CIFF Hiring: Director, Girl Capital, Child Protection & Girls Education, Nigeria|Deadline 14 Aug 2026

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) is seeking an experienced and strategic leader to serve as Director, Girl Capital, Child Protection & Girls Education, Nigeria. This is a senior opportunity for an education, child protection, gender equality, or development professional with strong knowledge of Nigeria and a proven record of leading high-impact programmes.

Based in Lagos, Nigeria, the role is offered as a two-year fixed-term contract and follows a hybrid working arrangement. The successful candidate will provide strategic and technical leadership across CIFF’s investments in girls’ education, child protection and economic empowerment while helping shape long-term approaches to improving opportunities and outcomes for girls across Nigeria.

The application deadline is Friday, 14 August 2026, although CIFF reserves the right to close the vacancy early if it receives a high number of suitable applications.

About the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation is a global philanthropy focused on improving the lives of children and young people. Through strategic investments, partnerships and evidence-based approaches, the foundation supports programmes designed to achieve lasting improvements for children and communities.

CIFF’s Africa strategy places girls at the centre of its ambition for a healthier, better educated and economically empowered continent. The organisation recognises that challenges affecting girls are interconnected. Poverty, child marriage, limited access to education, gender-based violence and restricted economic opportunities can reinforce one another and prevent girls from reaching their full potential.

The Girl Capital approach therefore seeks to combine interventions and address these challenges in an integrated way.

About the Director Role

The Director will play a central role in delivering CIFF Africa’s Girl Capital ambition in Nigeria. The position focuses particularly on the intersection between child protection and girls’ education, while also connecting these priorities with areas such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender-based violence prevention, economic empowerment and nutrition.

This is a leadership position with responsibility for both strategy and programme delivery. The successful candidate will guide investment decisions, develop new opportunities, oversee programme performance and represent CIFF with major external stakeholders.

The role will also involve leading and mentoring a team of Managers and Analysts, helping them strengthen their programme management capabilities and deliver high-quality work aligned with CIFF’s wider objectives.

Driving the Girl Capital Strategy

One of the Director’s most important responsibilities will be providing strategic direction for CIFF’s work on girls’ education and child protection in Nigeria.

The successful candidate will be expected to identify opportunities where different interventions can be layered together to achieve stronger outcomes. Rather than treating education, health, protection and economic empowerment as separate issues, CIFF seeks to develop approaches that can support girls comprehensively within the same communities and geographical areas.

This could include connecting girls’ education initiatives with:

• Sexual and reproductive health and rights.
• Gender-based violence prevention.
• Child protection.
• Economic empowerment.
• Skills development.
• Nutrition.
• Programmes addressing child marriage.
• Initiatives that strengthen girls’ agency and decision-making.

The Director will also identify innovative and evidence-based investments that can contribute to these goals and develop a strong pipeline of potential programmes.

Leading High-Impact Investments

The role involves significant responsibility for the development and delivery of CIFF’s investment portfolio in Nigeria.

The Director will oversee the development of investment proposals and the implementation of programmes managed by the Girl Capital team. This will require close attention to strategic alignment, quality, timelines, financial performance, risk management and measurable results.

A major element of the position will be ensuring that investments are supported by effective monitoring and evaluation systems. CIFF is particularly interested in generating rigorous evidence that can inform advocacy, scaling and mainstreaming.

The Director will therefore need to be comfortable working with complex information, analysing evidence and using data to make strategic decisions.

Focus on Child Protection and Girls’ Education

Child protection and girls’ education are at the heart of this position.

The successful candidate will provide specialist advice on issues affecting girls and children, including the barriers that prevent girls from completing education and accessing economic opportunities.

The role also places particular emphasis on child marriage, with the Director expected to ensure that relevant programmes generate useful evidence and contribute to broader efforts to address the issue.

The Director will work across CIFF teams to identify approaches that address the underlying causes of disadvantage while strengthening girls’ agency and creating sustainable pathways to education, skills and employment.

Building Partnerships in Nigeria

Strong relationship-building skills will be essential.

The Director will represent CIFF in discussions with the Government of Nigeria, the World Bank and other strategic stakeholders. The position requires the ability to influence policy discussions, contribute to technical design and negotiate effectively with partners and other actors.

The Director will also build relationships with governments, ministries, regional bodies, funders, research institutions, academic organisations and local NGOs.

An important part of the role will be strengthening CIFF Africa’s network of strategic grantees and partners while increasing opportunities for local organisations to participate in the portfolio.

This emphasis on localisation reflects the need for development programmes to be grounded in local knowledge, institutions and leadership.

