Director of Programmes at LEAP Africa

Role: Executive Level
Employment Type: Full-time

Core Duties and Responsibilities
Leadership and Strategy:

• Report to and work closely with the Executive Director and LEAP Board of Directors in developing and implementing organizational Programme strategy. Lead the programmatic direction of the organization working with the leadership team.
• Support the leadership team in implementation and creation and monitoring of LEAP’s Strategy.
• Support the leadership team in Organisational Capacity Development.
• Oversee all programme activities in the organization in line with LEAP’s strategic pillars and focus areas to achieve the LEAP bottom lines (People, Impact, Influence and Income)
• Provide strategic direction and oversee all units in the Programmes department (MERL, eLearning, Grants and Partnerships etc) including setting of annual goals and objectives.
• Provide leadership, coaching and mentorship support to the team and ensure development of leadership capacity within teams.

Grants and Partnerships:

• Directly responsible for the creation and implementation of the programmes-related fundraising strategy.
• Cultivate and drive private, public and social sector partnerships that create opportunities for the growth of the organization in alignment with its vision.
• Set and meet the fundraising and partnership annual goals.
• Plan and operationalize robust relationship building and stakeholder management activities with partners and stakeholder; maintain relationships with decision makers at the executive and management levels.
• Oversee all grants, partnership and business development activities in the organization.

Programme Management:

• Oversee all programme design and delivery activities including programme and project conceptualization, curriculum development and updates, and the creation of development-focused products and services (digital/eLearning products and services) for LEAP’s target beneficiaries.
• Drive continuous improvement within the Programmes department; periodic analysis of internal programme processes, policies, procedures and standards.
• Oversee and ensure the successful implementation of LEAP annual conferences, flagship programmes and other high impact projects across Africa.
• Oversee and provide support and supervision for all programmatic materials relevant for policy advocacy and other research activities .
• Manage special strategic projects that will drive growth for the organization.
• Champion thought leadership, advocacy policy design and development activities.
• Oversee Knowledge Management process, system and practices.
• Overseeing all the programme related processes and activities involved in the delivery of the LEAP institute.

Budget Management and Monitoring:

• In liaison with the Finance department , undertake periodic budget monitoring and variance analysis with all program managers and coordinators in reviewing and tracking spending to adhere to the annual budget.
• Support program managers to plan and undertake corrective management actions arising from budget monitoring reports.
• Approve program related requests for imprest and reconciliation in line with organisation financial management procedures.

People Management:

• Support the development and execution of the organization’s people strategy; Build and maintain its culture of Respect, Integrity, Synergy and Excellence (RISE).
• Managing a geographically distributed team in the programmes unit to ensure seamless collaboration and culture alignment.
• Support the learning and development annual goals and aspirations of teams.
• Contribute to the strategic formulation and implementation of the ‘People’ Pillar in LEAP’s bottom-line. Coaching, mentoring and guiding of the programme's team members towards their growth and development and the successful completion of tasks, projects and programmes.

Requirements
The required candidate should possess the following

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in Business administration, Social sciences
• At least 7 - 8 years of relevant experience as a skilled professional in Programme design and delivery, fundraising and at least 3 years experience managing teams.
• High performer with demonstrated success in Leadership and Strategy, Grants and Partnership, Programme and People Management.
• Ability to conduct stakeholder analysis and reports to strengthen partnerships and leveraging on resources.
• Demonstrated experience leading teams and businesses
• Ability to transition projects to scale with a high degree of permanence of impact
• High level of creativity, interpersonal skills, problem solving skills , negotiation skill, sound judgement and strong work ethics.
• Willing to travel both locally and internationally.
• Proficient in the use of MS office suites, google suite, data entry and analysis skills
• Strategic thinker with ability to think holistically about the organization’s mission and bottom lines.
• Excellent communication and speaking skills, an influencer with ability to deliver presentations at major industry events.
• Key eye for details and insights.
• Very strong proposal and grant writing skills.
• Aligned in thought and actions with LEAP ‘s values ( RISE - Respect, Integrity, Synergy and Excellence).

Key Competencies required to succeed in this role:

• Program and project management Skills
• Organisational Skills
• Strategic Expertise Skills
• Stakeholder Management Skills
• Budget Management Skills.
• Training Facilitation Skills
• Coaching Skills
• Impact Measurement Skills
• Networking Skills
• Risk Management Skills
• Conflict Management Skills
• Change Management Skills
• Fundraising Skills
• High Negotiation Skills
• Financial Management Skills.

Remuneration
Competitive.