Country Director, DRC

JOB DESCRIPTION

Purpose

The Country Director is the official representative and leader of Women for Women International in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Country Director shapes the vision and strategy for the County Office, providing high-level oversight over all areas of program implementation and operations. They will have demonstrated the ability to build the capacity and counsel Country Office employees and manage team members. S/he will need to have a solid commitment to women's empowerment, experience delivering gendered transformative development programming, excellent leadership and management skills, the ability to communicate effectively, both in writing and orally, and to operate successfully in unstable and challenging environments.
As the Country Director, you will be responsible for delivering results and driving programmatic excellence, growing the program, and implementing best practices at scale. By providing high-quality services, your work will directly contribute to and make a sustainable impact on the lives of thousands of women every year. The Country Director is a key leadership position responsible for the overall strategy, management (programmatic and operational), and development of WfWI DRC programs.

You will lead a skilled and professional country program team directly delivering gender transformative development interventions. This includes a 12-month holistic gendered graduation program, work with Change Agents to engage men as allies, networking of graduates, and innovative projects designed to deepen the impact of our program for women. The team you lead is responsible for monitoring and evaluating impact and leading the Country Office and the rest of the organization in learning from that data and corresponding program improvements.

As the official representative and leader for WfWI in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Country Director will represent the organizational advocacy and programmatic priorities to donors and partners. S/he will lead WfWI's reputation as a competent organization by developing and fostering new partnerships and local funding opportunities, cultivating and maintaining close, productive relationships with strategic partners, and continually identifying opportunities for WfWI to add value and maximize impacts.

You will lead the team to deliver on a 2025 and beyond strategy by preparing appropriate operational plans with annual budgets and work plans each year. With support from other team members, you will be responsible for developing new business opportunities and managing and filling a funding pipeline. You will be responsible for raising and managing sufficient resources to deliver on partnership goals that enable the organization to scale up in line with our strategy. You will lead external relations with government, civil society, and donor agencies, oversee financial, administrative, and logistical resources, ensure adherence to WfWI minimum standards and donor compliance, and ensure good governance. The position is accountable for WfWI's duty of care to participants and staff, and you will assure quality operations in line with annual and long-term strategic goals and objectives. You will be a role model for leading and continuing to build a robust organizational culture embodying WfWI values. As the Country Director, you will manage for results, valuing and rewarding high performance, accountability, speed and efficiency, and innovation while keeping our program participants at the heart of everything you do.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Engagement

Fundraising and Representation

• Oversee the drafting of quality funding proposals and ensure accountable grant management aligned with organizational and donor requirements.
• Develop fundraising opportunities and cultivate new donor relationships; ensure visibility of the WfWI DRC program regionally and internationally.
• Lead donor mapping, develop and deliver fundraising strategy and targets for the country office.
• Develop and maintain good working relationships with local and international partners, donors, grantees, relevant government agencies, and community leaders.
• Lead and represent the organization to external audiences and stakeholders.
• Identify and develop strategic partnerships with local women's organizations in DRC to jointly develop program proposals and engage in collective advocacy work.
• Raise and manage sufficient resources to deliver partnerships that will help WfWI scale up in DRC and the region in line with the current strategic plan.
• Develop brand and reputation among foreign and national governments, partners, donors, and other stakeholders, develop and maintain productive relationships and be the WfWI's representative and spokesperson to all publics, including local and international media/ audience.
• Work with staff and partners to ensure programs and funding opportunities are identified, designed with appropriate assessment and context analysis, and aligned with the strategy.

Programmatic Strategic Leadership and Development

• Lead the development and implementation of WfWI national strategy for DRC in line with the organization's ten-year adaptive strategy
• Realize synergies and promote strategic integration and country partnership and influencing priorities
• Cultivate and manage high-level relationships with global and technical stakeholders able to contribute resources, expertise, and political capital to WfWI's programmatic work.
• Represent WfWI's programming in strategic collaborations with other departments at the global level or across country offices.
• Identify interventions that require additional monitoring and evaluation and inspire the program team to analyze the program process and impact through surveys, qualitative research, and other mechanisms.
• Work closely with the senior managers in all aspects of programming to ensure efficiency and accountability and to develop innovative programmatic approaches to help marginalized women improve their lives.
• In addition to the national-level responsibilities outlined above, the DRC Country Director currently serves as a member of the global WfWI Leadership Team and is expected to contribute to shaping actively and representing the organization globally.
• This role is also a member of additional layers of leadership in the organization, including the Country Directors meetings, the Global Leadership Team, etc., where (s)he is expected to be a thought leader,

helping to shape the organization.

People, Capability and Culture Management

• Lead recruitment of new staff according to programmatic and operations needs to grow a highly effective and capable team to pursue WfWI's strategic vision in DRC.
• Mentor staff and ensure that all managers implement performance appraisal systems properly and impartially.
• Support matrix managed staff and input into the ongoing development of objectives, reviews, feedback, etc
• Co-create clear objectives and development plans for direct reports and engage in regular and constructive performance conversations.
• Actively build and maintain systems that allow for the growth and development of all staff.
• Uphold and promote the values of WfWI and the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct concerning our values, DEI and  Code of Conduct, including the safeguarding policies against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.
• Actively act as a role model for a 'learning organization' culture by seeking insights and using problems as opportunities to learn.

