learning resources.

Program Implementation, Technical Training, & Measurement

• Deliver high-quality technical skills training to onboard people into new roles within Jaza (e.g. technicians, market expansion, commercial teams, operations, etc)
• Design and implement a certification program where team members are tested in the critical competencies for their role and receive a certification before they are deployed to the field
• Manage relationships and service agreements with external training vendors and content providers
• Implement robust mechanisms for impact measurement (e.g., ROI, behavior change) to assess the effectiveness of all L&D investments
• Maintain accurate records and reporting on training attendance, completion, and impact data

How We’ll Measure Success

• Number and % of staff trained
• % of staff certified in their roles
• Time to productivity for new joiners or people taking on new roles
• Jaza Star Academy completion rate
• Number of learning modules designed and launched

Key Working Relationships

• Head of People and Culture
• Talent Lead (group)
• Jaza Star Program Lead (group and country)
• Chief Operating Officer (group) and Country Managing Directors

Qualifications

• 10+ Years in Learning and Development or Talent Management, with at least 5 years in a leadership role managing global strategy, budgets across multiple geographies, and multiple team members / stakeholders
• Deep Rural/Frontier Market Expertise: Proven track record of at least 4-5 years designing and deploying training in rural Sub-Saharan Africa or similar emerging markets.
• Experience in curriculum design and running management and leadership development programs to drive business outcomes and culture
• Experience working alongside software engineers to build "EdTech" solutions (LMS, mobile learning apps, or offline job aids) specifically for low-bandwidth environments
• Skill in negotiating with global content providers and managing a learning budget
• Proven track record running skills gap analysis and partnering with business leaders to drive business outcomes through upskilling our team
• Bachelor’s degree in International Development, Adult Education, Organizational Development, or Instructional Design. Master’s degree or certification is a plus
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with a high degree of cross-cultural fluency and professionalism.
• Data-savvy and detail-oriented, with experience using metrics to monitor the performance of learning initiatives
• Self-motivated and adaptable, comfortable working in a fast-paced, startup environment.
• Willingness and commitment to spend approximately 20% of time in the field, working directly with frontline teams in rural and frontier markets to inform program design, validate learning effectiveness and support adoption.

Must have skills

• Frontier Market Curriculum Design
• EdTech & Low-Bandwidth Delivery
• Strategic Global Leadership Development
• Technical Onboarding & Certification
• Data-Driven Impact Measurement