Safeguarding & ESG Manager

Acumen is looking for a Safeguarding and ESG Manager to strengthen and manage safeguarding across our Green RISE and Pioneer investing work, based in Lagos, Nigeria or Nairobi, Kenya. This is an outstanding opportunity for a safeguarding practitioner to own a safeguarding framework end to end — conducting safeguarding due diligence, monitoring safeguarding risks, supporting entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) and other stakeholders, and reporting to our funding partners.

About Acumen

Acumen is a global force of entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators working together to build a world based on dignity. We were founded by Jacqueline Novogratz on the radical idea that business, when cultivated with moral imagination, can break the cycle of poverty. We invest in transformational companies, build sustainable markets, and prepare leaders with the tools they need to create a more just and inclusive future. Since 2001, we have scaled companies and shaped markets in some of the hardest-to-reach communities on the planet, impacting over half-a-billion lives. To learn more visit acumen.org.

About the role:
Acumen has international and institutional funders that provide both grants and returnable capital for its funds. This role sits at the center of safeguarding across the Green RISE, Pioneer, and Academy programs. Approximately half of the role will focus on managing safeguarding activities across Green RISE — owning the safeguarding framework, leading safeguarding due diligence, and monitoring safeguarding risks. The remaining half will primarily support Pioneer and the Academy, with additional support for Acumen’s returnable capital funds. The Manager will work closely with investment teams, external partner organizations, social enterprises, and other stakeholders, and will report on safeguarding to Acumen’s funding partners.

Accountabilities include:

• Managing Acumen’s safeguarding framework across Green RISE, including safeguarding policies, procedures, and standards
• Leading safeguarding due diligence on prospective and existing funding recipients, fellows, and partners
• Monitoring safeguarding risks across the Green RISE portfolio, and escalating and managing safeguarding incidents as they arise
• Owning and managing Green RISE’s grievance and safeguarding reporting mechanisms, including accessible reporting channels, confidential case management, survivor-centered and trauma-informed response and referrals, escalation and investigation coordination, and monitoring implementation across external partner organizations
• Supporting Pioneer and the Academy on safeguarding integration, with additional support for Acumen’s returnable capital funds
• Supporting Pioneer’s investing strategy, including integrating ESG into pipeline development, investment diligence, and post-investment portfolio support
• Supporting Acumen’s returnable capital funds on ESG, including diligence, risk monitoring, and reporting to fund investors and partners
• Supporting external partner organizations, investees, and other stakeholders with safeguarding capacity building, training, and resources
• Co-developing new safeguarding resources across funds, including trainings and templates
• Reporting on safeguarding performance, risks, and incidents to Acumen’s funding partners
• Synthesizing safeguarding data and narrative into clear insights, supported by evidence, with recommendations for action

Qualifications

• Minimum of 8 years of experience in safeguarding, ESG, impact investing, or sustainable finance; demonstrated safeguarding experience is essential
• Direct experience designing, managing, or implementing safeguarding frameworks, policies, and due diligence processes, ideally with investees or partners in Africa
• Experience investigating safeguarding incidents with a survivor-centered approach
• Strong understanding of safeguarding standards, gender lens investing, gender equality and social inclusion strategies, risk-management practices, and due diligence, alongside ESG policies, procedures, and metrics across sectors
• Bachelor's degree with a focus on social enterprise, sustainable finance, or international development.
• Strong ability to take initiative with research and analysis and produce valuable results in conditions of uncertaint
• An investigative mind and an ability to synthesize disparate data to draw conclusions and propose recommendations
• A sense of proportionality in determining practical approaches to requirements with a focus on substantive value add and beneficiaries
• Strong project management and stakeholder management skills and experience managing internal teams towards a common objective
• Strong organizational skills and an ability to set up efficient systems for managing data, processes and information
• Strong writing and presentation skills
• Commitment to and enthusiasm for the organization’s mission to change the way the world tackles poverty, and respect for our core values: generosity, accountability, humility, audacity, listening, leadership, integrity, and respect
• Ability to thrive when there is ambiguity, remain cool-headed when there are unexpected obstacles, and withstand the tests of a rapidly changing environment with resilience and resolve

Location:

Lagos, Nigeria or Nairobi, Kenya

Deadline
Applications will be accepted and reviewed manually on a rolling basis through 7th September 2026. 
Given the high volume of applications we receive, we kindly ask that you refrain from submitting duplicate applications. Please note that due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we are unforutnately unable to respond to individual direct messages or email outreach regarding applications.

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