Ayuda en Acción Foundation is an international organization working in 20 countries leading integral development and humanitarian work, side by side with local partners. Our Mission is to inspire to a world without poverty, exclusion and inequality. A world where people help each other and can develop their capacities, fully enjoy the human rights that correspond to them and participate through democratic channels in the resolutions that affect their lives to be the protagonists of their own development. Ayuda en Acción has been in Uganda for over 20 years and is now in the process of establishing itself stronger, in order to expand impact by creating more partnerships and work projects implemented through partners as well as direct implementation.
Job Summary: The Country and Programs Director will represent the Organization, coordinate the functional areas of the country, plan, manage, develop and implement the strategy and objectives of the country as well as the processes, methodologies, programs, policies and corporate objectives, according to the institutional strategy, strategic lines and objectives approved by the General Management for the country as a whole, to ensure compliance with the strategic plans and objectives of the country in time, quality and budget, business development and financial sustainability of the country.
As Director of Programs, to design and ensure the implementation of the Organization’s strategy in funding, monitoring systems, learning and knowledge management and thematic expertise, in accordance with the corporate strategy, in order to provide the different areas of the Organization with expertise, methodologies and to achieve external funding objectives.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Strategy
- Develop and validate a proposal of strategy and objectives of the country taking into account the institutional strategy, the regional strategy and the corporate priorities and submit it to the validation of Programs (corporate) and to the approval of the General Management; communicate it to the country team and carry out a continuous monitoring of the degree of progress.
- Identify internal or external variables that affect the country strategy, report periodically on the degree of progress, propose corrective measures in case of deviations, to ensure compliance with the strategy and objectives established in all areas of the country and ensure the sustainability of investments in the country.
Objectives and operations.
- Establish, together with the functional area directors in the countries, and validate the budgets, operational plans and specific objectives of all functional areas on the basis of the approved corporate strategy, objectives and budget, and submit them for validation by the functional area directorates (corporate) and approval by the General Management.
- Monitor them, identifying deviations and proposing or approving corrective measures.
- Report the state of progress to the functional area directorates both in its execution and in income and costs.
- Ensure the adequate endowment of resources, means and interrelations between the different areas, to ensure coherence, collaboration, learning and achievement of the objectives set in the different lines of work of the country, the proper implementation of operations and the financial balance of the country.
Business development and institutional representation.
- Represent the Organization before public or private donors, institutions, networks, forums, national, international, governmental, media or other organizations of the sector.
- Identify, create and maintain relations and alliances of high level and impact in the strategy of the program, generate business development opportunities.
- Promote and participate in campaigns and events to raise awareness or funds.
- Identify, design or promote the creation and presentation of innovative and strategic programs before donors or institutions, to ensure the positioning of the Organization in key spaces, create strategic alliances that contribute to the development of the strategy of the country as a whole and guarantee the growth and financial sustainability of the country.
- To represent the Organization in the Alliance2015 network, promoting bilateral collaboration with the different members and guaranteeing that the whole organization knows and participates in the different spaces of the Alliance.
Talent and team development
- Validate the human resources dimension proposal (incorporations, promotions or terminations) of the country proposed by the Country Managements of functional areas, and present it to the General Management for validation.
- Participate in the selection of key positions.
- Identify or approve the internal or external training needs proposed by the Country Managements of functional areas; ensure the dissemination of knowledge and implementation of institutional methodologies or tools; establish and monitor the objectives of his/her direct team and supervise the distribution of the objectives in the rest of the team.
- Accompany his/her direct team in their professional development; conduct performance evaluation; identify key people in certain areas and, if necessary, assign them to national or international cross-cutting projects.
- Approve salary increases according to established institutional criteria
- Ensure the dissemination and implementation of security plans and measures, in order to have adequate human resources and provide the team with opportunities for development and recognition
Institution
- Lead and supervise the performance of the functions and responsibilities of the country team with transparency, integrity, control and quality; to provide timely and accurate internal and external accountability
- To be ultimately responsible for identifying and reporting any violation of the Code of Conduct through established channels; to ensure compliance with all legal obligations of the Organization and its requirements and regulations to ensure the implementation of guidelines, processes, policies, methodologies and corporate values in all areas and to ensure compliance with all legal obligations and internal regulations
Programs Director
- To define, together with the Directorate General, the strategy and objectives at global level and for each region, as well as to provide strategic advice to unit heads and regional desks and to continuously monitor the degree of progress of the Strategy, as well as to report on the state of affairs and corrective measures to the Directorate General.
- Review and approve the budgets, operational plans and objectives of each country presented by the Country Management to the Regional Desk and transfer them, by functional areas, to its direct team for review and validation with the established corporate objectives, as well as follow up and support in the achievement of the same.
- To design a high-level relationship strategy with major donors, networks, forums and national, international and governmental organizations and to promote the creation of major alliances, identify common interests and achieve synergies with strategic partners for the Organization, approving, together with the General Directorate, the ties between funding opportunities and projects presented by the countries.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The applicant must hold University studies and/or proven relevant experience in International Cooperation, Social/Political Sciences and/or related.
- At least 15 years of previous experience working with international cooperation organizations.
- At least 8 years of previous experience working in similar roles.
- Valued: Humanitarian aid, climate change, migration and/or rural development.
- Strong knowledge of development and humanitarian, private sector and landscape in Uganda.
- Proven experience in strategic planning and program design, ideally with experience in donor funded programs.
- Knowledge, practical application and implications of participatory development approaches, tools, monitoring and evaluation tools.
- Demonstrated leadership and management of donor-funded international development projects.
Required Skills:
- Ability to manage and develop high-performance teams
- Inter-institutional and inter-agency coordination capacities
- Capacity to relate to local authorities and other actors involved in the programs
- Analytical capacity and strategic planning
- Ability to structure and manage complex tasks; including experience in work planning and activity budgeting.
- Excellent networking and relationship-building skills.
- Excellent analytical skills.
- Ability to work independently and take initiative while also having strong team building skills.
- Superior writing skills and ability to develop well written, cohesive reports that are responsive to the donor’s needs.
- Excellent computer skills.
- The numerical ability to analyze financial information, budget and monitor costs.
- Ability to work well in a team and cross-organizationally and to establish excellent relationships with colleagues from different functions and cultures.
- Languages requirements: Essential English (high). Excellent communication skills in written and spoken English. Desirable Spanish. Able to communicate the respective local languages are an advantage.
How to Apply:
All candidates should apply online at the link below.