Head of Programs at Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH)

About the role

The Head of Programs leads TICAH programming strategically, driving innovation and learning to achieve the ambitious Strategic Plan. You will lead the creation of the systems, team and culture needed to achieve our impact at scale.

This is a highly strategic, creative and collaborative role to ensure our programs truly amplify community action to realize the transformative power of culture. You will help institutionalize a multidisciplinary way of working, developing and proving our art-culture-health framework and unique methodologies further.

This is a new role at TICAH, and together with the ED, Head of Finance & Operations and Head of Partnerships forms the leadership team. You will manage the 4 Senior Programs Managers, the MELS Manager, chair the Programs Committee and participate in the Communications & Fundraising Committees.

Your responsibilities will include the following:

Provide Organization & Department Leadership

• This role is part of the Leadership Team and plays a key role in providing strategic direction to TICAH and ensuring the Strategic Plan is implemented.
• Provide technical leadership to the annual reviews of the Strategic Plan. Ensure all Programs and MELS strategies, frameworks and SOPs align to the Strategic Plan and its revisions.
• Steer progress towards all strategic goals and outcomes relating to our programming through leading initiatives to refine and innovate our programming and models. Bring key insights, proposed changes and decisions to be made to the Leadership Team and Board.
• As a member of the Communication Committee, help identify, support and pursue strategic opportunities for promotion and advocacy of TICAH’s work, impact and learnings.
• As a member of the Fundraising Committee, contribute to identifying fundraising gaps and opportunities, ensuring we grow relationships with existing donors and attract new financial supporters towards our work. This includes contributing to stewarding new potential partners, concept design and proposal writing/editing.
• Represent TICAH and our beliefs and work externally through speaking engagements, networking in the industry, and collaboration on creation of op-eds, articles, research, publications, reports, pitch decks, etc.

Spearhead Programs Strategy, Design and Goals

• Chair and lead the Programs Committee towards its purpose of ensuring quality and consistent implementation of the Strategic Plan across all programs. Realize an intersectional perspective by promoting multidisciplinary collaborations across the program portfolio and actively supporting and synergizing with the MELS Committee and the Communications and Fundraising Committees.
• Provide strategic oversight to program design, ensuring our work is truly community driven and creates transformational outcomes. Spearhead the articulation and implementation of our Culture-Art-Health Framework and our unique TICAH methodologies as we grow.
• Lead program innovation by shaping internal conversations to reimagine things, helping creative ideas and approaches emerge, be refined, and prioritized for internal innovation funding.
• Drive Program Learning: Ensure that insights from Monitoring & Evaluation are drawn and applied organization wide for program improvement and made available for external sharing as relevant.
• Ensure we are plugged into relevant networks and big conversations around what works in our areas of work.
• Grow non-funding partnerships in service of Strategic Goals, e.g. replication of our model, advocacy efforts, organizational and technical learning, etc..
• Lead a TICAH-wide Impact and Goals Dashboard, tracking progress on the corporate and programmatic strategic outcomes.
• Identify capacity building needs in the organization relating to programming for our new strategy

Oversee Program Implementation and Reporting

• Lead the annual work planning process, supporting Senior Program Managers to facilitate creation of realistic work plans, budgets and implementation frameworks with their teams.
• Coordinate the quarterly program review process, including the creation of quarterly Strategic Plan Implementation Briefs in collaboration with the Programs, MELS and Fundraising Committees, analyzing the progress and highlighting changes, trends and opportunities.
• Shape internal tracking and reporting procedures to ensure issues around implementation, outcomes, and compliance are effectively identified and handled as early as possible.
• Ensure effective use of funds by supporting the link between the Finance and Program teams as necessary towards thoughtful budget creation, monthly tracking and timely reallocations.
• Evolve workflows and processes in line with org chart changes and our learning and strategy review processes.
• Oversee the program team’s work in building strong relationships with current donors (as per donor stewarding plans developed by Fundraising Committee). This includes ensuring timely, smooth, excellent and compliant donor reporting by overseeing the donor reporting calendar, working with team members in charge to meet timelines. The final approval on all donor reports is shared with the Head of Finance & Operations.
• Ensure implementation of the Program SOP and updates as needed. 

Team Management

• Lead, manage and support the Senior Program Managers in charge of the four programs and the MELS Managers to meet their and their teams’ goals. Provide mentorship and advice so staff carry out their responsibilities effectively.
• Partner with HR in the development of the program team structure over the next years to ensure adequate staffing for our big ambitious goals.
• Spearhead Performance Management for the Program and MELS team (goal setting, training needs and development opportunities, appraisals), working closely with HR and the Senior Program Managers.

Who we are looking for:

• You hold a deep belief that communities own their challenges, solutions and decisions and you have dedicated your career to driving programming that strengthens communities’ self-determination through a facilitative approach. You believe in the individual’s right to choose and self-determine when it comes to their health, e.g. sexual and reproductive health rights, alternative treatments.
• You share our passion for holistic health and fundamental human rights and are dedicated to addressing the intersections of the climate crisis, health and inequalities in Kenya. The multidisciplinary opportunities between our 4 program areas ignite your creativity and curiosity.
• Excited to co-lead an organization at a growth and change phase. You have previously contributed to cross-cutting discussions on organizational strategy and change management.
• A visionary and strategic community programming leader:
  • At least 10 years of relevant progressive program management experience, with a strong track record leading the program management cycle from concept/design, fundraising, planning to implementation, evaluation and reporting.
  • Experience implementing rights-based, participatory approaches to holistic health, and especially the intersections of art, culture, HIV, NCDs, nutrition, SRHR, particularly for the most marginalized population groups incl. Indigenous People, AGYW, LGBTIQ+, people living with disability, and people living in urban slums.
  • You possess strong strategic thinking skills with a track record of creating successful strategies in various contexts, incl. promoting outcomes/impact thinking in programming.
  • You are plugged into relevant networks and spaces, stay abreast with trends and big conversations about what works (in at least one of our focus areas: holistic health, gender justice, climate justice)
  • Experience scaling programs while retaining depth and quality is crucial for this role.
  • You know what great M&E looks like. Experience in designing, setting up and coordinating monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment systems and processes of a program.
  • Track record in building strong relationships with current donors and writing/coordinating excellent donor reports.
• Strong management and leadership skills
  • Vast experience managing various teams. You have a track record in mentoring and developing people, while holding them accountable to their goals and plans.
  • You have previously supported managers in leading their teams to achieve ambitious goals.
  • Your strong listening skills allow you to build rapport and unearth challenges, needs, opportunities and solutions.
  • You have a toolbox of participatory methodologies, with a strong ability to bring people together and facilitate insightful conversations that lead to consensus around the way forward, e.g. change in strategies or processes
  • Demonstrated experience in leading annual work planning cycles, and monitoring implementation.
  • You care about efficiency and have a track record of improving and optimizing processes and procedures in organizations and influencing people to use the new and improved way of working.
• Strong ability to understand, communicate, and effectively interact across cultures
• You have succeeded in engaging a WIDE range of stakeholders, from policy makers in high-level forums to traditional elders in the communities to young women in urban slums.
• You are happy to roll up your sleeves, help implement activities as needed and meet our communities where they are.
• You hold at least a relevant bachelor's degree.