Regional Director Africa at Feed the Children

Responsibilities:

Program Leadership & Management (60%)

• Develop and implement a revised regional plan, including an appropriate operational plan and staffing structure to ensure alignment with the vision of the organization and ensure optimum delivery, and organizational impact.
• Lead change initiatives in collaboration with regional and country teams, promoting organizational agility and distributed leadership. Drive structural enhancements to optimize operational models.
• Provide oversight to program strategy, design, planning, budgeting and MEAL (monitoring, evaluation, assessment & learning) in the region.
• Responsible for setting regional program goals, strategies, and performance metrics.
• Drive continuous improvement in program quality and support strengthening capacity, operations, and results across the region to ensure ongoing programmatic excellence
• Oversee the planning, development, and reporting of all programmatic activities and operations to maximize programmatic and organizational impact.
• Manage, develop, coach, and retain high-performance team members, empowering them to elevate their level of responsibility, span of control, and performance.
• Work with staff to develop systems to ensure consistent, high-quality project management.
• Provide leadership in the development of inter-team communication and cohesiveness, sustaining culture and supporting staff during organizational growth.
• Work with the Country Directors and program teams in the review and presentation of unsolicited proposals.
• Work with the program teams in responding to non-routine grant status reports and budget changes.
• Work with the Grants Manager to develop and maintain appropriate grant tracking and reporting.
• Ensure the effective and timely delivery of all program funder requirements, reports, and agreements.
• Actively participate in the Senior Management Team, providing strategic program and field perspective and contributing to the development and implementation of shared global strategies and priorities.
• Ensure program operations comply with organizational standards for safety and security, child protection, and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse.

Business Development and External Relationships (20%)

• Champion business development efforts, including donor mapping and fundraising strategies. Ensure alignment with programmatic needs and sustainable growth objectives.
• Working with Business Development, ensure proposal design, development, planning, and budgeting by program staff to enable timely submission of grants and contract agreements.
• Identify and participate in key fora, events, and representation opportunities to raise organizational visibility and facilitate networking / strategic engagements with funders and partners.
• Expand revenue generating and fundraising activities to support existing programs and the growth of the organization; cultivate existing relationships and develop new funder relationships.
• Building and maintaining partnerships with international organizations, governments, and stakeholders.

Finance (10%)

• Work with the VP of International Finance, Grants Manager, and other program staff to coordinate the timing and amount of planned grant payout with the availability of funds.
• Develop the annual operating budget for the department.
• Review monthly reports and address negative variances.

Knowledge Management (10%)

• Develop the necessary systems, processes, and tools to better support the facilitation, collection, and sharing of knowledge that is generated by the programs.
• Develop a dissemination system to share organizational learning with a broad range of communities.
• Ensure that key project outcomes and/or policy, advocacy, and legislation are evaluated and leveraged for maximum programmatic and organizational impact.
• Work collaboratively with the senior management team to integrate cross-program activities and functions.
• Ensuring that program teams have access to relevant research, best practices, and data. Promoting learning and knowledge sharing across the organization.
• Monitoring program impact and adjusting strategies based on evidence.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., humanities or social sciences, international development, Public Health) or equivalent.
• 10+ years of experience managing NGO operations and programs, in international development or humanitarian operations, including a minimum of 8 years in developing countries.
• Demonstrated experience leading and empowering a diverse, cross-cultural senior management team with an emphasis on collaboration and accountability.
• Demonstrated experience in establishing strategic partnerships and alliances and serving in a senior representation role.
• Proven ability to support resource mobilization efforts and a track record of leading teams in strategy development and implementation, delivery of high-quality programs with demonstrated impact and results.
• Experience and success in management, teambuilding, and consensus building.
• Ability to work as a partner in a multi-cultural environment.
• Strong communication skills, both written and spoken.
• Ability to work under tight time constraints; and · Ability to translate conceptual direction into concrete grant plans.
• Strong analytical and writing skills.
• The ability to think and work strategically with a wide range of senior leaders.
• Capacity to coordinate efforts involving various projects and multiple players.
• Ability to travel up to 30% of the time including upon occasion to remote locations with basic amenities.
• Flexibility to rapidly adjust prioritization of activities to changing contexts and requirements.