Regional Director, Africa

Job Description

Devex Talent Solutions (DTS) is exclusively retained by Feed the Children to search for the Regional Director, Africa role.

Location

This is a full-time remote role, with the Regional Director based anywhere in Africa, preferably in a country where Feed the Children operates, such as Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, or Uganda.

Description

At Feed the Children, we recognize the value of outstanding people, and we are looking for compassionate changemakers to join our team. We pride ourselves on cultivating a collaborative workplace where employees experience productive and rewarding employment and feel engaged in our mission to end childhood hunger. Our passionate team shares a deep sense of purpose, and we dream big to solve complex problems and create positive impact in communities around the world.

Feed the Children is recognized by Candid with its Platinum Seal of Transparency and is accredited by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. The organization has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and is consistently recognized on the Forbes Top 100 Charities list.

Feed the Children is currently searching for a Regional Director, Africa who will provide overall direction and leadership to the Africa program teams. The incumbent will have strategic and operational responsibility for formulating, supervising, and managing the regional programs and for playing a major role in developing the department’s policies.

The position will be a part of the Senior Management team that drives the strategy for the organization and represents the organization on a global basis.

This role reports to the President of Feed International.

Essential Functions

Program Leadership & Management (60 percent)

• 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 percent)

• 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 percent)

• 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 percent)

• 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.

Additional job responsibilities

• The job duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the post holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reason and in line with their level of skills and experience.

Job Requirements

Education

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., humanities or social sciences, international development, Public Health) or equivalent.

Experience

• 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.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies

• Very strong leadership and management proficiencies including the ability to build a diverse team, foster an inclusive team culture, encourage confidence and trust, and lead a team in a unified vision and strategy.
• Capacity to communicate effectively with FEED program leadership and to lead cross-departmental collaborations for strategic initiatives.
• Highly effective strategic planning and execution and decision-making ability
• Understanding of the program life cycle and effective practices used by aid organizations to design, implement, and measure the progress of interventions.
• Expertise in a range of cross-cutting program quality approaches
• Excellent public speaking and writing skills are essential
• Committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for clients, being courageously collaborative with colleagues, and continually adapting to a dynamic working environment.
• Demonstrated flexibility, creativity, and enthusiasm, as well as a willingness to learn and to be continually adaptive within a dynamic and often self-directed working environment.
• Ability to communicate in Spanish will be an added advantage

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Accounting — Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Computer Skills – Intermediate skills using Microsoft Office products Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Advanced MS Excel skills, experience with MAS 90 and SAGE 100 helpful but not required. Experience with QuickBooks preferred.
• English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Oral Communication - Speak clearly, persuasively, and professionally in positive or negative situations; listen and gets clarification; respond well to questions; demonstrate group presentation skills; participate in meetings.
• Written Communication - Write clearly and informatively; edit work for spelling and grammar; vary writing style to meet needs; present numerical data effectively; able to read and interpret written information.
• Teamwork - Balance team and individual responsibilities; exhibit objectivity and openness to others’ views; give and welcome feedback; contribute to building a positive team spirit; put success of team above own interests; able to build morale and group commitments to goals and objectives; support everyone’s efforts to succeed.
• Ethics - Treat people with respect; keep commitments; inspires the trust of others; works with integrity and ethically; upholds organizational values.
• Reasoning - Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form; ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Behaviors (Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Feed the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging personal and team goals, takes responsibility for own personal development, and encourages teams to do the same
• Widely shares personal vision for Feed the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future oriented, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with team, colleagues, Donors and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

About Feed the Children

As a leading anti-hunger organization, Feed the Children is committed to ending childhood hunger. We provide children and families in the U.S. and around the world with the food and essentials kids need to grow and thrive.

Through our programs and partnerships, we feed children today while helping their families and communities build resilient futures. In addition to food, we distribute household and personal care items across the United States to help parents and caregivers maintain stable, food-secure households. Internationally, we expand access to nutritious meals, safe water, improved hygiene, and training in sustainable living. Responsible stewards of our resources, we are driven to pursue innovative, holistic, and child-focused solutions to the complex challenges of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty.

For children everywhere, we believe that having enough to eat is a fundamental right.

Our Values:

We are driven by a shared sense of PURPOSE. At Feed the Children, our commitment to the mission is at the heart of what we do and fuels our collective impact in the communities where we serve.

We cannot achieve our bold vision without our talented PEOPLE. We are passionate about fostering a best-in-class workforce that is engaged, respected, and empowered to deliver results.

We believe in CURIOSITY and continued learning. Success requires a culture of discovery, curiosity and continued learning to expand our knowledge, seek new perspectives and challenge the status quo.

We know COLLABORATION is the only way to end childhood hunger. We cannot succeed alone. It will take all of us – our employees, donors, partners, volunteers – working together to accomplish our ambitious goals.

We DREAM big. When we work together, we collectively reimagine what is possible. We dream big to solve complex problems and create deep impact in communities around the world.

We VALUE every donor. We respect our donors’ intentions and promote responsible stewardship of the resources they entrust to us.

Join Feed the Children and help create a world where no child goes to bed hungry.

Feed the Children is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for positions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, political affiliation, pregnancy, military and/or veterans’ status, genetic characteristics, marital status or any other considerations made unlawful by applicable state, federal, or local law. Feed the Children welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities and will make every effort to reasonably accommodate the needs of those persons. Additionally, Feed the Children strives to provide an environment free from sexual exploitation and abuse and harassment in all places where relief and development programs are implemented. Feed the Children expects its employees to maintain high ethical standards, protect organizational integrity and reputation, and ensure that Feed the Children work is carried out in honest and fair methods, in alignment with the Feed the Children safeguarding and associated policies.