REGIONAL DIRECTOR – EASTERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA

CARE is an international NGO with local staff and community partners in more than 90 countries. We create local solutions to poverty and inequality and we seek dignity for everyone every day and during times of crisis. These solutions have a broad range, from clean water to access to education; from microfinance to ensuring that everyone has nutritious food; from agriculture and climate change to disaster response. CARE puts women and girls at the center of everything we do because they have proven to be the best hope for creating lasting change in the world. Our staff live where they work, which makes us effective at understanding the challenges they face. We’ve been doing this for over 70 years, since World War II. It started with the world’s first CARE Package® of food for the post-war hungry in Europe. Our work today is as important as ever, we believe that poverty and inequality are historic injustices that we can end within a generation, for good. If you share our core beliefs: poverty is an injustice; poverty is solvable; and together, we have the power to end it, join us, and fight with CARE.

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Reports to: Vice President, International Programs and Operations

Countries responsible for: Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda

Background

CARE seeks a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live in dignity and security. CARE places a particular emphasis on women and girls, their dignity and empowerment to lead their communities out of poverty. In 2020, CARE worked in 104 countries, reaching 90 million people through more than 1,300 programs, with an annual budget of $650 million. Every single one of those 90 million people has a story of resilience, community, strength, and hope—all things that bind us together, across every corner of the globe.

The Regional Director (RD) for East & Central Africa (ECA) is expected to drive and champion the implementation of the change, build a strong regional team, and ensure coordination and partnership with other CARE regions in Africa (Southern Africa and West Africa), in order to build a coherent approach of the organization on the continent.

A key priority for senior leadership in the ECA region includes ensuring that CARE is strengthening its impact on poverty and injustice as well as tackling gender inequities in a rapidly changing complex region that is experiencing protracted insecurity and politically driven crises, resulting in an increasing number of humanitarian emergencies. In both development and humanitarian programming, the Regional Director will ensure that focus is maintained on how CARE can be most relevant and impactful, by designing, implementing, and measuring the impact of appropriate programs across the region, adapting our operational presence as appropriate to incorporate local voice through partnership and evolving the organization to support its future impact and relevance.

Opportunity

CARE is looking for a talented visionary Regional Director (RD) in East & Central Africa who will lead the region in the pursuit of its vision, influence and inspire, advocate for people we serve at the regional level while identifying and generating new revenue for CARE programs.

The key responsibilities of the Regional Director are:

• Drive Strategy and regional performance: Lead regional team on strategy development and execution, have high-level oversight of key areas of regional performance
• Act on CARE’s vision of Locally Led, Globally Connected network, and ensure alignment of country presence, capacity, and partnerships to the vision
• Represent CARE to all parties and stakeholders, including members of the CARE Confederation, regional decision-making bodies, donors, civil society, and other organizations, and act as a conduit to external networks, alliances, and (women’s) movements to harness the power of new and diverse actors (e.g. philanthropists, the private sector and diaspora)
• Advocate, network, and influence: Mobilize and partner with key stakeholders in the region to influence policymakers and donors and advance relevant humanitarian and development policies.
• Mobilize resources: Identify and cultivate prospective regional multilateral, corporate, foundation, and individual donors, promoting and identifying new and creative resource streams for humanitarian crises response and longer-term development.
• Operational excellence: Ensure the quality and efficiency of programs and management processes at regional and country office levels and ensure that key performance indicators are met.
• Line manage Country Directors, Managing Deputy Regional Director, and Deputy Regional Directors in the region
• Ensure Talent Development and Succession Planning at the senior level in the region.

You

You are passionate about social justice and gender justice and you are deeply concerned about saving lives. You have a deep knowledge of the underlying causes of poverty and social justice in Eastern and Central Africa. You have great leadership skills and lead by example; you have high capacity to problem solve and establish priorities for you and your team. You are excited about driving impact at scale and portfolio growth.

Regional leadership skills. You have at least 10 years’ experience leading change, managing people, budgets and working in international organizations or corporations. 5 years of leadership experience within ECA, with proven ability to navigate a highly complex and matrixed global organization. You have a bachelor’s degree in Social Science or a related international development field. An MPH, MBA, or another relevant post-graduate degree, is highly desired.

Agile Change Champion. You possess the ability to establish, enhance and lead a regional leadership team to provide collective direction and leadership to CARE’s work across the region and to build region-wide ownership and engagement in CARE’s regional and global priorities and directions. You have the ability to develop a shared vision for ECA programs within CARE and, in partnership with country directors and regional colleagues, lead strategic change processes across ECA COs and subregions, including assessing the most appropriate ‘footprint’ for CARE in Eastern & Central Africa, as well as regionally and ‘adapt, adopt, drop’, where and when needed.

Humanitarian leader. You have experience leading humanitarian programs in the region and oversee operational risk and staff safety in fragile, conflict contexts.

Connected and influential – with Business Development & Fundraising skills: You have a good network, and extensive experience in engaging with and influencing leaders in ECA (donors, government authorities, leaders from the private sector and international organizations, etc.). You have extensive experience developing and securing funds for programs and services, from regional and global institutional donors like the ADB, USAID, DFID, private foundations, and philanthropists.

People, Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion: Effectively develop, lead and provide strategic direction to a diverse and inclusive team of leaders across a vast/diverse region. Consistently demonstrate your commitment to gender equality, diversity, equity and inclusion.

Financial management skills/Fiscal Responsibility: You’ve managed budgets of $200 million+/year. You understand the basics of financial oversight and a good understanding of institutional donor compliance.