Country Director - Kenya and Horn of Africa at International Alert

Role duties and responsibilities:

Strategic leadership

• Update Alert’s strategic approach for Kenya and the Horn of Africa Region. Ensure the programming strategy is aligned to organisational priorities, adapted to local and regional dynamics, and informs strategic decisions.
• Keep informed of up-to-date analysis and changes in the context, as well as key events and opportunities within the policy community.
• Nurture collaborative relationships with a wide array of stakeholders, including with government and political leaders, private sector, international agencies and institutions, civil society, national and international NGOs, and key bilateral and multilateral donors.

Fundraising

• Update and implement a fundraising plan, identifying Alert’s peacebuilding niche in Kenya and the Region and key donors and partners to engage.
• With support from the Africa regional and global Resource Development teams, lead on programme design and fundraising for Kenya and the region, including developing relationships with donors, pitching ideas, and writing funding proposals and budgets.
• Proactively search for growth opportunities in the region, including cross-border and multi-country opportunities in the Horn of Africa

Programme implementation

• Ensure Alert’s current programming in Kenya and Horn of Africa delivers impactful peacebuilding. Directly support project implementation and grant management where needed, including conducting field scoping and monitoring visits.
• Support project teams to coordinate and communicate effectively with implementing partners.
• Manage relationships with donors and consultants for the delivery of contracts.

Human resources management

• Line manage staff and consultants delivering contracts, ensuring all staff have clear roles and responsibilities. Ensure diversity and equity in recruitment processes.
• Ensure appropriate structuring of team for efficiency as new projects come onboard. Lead on recruitment of new positions in the team, including identification of appropriate technical staff for delivery of consultancy contracts.
• Provide opportunities for staff to learn and develop, and monitor staff’s progress in capacity, knowledge, and insight.

Financial and operational management

• Ensure compliance of finance, procurement and administrative procedures with local legislation and procedures as well as donor regulations.
• Oversee the programme budget and take corrective measures to minimise and/or fill identified gaps. Ensure realistic planning and effective implementation by project managers and teams to achieve budget expenditure targets, monitoring for variances to avoid overspending or underspending. Ensure that budgets and forecasts are realistic and accurate.
• Ensure submission of timely accurate monthly financial reports and other data to HQ, donors, and local authorities.

Contribute to Alert’s organisational development

• As a member of Alert’s Global Leadership Team, contribute to organisational development, raising and engaging on organisational issues, policy development and staff development, regional strategic workshops, and organisation-wide discussions.
• Play an active role in the generation and dissemination of knowledge throughout the team and Alert as a whole, including engagement on thematic and regional discussions. Provide information to the Africa Regional Director and others as necessary on the programme progress and contextual updates.
• Take proactive steps to ensure that effective relationships are created and maintained with staff across the organisation.