Director, Africa at Luminate

ROLE 

Luminate is seeking a strategic leader to manage existing relationships and contribute to expanding our funding and operational work in the Africa region. The Director, Africa will also oversee an office of Nairobi based team members supporting our global operations.

OPPORTUNITY

Success in this role requires maturity, analytical ability, creativity, strategic insight, and business/investment acumen, including the ability to manage an end-to-end grant making or investment process, as well as interest in working collaboratively in multi-cultural, global environments.

TEAM
The Director, Africa will be based in Nairobi, Kenya reporting to the VP, Africa based in Abuja, Nigeria.  The Director will be a key member of both the Africa regional program team and the Nairobi office. Successful candidates must be based in and have the right to work in Nairobi, Kenya.  Competitive salary and benefits are offered.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Regional Programme

• Leading work on emerging policy themes around governance in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa
• Working closely with the VP, Africa, provide strategic support for the regional team’s partnership and relationship-building efforts with other foundations and funders
• Identifying high impact opportunities in Luminate's areas of work including building healthy information ecosystems and supporting participation and dissent.
• Building and managing a healthy pipeline and portfolio of partner organizations across the region
• Identifying key trends in philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and the policy space that could help advance the quality of governance and citizen empowerment and defining strategic recommendations to respond to those trends
• Participating in strategic opportunities for public engagement and by building a strong network of partners in civil society, private sector, media and government
• Working closely with the VP, Africa to manage Luminate's grants budget for the region
• Working closely with the VP, Africa to coordinate the regional team for review and analysis of grant proposals against team budget; prioritizing opportunities, conducting necessary diligence on prospects
• Executing funding transactions by taking shortlisted opportunities through a well-defined approval and closing process, including definitive documentation, legal and financial due diligence (as applicable)
• Identifying, developing and coordinating support to partner organisations by curating networks, making connections between partners, identifying relevant consultants or other opportunities to build capacity
• Monitoring the impact, financial and operational performance of partner organisations periodically
• Representing Luminate's perspectives with a broad array of stakeholders in government, civil society, academia, and private sector and contributing to the expansion of Luminate's profile/influence in the region
• Tracking learning and impact goals for Luminate's work in Africa and contributing to our knowledge management efforts by sharing key learnings and providing feedback on similar themes/ opportunities across Luminate’s target countries/regions
• Engaging regularly with other Luminate programmatic teams to help shape strategy, provide inputs on specific investments, and work on common areas of interest and impact

Oversight of Nairobi Office

• In collaboration with the managers of other Nairobi based employees, attend to the duty of care for staff members operating out of the Nairobi office
• In collaboration with Luminate’s Risk Management Team, ensure the safety and security of the Nairobi based team in uncertain or fluid circumstances
• In collaboration with the head of global facilities, ensure the team’s physical workplace is productive and secure.

EXPERIENCE & SKILLS

Note: we view this section as a guide, not a checklist. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t satisfy every single bullet on this list

• Considerable experience in a senior leadership role, ideally with exposure to early stage investing and non-profit organisations
• Deep passion for work in governance and citizen engagement, including thinking through policy level interventions
• Demonstrated ability to formulate a clear investment thesis and make thoughtful judgment calls, drawing on prior investment and/or meaningful operating experience
• Willingness and interest to invest across non-profits, research and to drive the impact we seek to have in the broader sector 
• Experience managing team members across multiple locations and comfort working in an organizational structure that is geographically distributed
• Prior demonstrated interest in/experience with social entrepreneurship and creating positive social impact
• Strong analytic, strategic thinking and project management skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Lived experience working in Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa
• MBA or other graduate degree preferred
• Flexibility to travel both within the African continent and internationally