Executive Director at Tushinde Children's Trust

Job Summary:

As Executive Director, you will lead the strategic and programmatic efforts to fund and advance Tushinde on the next stage of its journey. You will manage and represent Tushinde at both a Kenya country programme level as well as at a board level, both in Kenya and the UK. A key priority of this role will be to build on the current funding model as well as advancing programmatic and operations objectives. Your management and representation skills, as well as your work with staff, partners and communities, will be key to advancing Tushinde’s reach and impact.

Key Responsibilities:

As Executive Director you will require strong leadership skills that build on the Tushinde values and ensure the quality performance and fulfilment of the Tushinde vision, which is that; ‘no child falls through the gaps: all children realise their rights to protection and development’. You will be responsible for the sourcing and oversight of funding streams, overall strategic planning, programme design and implementation. Working with the Tushinde team, your role will include country-level external relations and coordination, programme support operations, finance and budget compliance, administration, monitoring and evaluation, staff supervision, and required reporting on grants. Again, working with the team, you will ensure that all parts of the programme meet their stated objectives, meet the needs of beneficiaries, and are implemented to the highest standards, on time, and within budget. You will lead in obtaining funding and identifying and pursuing new programme opportunities. As Executive Director you will continually assess, identify, and address gaps and weaknesses to improve overall programme performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.

Strategic Lead:

To lead the process of developing medium and long term strategic plans that maintain the programme focus in areas consistent with Tushinde’s core programme objectives;

The development, review and delivery of Tushinde’s strategic plan will involve collaboration with the UK and Kenyan boards and the Founder. The Executive Director will need full awareness of the unique concept that Tushinde offers and be able to undertake key tasks related to its evolution e.g., forward planning, innovation, budgeting, monitoring, and evaluation. This will involve providing support and updates to the boards through regular written reports and briefings.

Ensure that the charitable purposes of Tushinde Children’s Trust are adhered to so that it delivers the charitable benefits enshrined in the constitution and development plan.

Fundraising and organisational growth:

To lead and develop Tushinde Children’s Trust’s fundraising strategy which will build strong relationships with donors and a sustainable programme of individual, corporate, governmental and trust donations with the aim of doubling it each year;

To seek out and secure new and diverse income streams that allow Tushinde to grow out of its Mathare foundations to in time become both a Nairobi and National initiative that delivers an innovative and high impact programme in line with the mission of the organisation;

To take responsibility for working with the team to design and submit major bids and contracts;

To develop opportunities to identify and cultivate fundraising opportunities with high value donors.

Engagement, Stewardship and Donor Reporting

To ensure there is continued engagement with the supporters of the charity in Kenya. To listen and then develop appropriate and timely reports to donors that retain and deepens their support so that the supporters of Tushinde actively recruit more supporters as a result of the narrative of the programme;

With the assistance of the Founder , to first map, then build positive relationships with new high value individual donors, trustees of charitable organisations and trust administrators that go on to support the programme.

Staff management and leadership:

1. To oversee the line management of the Tushinde team in Kenya ;
2. To provide coaching to the people line managed, to help them deliver on their role, grow and reach their fullest potential;
3. To ensure quality project implementation through an adequate skill mix and interactive staff management support, including ensuring appropriate supervision at all levels.
4. To ensure there are clear lines of accountability and responsibility which foster and maintain effective working relationships within the organisation.

Communications and advocacy:

1. To nurture and represent the brand values of Tushinde by ensure that the profile of Tushinde’s work and its model of maintaining children with their families and kinship carers is raised at every opportunity and that examples of good practice are shared with target audiences that will support the work of the organisation;
2. To oversee the implementation of an integrated communications and digital strategy, raising Tushinde’s presence and profile in an engaging way with key channels prioritised so that Tushinde is known by the key individuals that matter;
3. To ensure that relevant data is collected, analysed with lessons extracted from these insights so that the impact of the programme and that this information is not only measured, but acted on within the team;
4. To advocate for the community that Tushinde represents so that broader policy change is executed by key policy decision makers at community, county, regional and state level with key evidenced based policy interventions are advocated for by the programme;
5. To act as an ambassador for Tushinde Children’s Trust, primarily in Kenya, but with other requests as needed such as the UK, networking widely to build new and existing strategic relationships (member state, corporate, statutory and third sector).

Governance and legal:

1. To build a proactive relationship with the Chair, Treasurer and Trustee Board in Kenya and in the UK, supporting them to fulfil their duties and legal and other responsibilities to ensure the compliance around the governance requirements of Tushinde Children’s Trust;
2. To ensure that the board receive advice, recommendations and information in an effective, thorough and timely manner, with particular reference to the legal and ethical requirements of registered charities, including safeguarding and child protection;
3. To take overall responsibility for Tushinde’s management and administration within the governance and accountability frameworks established by the Board of Trustees.

Finance and oversight:

To be responsible to Tushinde Children’s Trust Board of Trustees in both Kenya and the UK for the overall financial health of the organisation;

To support the Kenyan board in reporting to the principal funder, the UK board;

To co-produce a yearly budget with the finance lead and the treasurer, and ensure the sound financial management of Tushinde Children’s Trust within that budget with regular reports as needed;

To work with the Operations and Finance Manager to ensure full and accurate reporting including the preparation of an annual report and financial accounts, making returns to the relevant Charity regulator/s and reporting back at the AGM;

To take appropriate steps to manage risks that could impact Tushinde Children’s Trust; To ensure that the organisation has the right management systems and structures in place to carry out its work effectively, accountably and safely, and that professional standards are met.

Reporting Line

The Executive Director will be selected by and reporting to the Kenyan Board. However, there will be a strong line of accountability to the UK board due to their duty of accountability for funds raised in the UK for projects in Kenya.

Minimum Qualifications & Requirements

This position demands a dynamic individual with a demonstrated ability to achieve results in a challenging environment.

Essential:

1. Bachelor’s degree with sizeable work experience;
2. Minimum of ten (10) years professional experience in lead management implementing programmes with at least 5 years of senior management experience;
3. Specific knowledge and experience within the field of social protection and family strengthening;
4. Solid background and knowledge of successful organisational growth through fundraising and profile generation with major donor partners, e.g. USAID and DFID;
5. Demonstrated record in collaborating with local governments, other NGOs and U.N. Agencies to secure financial support or advocacy outcomes;
6. Excellent interpersonal, communication, public speaking skills are required;
7. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, tasks efficiently;
8. Proven leadership skills and experience of managing multidisciplinary teams;
9. Excellent time management skills and resourcefulness with strong attention to detail;
10. Excellent English language skills, both written and verbal;

Desirable:

1. Fluency in Swahili
2. Master’s degree in a relevant field
3. Practical experience of applying development issues at a project or community level coupled with impact assessment and evaluation of social change;
4. Evidence of understanding the challenges of donor and grant/contract management and the implications for programme management;

Disclaimer:

This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Tushinde Children’s Trust recruitment procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

Tushinde Children’s Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer