Regional Head of Programmes & Partnerships at Street Child

Role Purpose:  

The Regional Head of Programmes & Partnerships will oversee and strengthen the portfolio of education, child protection, and livelihood programming across the region. They will support country programme teams, ensuring technical excellence and high-impact interventions for vulnerable and crisis-affected children. The role will also drive strategic partnerships, business development, and programme quality, fostering growth and innovation while ensuring strong local partnerships and adherence to safeguarding standards. 

Specifically, this position will play a critical role in driving business development and programme growth by supporting countries with proposal development needs, funding opportunities, and strategic leverage that align with Street Child’s country-level and global objectives. The role will also contribute to innovative programme design, ensuring high-quality implementation and technical excellence at the country level. Key responsibilities include ensuring efficient project cycle management and robust Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) systems while upholding rigorous safeguarding standards. Additionally, the role will foster equitable partnerships with local actors, addressing capacity-strengthening needs to enhance programme impact and sustainability.  

Key Responsibilities: 

• Programme Leadership & Technical Support: Oversee programme design, implementation, and quality assurance, ensuring strong technical standards in education, child protection, and livelihoods. Provide technical assistance, coaching, and capacity strengthening to programme teams and local partners. Ensure compliance with donor regulations, safeguarding standards, and financial accountability. 
• Business Development & Strategic Growth: Drive regional programme growth by supporting countries in realizing funding opportunities through high-quality proposals. Identify and leverage funding opportunities to expand Street Child’s impact. Develop innovative programme approaches to enhance effectiveness and sustainability. 
• Partnership Development & Localisation: Strengthen partnerships with local partners, relevant regional bodies, government agencies, and key stakeholders. Foster equitable collaboration, ensuring compliance with Street Child’s partnership principles. Build local partner capacity in programme implementation, financial management, and donor compliance. 
• Advocacy & Representation: Where needed, represent Street Child at regional and international forums to advocate for quality education and child protection in emergencies. Collaborate with networks and stakeholders to influence policy and funding decisions. Communicate programme successes and impact to donors and key stakeholders. 

Person Specifications:  

The ideal candidate will possess significant experience in the development or humanitarian sector, particularly with education/education in emergencies programming, and child protection and livelihoods. They should have a proven track record with innovative proposal design and program delivery, including implementing project management systems, ensuring programme quality, and making technical assistance available to country teams. Strong analytical thinking skills, applied with creativity and resourcefulness, will be highly valued. Experience of adapting, improvising and building systems in low-capacity environments is of particular interest. The candidate should also have experience and/or interest in working with and supporting local partners to ensure effective implementation and equitable partnerships. Strong coaching and mentoring skills and the ability to lead teams and communicate effectively will be important.  

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree in education, social work, international development, or a related field; a Master’s degree is preferred. 
• Significant experience (8+ years) in programme/project management in the NGO sector, ideally in education, child protection, and livelihoods. 
• Experience designing relevant education programmes and building partnerships. 
• Proven track record in business development, including successful proposal writing, project design, and donor relations. 
• Experience working with local partners and partnership development. 
• Familiarity with key institutional donors and UN agencies. 
• Strong understanding of safeguarding principles and practical experience in implementing safeguarding measures in programmes. 
• Experience overseeing MEAL and improving MEAL systems and tools for effective programme evaluation and learning. 
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, capable of working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders. 
• Ability to travel approximately 25% of the time.