Senior Manager, Sustainability & Partnerships

Reporting to the Director Sustainability and Shared Value, the role holder will lead the integration of Sustainability and Partnerships as strategic drivers of growth by embedding ESG principles into Safaricom’s business strategy, product development, ecosystem engagements and operational DNA, unlocking new revenue opportunities, strengthening stakeholder trust, and enhancing market positioning.

This role focuses on the Shared Value model identifying business opportunities that address global challenges (e.g., reducing carbon footprint to lower Opex, circular economy to create new revenue streams and sustainability Linked Loans). The role drives shared value creation by building and leveraging local, regional, and global partnerships, ensuring sustainability initiatives are directly linked to commercial outcomes, innovation, and long-term value for customers, communities, and shareholders.

The role also ensures robust ESG governance, reporting, and external positioning, while shaping Safaricom’s leadership in purpose-led growth and sustainable innovation.

Health and Safety

• Uphold the company code of conduct, policies and procedures, ensuring integrity and accountability in every aspect of your work.
• All employees have a responsibility to adhere to safety, health, and wellbeing policies, guidelines and procedures in all actions and decisions.

Strategy & Shared Value Integration

• Develop and drive the Sustainability & Shared Value strategy aligned to Safaricom’s growth priorities.
• Embed ESG into business strategy, product design, and commercial decision-making across clusters.
• Identify and scale shared value initiatives where social impact drives competitive advantage.
• Translate sustainability priorities into clear business cases linked to revenue, cost, and risk outcomes.
• Partner with Commercial, Technology, and CFIO teams to integrate ESG into new growth areas (e.g. FinTech, digital ecosystems).
• Track and report on strategic impact of sustainability initiatives on business performance and long-term value.

Partnerships & Ecosystem Development

• Build and manage strategic partnerships (local, regional, global) to unlock ESG-led growth opportunities.
• Identify and develop ecosystem collaborations across public, private, and development sectors.
• Leverage partnerships to enable new business models, funding opportunities, and innovation.
• Position Safaricom as a partner of choice in sustainability, inclusion, and purpose-led initiatives.
• Drive cross-border and multi-stakeholder partnerships supporting expansion and regional play.
• Ensure partnerships deliver measurable commercial, social, and reputational value.

Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Programs (Net Zero & Circularity)

• Lead delivery of environmental sustainability agenda including carbon reduction and resource efficiency.
• Lead the transition toward Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for carbon neutrality (Scope 1, 2, and 3).
• Oversee waste, water, and circularity initiatives across operations and value chain.
• Integrate environmental considerations into supplier, product, and operational decisions.
• Manage sustainability risks and opportunities related to climate and environmental impact.
• Support development of innovative sustainability solutions aligned to future business needs.

ESG Governance, Reporting & Compliance

• Lead ESG governance frameworks ensuring alignment with regulatory, investor, and Group requirements.
• Oversee development of sustainability disclosures (e.g. integrated reports, ESG ratings, regulatory filings).
• Ensure ESG KPIs are embedded into business performance frameworks and tracked effectively.
• Monitor evolving ESG regulations and ensure readiness and compliance across markets.
• Drive data integrity, assurance, and transparency in ESG reporting and disclosures.
• Provide insights to leadership on ESG performance, risks, and opportunities.

External Positioning, Advocacy & Thought Leadership

• Position Safaricom as a leader in sustainability and purpose-led growth through strategic storytelling.
• Represent the organization in key sustainability forums, industry platforms, and stakeholder engagements.
• Shape external narratives in collaboration with PR, Public Affairs, and Communications teams.
• Build thought leadership on sustainability, inclusion, and shared value across markets.
• Drive stakeholder engagement strategies that strengthen trust, credibility, and brand positioning.

• Ensure alignment between sustainability messaging and overall corporate narrative.

  
  

Culture, Capability & Cross-Functional Enablement

• Build internal capability on sustainability and shared value across business units.
• Drive a culture of sustainability through awareness, engagement, and leadership alignment.
• Provide guidance to teams on embedding ESG into day-to-day decision-making and operations.
• Enable cross-functional collaboration to deliver integrated sustainability outcomes.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team to deliver on sustainability and partnerships agenda.
• Support enterprise initiatives (e.g. Ethiopia, new markets) with sustainability and partnership expertise.

Subsidiary Oversight, Governance & Enablement

• Provide strategic oversight and guidance on Sustainability and Partnerships across subsidiaries, ensuring alignment to Group ESG priorities and standards.
• Establish governance frameworks, reporting structures, and performance tracking mechanisms across subsidiary markets.
• Support subsidiaries in embedding sustainability and shared value into local business strategies and operations.
• Enable capability building through knowledge transfer, playbooks, and best practice sharing across markets.
• Drive coordination between Group and subsidiary teams to deliver cross-market initiatives and partnerships.
• Monitor subsidiary ESG performance, risks, and opportunities, providing insights and interventions where required.

