Regional Director Asia

Job Description

Based in Victoria, London (with approximately one week of travel every 6 to 8 weeks)
Full Time – Fixed Term Contract Until March 2021
Salary range: £56,199 - £69,093 gross per annum
Plus Civil Service Pension Benefit
Flexible working available

Main Purpose of the Role
The Regional Director (RD) provides leadership and strategic direction for all WFD programming in their designated region, including: programme design and delivery; financial management; business development; risk and crisis management; reporting, monitoring and evaluation, and donor compliance; political context analysis; and relationship management in their designated regions.
She/he will have a detailed understanding of all the key areas of programming – parliamentary strengthening, political party assistance, electoral processes, civil society strengthening, women’s political leadership, amongst others – as detailed in WFD’s strategy.

She/he will oversee WFD’s country offices in the region, including ensuring the effective opening and closing of WFD offices, recruitment of qualified national and international staff, and oversight of any region-wide projects. The RD will ensure his/her team has the skills, training and mentoring needed to achieve the organisation’s objectives.
The RD will advise the Director of Programmes (DoP) and the Business Development (BD) team of new programme opportunities in the region. She/he will ensure effective collaboration with other regional teams, the Technical Advisory Unit (TAU), the Research and Evaluation team, Business Development, Operations, Finance, Communications, and HR. She/he is expected to contribute to WFD’s research agenda, as well as producing articles and blogs for WFD’s external communications.

As a senior member of the Programmes team (and the organisation overall), the RD will participate actively in developing the strategic direction and improving the operational capacity of the organisation, taking part in meetings of the Executive Management Committee (EMC) and the Programme Quality Committee (PQC).

She/he also liaises with the UK Parties’ Political Party Offices (PPOs) – who undertake sister-party and multi-party work on a country, regional and global basis – on all programming in their regions, ensuring effective coordination, information sharing, and collaboration.

The successful candidate will have the following skills and experience
• Thorough knowledge of the political environment and institutions in relevant region combined with an understanding of the challenges of democratic reform
• A sound understanding of the British political and parliamentary system, including devolved assemblies
• Direct experience of designing and implementing programmes (in particular parliamentary strengthening programmes), including analysis of project and programme proposals
• Preferably has field management experience in the region and in thematic areas relevant to WFD’s political and parliamentary development interests
• Successful track record of drafting proposal (including programme design and developing budgets)
• Relevant specialised knowledge and experience, particularly of evaluation methodologies, participatory programme development or an area relevant to democracy building such as political party work.
• Knowledge and understanding of the British and international funding institutions and donor agencies.
• Fluency in written and spoken English. Fluency/proficiency in one or more languages spoken widely in the relevant regions highly desirable

Please note this statement is for information only and does not form part of a contract.

This is a UK based role and therefore the successful candidate must have eligibility to work in the UK. However, in some circumstances WFD may consider appointing a Director based in the region (in a country considered strategic to WFD’s regional priorities) and subject to eligibility to work in the relevant country. This would need to be agreed by both WFD and the candidate and would not come with expat allowances.

How to apply
If you are interested in this role, send your CV and cover letter to recruitment@wfd.org by 17:00 (GMT) 26 October 2018. Please clearly detail in your cover letter your relevant skills and experience for the post. NOTE that the interviews will be taken place on the 1st and 2nd of November.

For full details of the role criteria and instructions for how to apply for this position, please visit WFD website at:

https://www.wfd.org/2018/10/11/regional-director-asia/

The appointment will be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

Please note: Due to the volume of applications we receive, only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

About the Organization

Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) is a non-governmental public body sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) and supported by the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, EU, and the governments of Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands, amongst others. Established in 1992, WFD has provided democratic assistance programmes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Africa, Middle East and North Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, with country-based programs in nearly 30 countries as of early 2018.

WFD specialises in parliamentary strengthening, political party development, civil society strengthening, and support to electoral processes, with cross-cutting initiatives on inclusive politics, human rights, and government transparency. WFD does this by assisting in the development of parliaments, political parties, civil society organisations, and electoral bodies, as well as conducting research in collaboration with leading universities, think tanks, and independent specialists.

WFD is uniquely placed to draw directly on the expertise of the Westminster political parties, members of parliament (MPs) and devolved assemblies, and British civil society and technical experts in all its work, as well as a growing network of international and national experts.

More information can be found on www.wfd.org.