Job description
ABOUT ALU
ALU provides higher education for a higher purpose. Our students declare missions, not majors.
They develop the real-world skills to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. And they take ownership of their learning from day one through our peer and student-led approach – because ALU believes in the power and agency of young people to start shaping the future right now.
Together with a world-class faculty and staff, our students are igniting a ripple of positive impact across Africa and the world.
We are dedicated to fostering an open yet secure environment, balancing the safety of students, staff, and visitors with respect for individual rights, and safeguarding responsibilities.
HOW WE WORK
The ALU Team works in starkly different ways to traditional academic bureaucracies. We approach education from first principles, empower individuals to design, test, and implement creative new ideas, and work closely together to craft transformative learning experiences. We are deeply passionate about our students and excited by the challenge of building something entirely new.
The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The Integrity, Risk, and Assurance Office at ALU operates as an independent, cross-functional unit that champions ethical conduct, operational accountability, and institutional excellence. Our mandate is to safeguard members of the ALU Community by upholding our standards, regulations, culture, values, and credibility through rigorous oversight, proactive risk management, and high-integrity operations.
We ensure the organisation is operating effectively, ethically, and in compliance with internal standards and external regulatory requirements, from how we contract with vendors to how we uphold transparency and mitigate risk.
The team leads frameworks for ethics, quality assurance, internal controls, and operational risk, ensuring leadership has clear visibility into how the institution functions and how it can improve.
ABOUT THE ROLE
The Manager: Risk and Compliance will provide enterprise-wide oversight of ALU’s operational integrity, spanning governance and ethics, internal controls, procurement, and risk management. The role will lead the development and continuous refinement of systems, processes, and frameworks that ensure ALU meets its commitments to ethical behaviour, regulatory compliance, financial prudence, and operational excellence.
This is both a strategic and hands-on role. You will design governance, risk and compliance processes, advise on high-risk operations (e.g., vendor contracting), and ensure that internal controls are in place and continuously improving. You will also oversee ethics case management, provide guidance on sensitive investigations, and prepare the organisation for audits and certifications such as ISO.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Ethics & Case Oversight
- Works closely with the Board, ExCO and the Legal, Finance, People & Culture and Student Delivery teams within ALU to ensure governance and compliance at all levels.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for confidential ethics concerns, reports, and complaints from ALU stakeholders.
- Conduct preliminary assessments of ethics claims, ensuring fairness, professionalism, and confidentiality.
- Oversee and coordinate impartial investigations in collaboration with relevant internal or external parties.
- Guide mediation and resolution strategies that fairly consider the rights and responsibilities of all parties.
- Build trust in ALU’s reporting mechanisms and promote an internal culture of accountability and ethical leadership.
Risk Management & Scenario Planning
- Lead organisation-wide risk identification, mapping, and mitigation planning across academic, operational, financial, and reputational domains.
- Design risk management frameworks, escalation pathways, and decision trees for key operational processes.
- Develop, maintain, and lead the implementation of a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure critical operations can continue or resume rapidly in the event of disruption.
- Coordinate cross-functional risk reviews and advise the Senior Leadership Team on emerging or unmanaged risks.
Internal Controls & Assurance
- Establish and lead ALU’s internal controls function, developing scopes, executing reviews, and recommending remediation plans.
- Monitor internal controls and recommend improvements in contracting, procurement, finance, data management, and HR practices.
- Ensure compliance with internal policies, donor/funder requirements, and applicable regulatory standards.
- Report independently to senior leadership and the Board on internal audit findings, gaps, and status of corrective actions.
Process Governance
- Oversee the Ethics Committee, Disciplinary Committee, Whistleblowing, and Safeguarding processes and policies, ensuring relevant resourcing, training and information is in place for effective management of student, staff and other key stakeholder requirements.
- Design and oversee implementation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) across core operational areas.
- Evaluate ALU’s systems and processes for consistency, effectiveness, and alignment with institutional goals.
- Collaborate with teams to implement corrective or improvement measures, ensuring continuous quality enhancement.
- Oversee readiness for ISO and other certification processes relevant to ethics, quality, and compliance.
Vendor Contracting & Procurement Oversight
- Provide risk and quality oversight to the contracting process, from vendor due diligence to performance monitoring.
- Develop procurement risk guidelines and frameworks, ensuring alignment with global best practices and ALU values.
- Monitor procurement-related compliance and audit vendor relationships for risk exposure or ethical concerns.
REQUIRED EXPERIENCE
- 8–10 years in roles spanning risk management, ethics/compliance, quality assurance, internal audit, or legal operations.
- At least 3 years in a senior or cross-functional role with exposure to governance, operational design, and stakeholder reporting.
- Proven track record in designing and implementing audit, compliance, or quality frameworks in complex environments.
- Experience managing confidential investigations or ethics casework is highly advantageous.
- Familiarity with ISO, regulatory audits, or donor-funded program requirements is a strong plus.
- Experience working in diverse, multi-country or fast-scaling environments is preferred.
REQUIRED COMPETENCIES
Functional
- Internal Audit & Control: Designing and executing risk-based audits and internal controls.
- Process Improvement: Building scalable systems and policies to support institutional performance.
- Risk Management: Identifying enterprise risks and leading mitigation or response strategies.
- Ethics & Governance: Leading ethics case management with discretion, sensitivity, and legal awareness.
- Quality Assurance: Driving organisation-wide performance standards and operational excellence.
- Data-Driven Reporting: Developing dashboards and reports that highlight trends, gaps, and institutional risk posture.
Soft Skills
- Integrity & Trust: A reputation for confidentiality, fairness, and sound judgment.
- Influence & Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills to engage senior leaders, external vendors, and internal teams.
- Analytical Thinking: High capacity to connect the dots, identify systemic issues, and recommend pragmatic solutions.
- Calm Under Pressure: Poise in managing high-stakes issues and navigating ambiguity with professionalism.
- Change Orientation: Comfortable driving improvements and leading stakeholders through process changes.
Location: Remote within CAT Time Zone