Core competencies, knowledge and experience:

Customer Obsession

• Deepen team connection to our customers and communities.
• Foster authentic relationships with customers and partners that build trust.
• Explicitly take customer-centric decisions and take personal ownership to achieve results.
• Simplify processes through digitalisation and promote a digital mindset and digital first customer experience.
• Stay focused on the big priorities, know when to make meaningful trade-offs and demonstrate brilliant execution.

Purpose

• Create an inspiring vision for your team to drive strategy and performance.
• Show ambition and courage, empowering others to go beyond the plan.
• Bold and challenge teams to reimagine how things are done.
• Prompt new thinking and ideas by asking “what if” questions.
• Use knowledge of the external environment (customers, partners, competition, external bodies) to identify and act on opportunities for growth at pace.

Innovation

• Create psychological safety so everyone can have an impact.
• Fuel innovative ideas from others and test them to enable growth.
• Explore successes and failures with curiosity and resilience; fearlessly recognizing lessons learned.
• Share your ongoing learning and personal purpose with others.
• Learn fast from digital adoption, using learnings to drive simplicity, scale and efficiency.

Collaboration

• Articulate your team’s role in making our strategy happen, prioritizing and aligning resources with current and future needs.
• Actively collaborate to break silos and hold your team accountable to do the same.
• Develop others to make the most of their talents and coach them to take ownership to get things done.
• Create an inclusive environment ensuring the safety and wellbeing of others.
• Live our Purpose and demonstrate the highest Standard of integrity.
   

• Bachelor’s degree in Sustainability, Environmental Science, Business, Economics or related field (Master’s / MBA in Sustainability or Strategy preferred).
• 8–10+ years’ experience in Sustainability, ESG, Corporate Responsibility, or Strategy/Consulting roles.
• Proven track record of delivering commercially impactful sustainability or shared value initiatives.
• Experience operating in complex, regulated, or multi-market environments (e.g., telecoms, fintech, infrastructure).
• Demonstrated experience working with cross-functional teams (Finance, Commercial, Technology, HR).
• Strong knowledge of ESG frameworks and standards (e.g., GHG Protocol, IFRS S1/S2, GRI, TCFD).
• Experience in carbon strategy, climate transition (Scope 1, 2, 3), and circular economy principles.
• Familiarity with ESG data, reporting tools, and performance tracking systems.
• Ability to translate ESG into commercial value drivers (revenue growth, cost efficiency, risk mitigation).
• Experience building business cases for sustainability investments (e.g., green CAPEX, partnerships, new business models).
• Strong understanding of local and global ESG regulatory landscape (e.g., NEMA, EMCA, international disclosure requirements).
• Experience engaging with regulators, industry bodies, and external stakeholders on sustainability matters.
• Awareness of ICT/Telecom regulatory and operating environment is an added advantage.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence senior stakeholders.
• Experience in people leadership, team development, and capability building.
• Strong strategic thinking and execution capability in ambiguous, fast-paced environments.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and relationship-building skills.

How to Apply. If you feel that you are up to the challenge and possess the necessary qualification and experience, kindly proceed to create/ update your candidate profile on the recruitment portal and then Click on the apply button. Remember to attach your resume.
 

Safaricom is the leading technology company in East Africa. Our purpose is to transform lives by connecting people to people, people to opportunities and people to information. We keep over 60 million customers connected across Kenya and Ethiopia, and play a critical role in the society, supporting over 1.13 million jobs both directly and indirectly while our total economic value was estimated at KES 1.1 trillion ($ 8.5 billion) for the 12 months through March 2025.

Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and with annual revenues of close to KES 388 billion as at March 2025, Safaricom provides connectivity through wide range of technology. Our 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G network in aggregate covers over 99% of Kenya’s population.

We run the world’s largest mobile payment system and Africa’s largest Fintech, M-PESA, the world’s first mobile money transfer system. By empowering millions of customers to transact, save or borrow money through their mobile phone, M-PESA has driven financial inclusion in Kenya to 84.8% of the adult population in 2024, from a low of 26.7% in 2006, and generated over KES 161 billion in revenue as at FY25.

Our subsidiary, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia, has deployed world class network and services to contribute to Ethiopia’s digital transformation.

Safaricom is an equal opportunity employer, actively recruiting staff from different backgrounds reflecting the communities that we serve. We are committed to equal gender representation at all levels.

As part of our ongoing commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we continue to work towards improving energy and resource efficiency in our network and facilities to reduce carbon emissions and our fuel consumption. We remain committed to becoming a Net Zero carbon-emitting company by 2050.