Manager, Governance and Operations

Who We Are

Co-Impact brings together local changemakers and funders from around the world to make health, education, and economic systems stronger and more inclusive – creating impact that lasts. Our commitment to advancing gender equality and women’s leadership is central to this goal. By focusing on systems, we work at the scale of the problem - dismantling the root causes of inequality that disadvantage hundreds of millions of women, girls and marginalized communities. Spanning five continents, our team identifies partners that will create lasting progress when supported with the resources to work at scale. Pooling funding allows us to provide large, flexible grants and strategic support to locally-rooted partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America who know their systems best. Our partners' initiatives will benefit more than 600 million people and we can go even further together. We aim to deploy over $1 billion by 2030 and achieve a world where everyone can lead fulfilling lives. For more information, please visit co-impact.org and take a look at our Handbook.
Co-Impact partners with Professional Employment Organizations (PEOs) to employ their staff.

Where You Fit

As the Manager, Governance and Operations, you will provide critical project management, coordination, and communications support to strengthen the organization’s corporate governance and operational alignment. Reporting directly to the COO and Corporate Secretary and working closely with the Associate Director, Partnerships, this role will serve as a central anchor for board and advisory board logistics, documentation, and engagement, while also supporting internal planning, communications, and strategic alignment across the operations team.

The Role

As part of Co-Impact team, core responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

Board and Governance Project Management

• Lead project planning and task tracking for all governance-related activities; ensure visibility and clarity across teams for content production and engagement with program partners.
• Coordinate logistics and scheduling for in-person and virtual meetings and retreats of the Board of Directors, Advisory Board, and relevant committees.
• Set agendas and serve as the main coordinator for internal governance team meetings.
• Collaborate with the Associate Director of Partnerships on Board and Advisory Board engagement strategies, onboarding, and information flow for one-on-one meetings, including managing the completion and collation of all new Board member onboarding documentation. 
• Collaborate with the Executive Assistant to the CEO to ensure alignment of schedule and agendas for the CEO’s one-on-one meetings with Board members.
• Review, and format all meeting materials, ensuring professional presentation and timely distribution.
• Maintain and update the board portal, including uploading and organizing all records.
• Provide recommendations and insights to the COO and other senior leaders to enable informed decision-making on governance and operational matters.
• Support the COO in recordkeeping and documentation of minutes and key materials.

Operational Alignment and Strategic Communications

• Partner with the COO to drive annual Organizational Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), ensuring tracking and alignment across teams.
• Develop and maintain the annual Operations team work plan.
• Coordinate the process of updating and publishing the quarterly operations dashboard.
• Coordinate internal communications for the Operations team, including scheduling of Operations team meetings, weekly updates, contributions to internal newsletters, reporting milestones, and periodic Operations surveys.
• Lead the planning of virtual and in-person Operations retreats.
• Draft and manage the operations-focused narrative segments of donor reports and proposals.
• In collaboration with the rest of the Operations team, maintain our internal resource hub on Gitbook.
• Serve as liaison for incoming mail via Co-Impact’s remote mail service provider.

Special Projects

• Support cross-functional projects or strategic initiatives as assigned by the COO, offering high-quality execution and coordination.
• Other responsibilities as directed by the COO.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, or related field. Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) desirable.
• Minimum 5-7 years of experience in project management, governance, nonprofit operations, or executive coordination roles.
• Certification or course work – or demonstrated experience – in project management.
• Experience working with global boards, advisory bodies, or senior leadership teams preferred.
• Strong writing, editing, organizational, and communication skills.
• Proven ability to manage sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace tools and cloud-based project management and collaboration platforms.
• Fluency in English; additional language skills highly desirable.
• Experience in dynamic and fast-paced international and multicultural environments.
• Ability to work effectively across time zones and in a remote work environment.

Required Skills

• Project Management and Results Orientation: Strong project management skills, deadline management, sense of responsibility and accountability, the ability to manage multiple responsibilities, adjust and adapt along the way.
• Working with People: Experience contributing to and managing collaborative teams to work productively, effectively, and inclusively towards shared goals.
• Managing Action with Purpose and Values: Ability to work with colleagues and get things done in accordance with core purpose and values.
• Interpersonal Savvy: Great at making and fostering relationships inside and outside the organization, keen intercultural appreciation, inclusive style, comfortable around senior leaders.
• Learning Orientation: Humble and intellectually curious; seek and work with evidence, demonstrated openness to new ideas and a diversity of perspectives; unafraid to admit and learn from failure.
• Strong Moral Compass: Impeccable personal ethics and integrity, kind and caring.
• Proficiency with Core Business Tools: Strong proficiency in Microsoft Word, Google Workspace, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Communications: Exceptional ability to write and communicate ideas concisely and with clarity. Excellent oral communication skills, including the ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment. Impeccable copy-editing skills and attention to detail.
• Global Flexibility: Given the global nature of organization working across time zones, a willingness to be flexible with working hours, work remotely and periodically undertake international travel. 
•   Perspective: Sense of humor and ability not to take oneself too seriously.

Benefits

Co-Impact’s compensation philosophy is guided by the following three principles:

• Equity and Fairness: Our approach to compensation and benefits are designed to ensure that our global team is treated equitably regardless of location and without regard to gender, race, or nationality.
• Transparency: We want Co-Impact’s employees to understand our salary structure and to feel confident that they are paid equitably, and potential job applicants to have an understanding of how the role for which they are applying will be compensated.
• Accountability: As stewards of the philanthropic resources entrusted to us so that we can support our program partners, we are accountable to our donors and our board, to our staff, and to the general public.

In accordance with that philosophy, we include the salary for each position in our job postings; to ensure equity within the organization and for all candidates, we will not negotiate salary or benefits. This is a full-time, fully remote position offered on a two-year term. The annual salary will be $112,000 plus a generous benefits package, including a significant allowance for paid time off.

Application Details

Please apply online by submitting a resume and a cover letter by 5.00 pm EAT 30th July 2025. In your cover letter, please confirm that you are authorized to live and work in Kenya. Please note that Co-Impact cannot cover relocation costs. If you are authorized to live in Kenya but are not currently based there, you will need to cover any relocation expenses.

As we are a small team, we regret that we can only respond to applicants selected for an interview and we are unable to participate in informational calls prior to interviews. Thank you for your understanding.

We will begin reviewing applications after the deadline. Shortlisted candidates can expect to hear from the recruitment team within six weeks of the deadline.