Working Across Government Systems

CIFF wants its investments to achieve sustainable impact beyond individual projects. The Director will therefore help ensure that programmes are strategically anchored and, where possible, embedded within government systems.

This will require a strong understanding of Nigeria’s education and child protection landscape, as well as the ability to work constructively with public institutions.

The successful candidate will need to balance ambition with practical implementation, helping develop programmes that can deliver measurable results while contributing to longer-term systemic change.

Financial and Investment Leadership

This is not solely a technical programme role. Candidates will also need strong financial and commercial understanding.

The Director will be responsible for personal pipeline and delivery targets while contributing to the performance of the wider sector portfolio.

The role requires an understanding of cost-benefit and return-on-investment methodologies, as well as the ability to use financial and performance metrics to inform strategy and business planning.

The Director will also work with CIFF’s Development Finance team to identify opportunities for leverage and co-funding that can help successful programmes reach greater scale.

Team Leadership and Mentoring

The successful candidate will lead a team of Managers and Analysts and will be expected to create an environment where staff can perform at a high level.

Responsibilities include setting performance expectations, monitoring progress, supporting professional development and helping team members strengthen their programme management skills.

The Director will also provide specialist guidance to colleagues across CIFF, sharing expertise in girls’ education and child protection.

As a member of the CIFF Africa Leadership Team, the Director will contribute to organisation-wide decision-making, address portfolio challenges and support staff welfare and morale.

Who Should Apply?

CIFF is looking for a recognised subject-matter expert in education, ideally someone with extensive professional experience in Nigeria.

The successful candidate should have a detailed understanding of the African context and strong knowledge of the challenges affecting girls and children.

Key experience and capabilities include:

• Extensive expertise in education, preferably with significant experience in Nigeria.
• Strong understanding of the African development context.
• Experience leading complex programmes or investment portfolios.
• Excellent leadership and team-management skills.
• Experience developing, motivating and holding professional teams accountable.
• Strong analytical and critical-thinking abilities.
• Experience using evidence and complex data to inform decisions.
• Strong financial literacy.
• Knowledge of cost-benefit analysis and ROI methodologies.
• Excellent influencing and negotiation skills.
• Proven ability to build strategic partnerships.
• Experience working with governments and major development stakeholders.
• Experience identifying and implementing operational improvements.
• Commitment to workplace diversity and inclusion.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-management abilities.

Why This Opportunity Matters

Girls across Nigeria continue to face interconnected barriers to education, safety, economic participation and personal agency. Addressing one challenge in isolation may not be enough to deliver sustainable change.

This role provides an opportunity to influence how major philanthropic investments respond to these interconnected challenges.

The Director will have the opportunity to shape investment strategies, support innovative programmes, strengthen partnerships and contribute to evidence that can influence wider systems and policies.

For an experienced development leader, the position offers the chance to combine strategic leadership, philanthropy, education, child protection, gender equality and programme investment within one role.

Contract and Working Arrangement

The position is offered on a two-year fixed-term contract.

Employment will be through an Employer of Record (EOR). Compensation and benefits will therefore be administered by the EOR rather than directly by CIFF.

The role is based in Lagos, Nigeria, with CIFF operating a hybrid working policy. Employees typically divide their working time between the office and home, with further details provided during the recruitment process.

CIFF states that the position offers a competitive salary and benefits package aligned with local market standards. Full compensation and benefits details will be provided to shortlisted candidates.

Application Deadline

Interested candidates should submit their applications on or before Friday, 14 August 2026.

Applicants should be aware that CIFF may close the advertisement before the stated deadline if it receives a high number of suitable applications.

Professionals with substantial experience in education, child protection, girls’ empowerment, development finance, philanthropy, government partnerships or related fields may find this a particularly significant leadership opportunity.

Final Thoughts

The Director, Girl Capital, Child Protection & Girls Education, Nigeria role represents an opportunity to influence major investments aimed at improving the lives and prospects of girls across Nigeria.

The successful candidate will need more than technical expertise. They will need the strategic vision to connect different areas of development, the leadership skills to manage and mentor a professional team, the analytical ability to assess evidence and investment opportunities, and the relationship-building skills required to work with governments, funders and development partners.

With its focus on girls’ education, child protection, economic empowerment, evidence generation and sustainable systems change, the position could suit an experienced leader looking to contribute to transformational development outcomes in Nigeria.

Job Title: Director, Girl Capital, Child Protection & Girls Education, Nigeria
Organisation: The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF)
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Work Arrangement: Hybrid
Contract: Two-year fixed-term contract
Employment: Through an Employer of Record
Application Deadline: Friday, 14 August 2026
Focus Areas: Girls’ education, child protection, child marriage, gender equality, economic empowerment and philanthropy

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