Delivery

Programmatic Strategic Leadership and Development

• Provide strategic and management oversight to design the successful implementation of all programs offered by WfWI, including community identification/assessments, delivery of the Stronger Women Stronger Nations Program, including rights and life skills training, cash transfers, and business and vocational skills training; complementary programming including the Change Agent and Men's Engagement Program and work with graduates.
• Provide strategic and management oversight of grant-funded projects that can include new areas of work that can deepen the impact of WfWI for the participants or graduates of our program, targeted interventions for non-participants in the broader communities where we work, etc.
• Ensure grant implementation is excellent and grant reporting is complete and on time, setting WfWI up for successful new grant funding.
• Define areas of geographic priority for WfWI in-country, assessing based on need, route to money, opportunities for partnership, etc.
• Ensure that data collection, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting on any aspect of the program is conducted on time and in line with WfWI and donor policies, procedures, and grant agreements.
• Translate program ideas into proposals, complete with budget and log frames, in collaboration with our fundraising team in the US, UK and German offices.
• Monitor the performance of grantees/ sub-grantees receiving funds from WfWI in DRC to ensure compliance with grant arrangements and programmatic best practices and principles.
• Participate in strategy development for the organization, and lead the country office strategy processes within the broader global framework.

Accountability and Quality

• Be accountable for ensuring that programs comply with the organizational quality and accountability commitments.
• Continuously monitor and develop relevant accountability initiatives and strengthen the efforts to document the impacts of WfWI in DRC.

• Provide leadership in the development or change management of transformative initiatives in the country to enable the continuous evolution of programs and their delivery models.

Financial and Operational management

• Responsible for developing, managing, and overseeing DRC Office's annual program budgets, collaborating with program staff, and ensuring the country program budgets' robust financial management and accountability.
• Ensure WfWI DRC office teams across programmatic, administrative, and technical functions operate at an exceptional performance standard, achieving maximum impact while delivering programs.
• Establish and maintain the systems and processes necessary to ensure compliance and value for money while creating an entrepreneurial environment that drives toward action, fosters creative problem-solving, and provides accountability for results.
• Develop and administer annual country operational plans and budgets for all operations and grants.
• Ensure effective grant management, budget utilization, and fulfillment of annual targets.
• Strengthen the financial sustainability of programs and operations through effective and efficient resource development efforts, outstanding healthy financial ratios, and adequate budget administration.

Risk management, compliance, security, and safeguarding

• Responsible for ensuring proper safety and security measures to safeguard staff, participants, visitors, and assets.
• Oversee compliance with statutory regulations related to WfWI's operations in the country.
• Ensure proper and transparent management of resources and reporting systems are established in the country per the policy and procedures and all regulatory requirements of the non for profit, host country governments, and donor's policy.
• Ensure all WfWI staff demonstrates individual and collective responsibilities for safety and security in coordination with security staff.
• Drive, develop, and ensure the adaption, integration, and learning around key areas, including safeguarding, gender equity, diversity, monitoring, and evaluation framework, and regularly updated risk management registrar.
• Establish a safeguarding culture across all program levels by implementing the safeguarding policy. Act as a key source of support, guidance, and expertise in safeguarding for establishing a safe working environment.
• Ensure the country office complies with all organizational policies, procedures, program guidelines, and local laws.

Others
* Adhere to WfWI’s Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Policies and report concerns to the organizational values of Empowerment, Integrity, Respect, and Resilience.

Skills and Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 - 15 years of work experience, ideally in the INGO/NGO sector, at least 5 years at the managerial level.
• Master's Degree or equivalent post-graduate qualification in a relevant field (or  15+ years of relevant work experience in lieu of the advanced degree)
• Experience in Gender work or related field
• Excellent leadership and management skills
• Ability to think strategically, conceptualize new ideas, digest and analyze complex information, and present coherent work plan or implementation plan
• Proven experience in leadership roles with a track record of strategy development, advocacy, and delivering effective programs.
• Significant experience working in a greater level of responsibility in an international development organization focused on transformative gendered development.
• Proven ability to build and cultivate influential networks of and develop strategic partnerships with diverse stakeholders and ability to raise and manage grants.
• Inspiring and motivational advocate for women's empowerment programming is a decisive advantage.

• Ability to pragmatically solve problems and plan a course of action using analytical, conceptual, strategic, and forward-thinking skills to achieve an effective resolution
• Experience working in conflict-affected or refugee contexts is a strong advantage.

• Proven experience managing budgets of at least $5 Million, financial reporting, and grant compliance.
• Experience working with consortiums, partners, and donors such as the UN, FCDO, USAID, EU, Foundations, and Corporates
• Excellent administrative and organizational skills.
• Possess strong interpersonal, communication, and team-building skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and solid judgment with proven attention to detail, accuracy, and quality
• Ability to prioritize tasks and manage time effectively.
• Knowledge of the political, economic, and social context of the Democratic Republic of the Congo  (Eastern DRC in particular)
• Strong computer skills in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, and email applications.
• Fluency in written and spoken English and French is required.

Travel:

The role will require some level of travel as the job demands.

Physical Demands:
It may require bending, lifting, standing, sitting, computer work, etc.

Application Instructions:

We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis, so please apply at your earliest convenience through our career page here: https://www.womenforwomen.org/about-us/careers.

Applications must include a resume/CV and cover letter .

please follow the link below for the submission of your applications

https://careers.womenforwomen.org/en/postings/f9acd9b2-fbcc-4076-bda6-96783f00f2d4

The deadline is March 15, 2023.