Project Manager – Young Africa Innovates (YAI) Project Ogudu GRA

NerdzFactory Company is a social innovation and human capital development organisation that leverages technology, skills training, and systems-driven solutions to improve employability, entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic growth across Africa. Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, NerdzFactory is committed to democratising access to digital, AI, and future-ready skills for young people, educators, and businesses. GeographicReference We are  recruiting to fill the position below:

 Job Title: Project Manager – Young Africa Innovates (YAI) Project

Location: Ogudu GRA, Lagos (Hybrid)

Job Type: Temporary / Short-Term Contract

Resumption: Immediate About the Young Africa Innovates (YAI) Project

The Young Africa Innovates (YAI) programme is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Mastercard Foundation designed to identify, support, incubate, and scale youth-led innovations across Nigeria while creating pathways to employment and economic opportunity. The programme focuses particularly on supporting atypical and traditionally marginalised innovators, including young women, persons with disabilities, rural innovators, and young people who may have limited experience accessing formal funding, business support, or innovation ecosystems. YAI's second cohort uses an evidence-based co-creation model that combines innovation support, capacity development, incubation, venture building, mentorship, technical assistance, and market access. The implementing partner's activities include innovator outreach and selection, bootcamp delivery, incubation through co-creation pods, expert and mentor coordination, market access support, monitoring and learning, safeguarding, and logistical coordination. The overall Cohort 2 implementation period is May–December 2026, covering preparation, execution, and reporting.

Nerdzfactory is seeking a Project Manager to provide practical project management and implementation leadership for the Young Africa Innovates (YAI) Project. The Project Manager will be responsible for coordinating day-to-day project activities, managing timelines and deliverables, coordinating stakeholders, supporting innovator incubation and capacity-building activities, and ensuring smooth execution across multiple workstreams. The Project Manager will work closely with UNDP, consultants, mentors, facilitators, ecosystem partners, government stakeholders, and internal teams to ensure project objectives are delivered effectively and on schedule. The successful candidate will work closely with NerdzFactory's project leadership, UNDP, consultants, technical experts, mentors, facilitators, ecosystem partners, innovators, government and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the smooth delivery of project activities. This is a practical project management role requiring strong coordination, organization, stakeholder management, reporting, problem-solving, and execution skills. The Project Manager will be expected to monitor project progress closely, identify risks and bottlenecks early, and ensure timely follow-through across multiple workstreams. This is an execution-focused role for an experienced project or programme professional with strong coordination, stakeholder management, reporting, problem-solving, and organisational skills. The ideal candidate should be comfortable managing multiple priorities, identifying risks early, and driving follow-through in a fast-paced project environment. The role is particularly suited to candidates with experience in development programmes, youth employment, entrepreneurship, innovation, incubation, skills development, or social impact projects.

Project  Planning & Implementation:

Lead the day-to-day coordination and implementation of assigned YAI project activities. Develop and maintain detailed project workplans, activity schedules, trackers, and implementation timelines. Coordinate project activities across relevant locations and workstreams. Monitor project milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and deadlines to ensure timely completion. Identify implementation risks, bottlenecks, and delays and recommend appropriate corrective actions. Ensure project activities are implemented in line with agreed objectives, methodologies, quality standards, and UNDP requirements. Coordinate preparation, execution, and close-out activities across assigned project components.

Coordinate effectively with UNDP, project consultants, technical experts, mentors, facilitators, ecosystem partners, government stakeholders, and other project stakeholders. Maintain regular communication with stakeholders and ensure timely follow-up on action points. Support relationships with government institutions, innovation ecosystem actors, private-sector organizations, hubs, industry stakeholders, and other relevant partners. Organize and coordinate stakeholder meetings, workshops, training sessions, review meetings, and other project engagements. Ensure clear communication of project expectations, timelines, deliverables, and responsibilities to relevant stakeholders.

Coordinate the implementation of YAI's incubation and co-creation activities for selected innovators. Support the organisation and clustering of innovators into co-creation pods. Coordinate the engagement and rotation of venture-building, business development, technical, policy, market access, product development, and other specialised experts. Coordinate mentor matching and engagement between mentors and innovators. Monitor the progress of innovators across different maturity stages, including prototype refinement, MVP development, market testing, and scaling. Support activities relating to R&D, product development, piloting, market expansion, and employment creation. Ensure that innovators receive the required technical, business, mentorship, and market access support within agreed timelines.

Training, Bootcamp, & Capacity Development Coordination:

Support the planning and execution of bootcamps and other capacity-building activities. Coordinate technical facilitators, trainers, consultants, venues, participants, and other resources required for successful delivery. Support the development and adaptation of training materials and curricula where required. Coordinate peer-to-peer learning and other participant engagement activities. Monitor attendance, participation, activity completion, and other relevant programme indicators. Ensure that training activities are delivered according to agreed project standards and schedules.

Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning:

Maintain accurate project and programme trackers, databases, dashboards, and documentation. Monitor project and innovator progress against agreed indicators and milestones. Coordinate the collection, organisation, and validation of programme data. Support continuous assessments of innovators, innovations, and project progress against agreed criteria. Conduct and/or coordinate feedback and pulse checks with innovators, experts, mentors, and other stakeholders. Capture monitoring, evaluation, and learning insights throughout implementation. Prepare regular project progress reports, presentations, dashboards, and other documentation required by management and project stakeholders. Ensure that project records and supporting documentation are accurate, complete, and up to date.

Coordinate logistical requirements for project activities, including venues, accommodation, transportation, refreshments, catering, travel arrangements, stipends, and other approved project needs. Coordinate procurement and delivery of project-related goods and services in collaboration with the relevant internal teams. Work closely with the Finance and Operations teams to ensure timely processing and tracking of project-related expenses. Maintain proper documentation of project activities, expenditures, attendance, deliverables, and other supporting records. Ensure that logistical arrangements adequately support participation by persons with disabilities and other participants requiring additional support.

Safeguarding, Inclusion, & Quality Assurance:

Ensure that safeguarding and protection considerations are integrated into project implementation. Support the training and sensitisation of relevant project staff and facilitators on safeguarding requirements. Promote a safe, inclusive, professional, and respectful environment for innovators, staff, facilitators, mentors, and other stakeholders. Ensure appropriate support and reasonable accommodations are coordinated for vulnerable or marginalised participants, including persons with disabilities and women innovators requiring childcare support. Escalate safeguarding concerns and other serious project risks through the appropriate channels.

Support the coordination of market access activities connecting innovators with relevant experts, off-takers, distributors, investors, industry players, and ecosystem stakeholders. Coordinate logistics and stakeholder engagements required for innovators to participate in market access opportunities. Support partnerships and ecosystem engagements that contribute to the growth, sustainability, and employment potential of supported innovations.

Prepare weekly, monthly, and ad hoc project updates as required. Prepare presentations and briefing materials for internal and external stakeholders. Maintain comprehensive project documentation and an organised repository of project records. Track action points from meetings and ensure responsible persons follow through within agreed timelines. Support the preparation of project completion and end-of-project reports. Provide timely updates to project leadership on progress, challenges, risks, and emerging opportunities.

Work closely with internal NerdzFactory teams including Programmes, Finance, Communications, Partnerships, Operations, and other relevant teams. Coordinate consultants, facilitators, experts, mentors, and project support personnel as required. Provide practical support to other project workstreams where necessary. Perform other project-related responsibilities that may reasonably be assigned by management.

Bachelor's Degree in Project Management, Business Administration, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Economics, or a related field. 3–5 years of relevant experience in project/programme management, preferably within the development, entrepreneurship, innovation, youth employment, skills development, or social impact sector. Demonstrated experience managing projects involving multiple stakeholders, activities, and deliverables. Experience coordinating consultants, facilitators, technical experts, partners, or external service providers. Experience working with development organisations, NGOs, government institutions, international organisations, or donor-funded projects is highly desirable. Experience in entrepreneurship, innovation, incubation, accelerator, skills development, or youth-focused programmes is an advantage. Strong experience in project planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting, and documentation. Experience coordinating events, training programmes, workshops, bootcamps, or similar activities. Proficiency in Google Workspace, particularly Google Docs, Sheets, Drive, and related productivity tools. Strong organisational and administrative skills. Project planning and coordination Stakeholder management Programme implementation Monitoring and reporting Data and documentation management Budget and resource tracking Risk identification and problem-solving Event and logistics coordination Strong written and verbal communication Facilitation and interpersonal skills Attention to detail Time management and prioritisation Ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously Strong follow-through and accountability Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with a wider team

Highly organised and execution-oriented. Proactive and able to work with minimal supervision. Comfortable managing multiple deadlines and stakeholders. A strong communicator who can maintain professional relationships across different levels. Detail-oriented and disciplined with documentation and reporting. Resourceful and capable of solving problems quickly. Adaptable and comfortable working in a dynamic project environment. Professional, reliable, and accountable. Passionate about youth development, entrepreneurship, innovation, and inclusive economic growth. Committed to confidentiality, integrity, safeguarding, and professional standards.

N400,000 - N500,000 monthly. Application Closing Date

30th September, 2026. How to Apply

Click Apply Now button to apply

Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.