Director of Programmes & Partnerships at LEAP Africa

• The Director of Programmes provides strategic and operational leadership for LEAP Africa's entire programmes portfolio, spanning Programmes, MERL, Grants & Partnerships, and Special Projects. The role holder translates LEAP Africa's mission into a coherent, fundable, and measurable programme strategy, driving the organisation's bottom lines of People, Impact, Influence, and Income, while building strong donor and partner relationships and cultivating a high-performing, values-led team.
• The ideal candidate is a strategic, visionary, and results-oriented leader with strong experience in programme development, management, partnerships, and team leadership. He/She should possess a deep understanding of youth development, social impact, and the broader development ecosystem, with the ability to translate organisational strategy into impactful and sustainable programmes. The Director of Programmes will work closely with the Executive Leadership Team and cross-functional teams to drive programme excellence, strengthen strategic partnerships, ensure effective resource mobilisation and utilisation, and deliver measurable outcomes and lasting impact for young people and communities.

CORE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership & Strategy

• Partner with the Executive Director and Board of Directors to develop and implement LEAP Africa's Programme strategy, providing overall strategic direction to the Programmes department (Programmes, MERL, Grants & Partnerships, Special Projects).
• Set annual departmental goals and oversee all programme activity in line with LEAP Africa's strategic pillars, driving the organisation's bottom lines: People, Impact, Influence, and Income.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and mentorship to build leadership capacity across programme teams.

Grants & Partnerships

• Own the programme-related fundraising strategy end-to-end, setting and delivering annual fundraising and partnership goals.
• Cultivate and manage high-value partnerships across the private, public, and social sectors, maintaining relationships with executive-level stakeholders.
• Track, report, and ensure full compliance on the performance of all grants and donations.

Programme Management & Impact

• Oversee the full programme lifecycle, conceptualisation, design, curriculum development, and digital/e-Learning delivery of programmes, for all LEAP Africa target beneficiaries.
• Lead the successful delivery of flagship programmes, annual conferences, and high-impact projects, and support to drive LEAP Africa's continued expansion across Africa. The role would also support the implementation of strong Impact Measurements, robust data analysis and production of impact reports, sustainability reports and knowledge products annually. 
• Champion thought leadership, policy advocacy, and knowledge management, and direct all impact measurement and reporting.

Budget Management

• Partner with Finance to monitor budgets, track variance, and ensure sound financial reporting across every programme.
• Approve programme-related financial requests in line with organisational policy, and support corrective action where budgets are off track.

People Management

• Lead a geographically distributed, diverse team, embedding LEAP Africa's ARIISE culture across the programmes department.
• Drive the learning, development, and performance management of all direct reports, ensuring every team member has a documented growth plan.

Other responsibilities

• This role will have oversight of the Programmes Committee on the board of directors and will be responsible for all deliverables as assigned.
• The Director of programmes will also be assigned duties, projects by the Executive Director and the Board as assigned. 
• The role would ensure minimal risk for all executed programmes, project management, data privacy and compliance for all participants.

Behavioural and Leadership Expectations

• Support to provide steady supervision and guidance to the Senior Management Team, Extended Leadership Team, and staff across the organisation.
• Champion LEAP Africa's vision and mission, and model the ARIISE values in every interaction and project delivery.
• Build a culture of trust, collaboration, and accountability, empowering team members at every level.
• Lead change management processes through organisational transitions with clarity and confidence.
• Resolve interpersonal and values-related conflict with fairness and openness, escalating persistent issues to People & Culture.
• Act as a role model of ethical, transparent leadership, holding self and others to a high standard of accountability.
• Foster continuous improvement, welcoming feedback and adapting leadership practice in service of the organisation's goals.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Master's degree in International Development, Social Sciences, Business Administration, or a related field; a first degree with extensive equivalent experience will also be considered.
• A minimum of 13-15 years of progressive leadership experience in the non-profit, international development, or related sector, including at least 8 years in a senior programme leadership role.
• Demonstrated track record of successful fundraising, grant management, and partnership development at significant scale.
• Strong experience leading MERL functions, with the ability to use data to drive programme quality and decision-making.
• Proven people-leadership experience managing distributed, multi-disciplinary teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with experience engaging donors, government, and executive-level partners.
• Genuine passion for youth leadership development and Africa's transformation agenda.
• Aligned in thought and actions with LEAP Africa's values (ARIISE -Audacity, Respect, Integrity, Innovation, Synergy, and Excellence).

Key Competencies & Skills

• Strategic leadership and programme development
• Programme planning, implementation, and evaluation
• Team leadership, coaching, and performance management
• Stakeholder and strategic partnership management
• Resource mobilisation and grant management
• Budget and risk management
• Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL)
• Strong communication, presentation, and negotiation skills
• Research, thought leadership, and advocacy
• Systems thinking and ecosystem building
• Problem-solving and strategic decision-making
• Results-oriented and accountable mindset