Director – Habitability

Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) is a nonprofit housing organization working to empower people in the world’s poorest communities to overcome the chronic lack of decent housing. Our vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We are therefore constantly looking for new solutions that would make adequate housing accessible and affordable for all.

Based on our new Theory of Change we are focusing particularly on the following areas:
Habitability: Refers to the quality and livability of the housing unit. Activities could include new houses, repairs, and incremental improvements.
Basic Services: Refers to the household and community level infrastructure and services that are required to serve basic needs and make a home adequate. Activities could include water, sanitation, hygiene, and energy.
Tenure Security: Refers to the legal and practical ability to claim the right to own, occupy, use, or access a piece of land or property. Activities could include community mobilization, policy change, and title claims.
Affordability: Refers to the resources, primarily financial, necessary for a household to access a quality home, including using market-based services. Activities could include grants, loans, savings, and market development.

HFHI is currently seeking a non-profit leader to join our team as a Director – Habitability. This position provides overall technical leadership on habitability programming and construction methods to Habitat for Humanity entities internationally, as part of our global HQ structure. This covers a wide remit, e.g. from development of strategies and standards through to key external stakeholder engagement through to support for proposals and projects across the full program cycle. The postholder also collaborates closely with peer Subject Matter Experts in other technical areas within the Program Effectiveness team (e.g. climate change, gender and inclusion, urban & WASH).

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

*Technical Leadership & Support
*Develop and lead global strategies, standards, guidelines, tools and capacity building approaches for HFHI’s habitability programming and construction methods.
*Establish, lead and coordinate the efforts of the habitability Community of Practice across the HFH network, including in sharing learning and documenting best practice.
*Provide subject matter expertise across the full program cycle to HFH entities in the areas of habitability and construction methods.
*Assess and report on the scale and quality of work taking place across the Habitat network focused on habitability.

Collaboration & Integration
*Work with Senior Director of Technical Partnerships in the development of strategic partnerships with complementary organizations in addressing challenges related to habitability.
*Develop and present materials together with Communications team that communicate the direction, focus and achievements of HFH’s habitability programs to internal and external audiences.
*Support fundraising teams in their development of funding strategies to support HFHI’s habitability programs.
*Carry out other reasonable duties as requested by supervisor.

Stakeholder Management
*Build and maintain relationships with external partners and experts in the habitability and construction sector; ensuring that *HFH’s programs align with sector norms and standards.
*Represent HFHI at key relevant events related to habitability, coordinating planning and sharing lessons from HFHI programming and partnerships.

*Pursuant to current HFHI policy, this position requires full vaccination against COVID-19, except to the extent such requirement is prohibited by applicable law.

DEADLINE: Closing date for applications is October 16th.

ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:
* Master’s degree in development studies, engineering, international relations or other relevant discipline (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
* A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in provision of program technical expertise in the international development sector, including at least 5 years’ experience focusing specifically upon habitability and construction methods.
* Construction quality and management education and experience.
*Experience working internationally on habitability programming for an international non-profit or similar organization.
*Demonstrated understanding of program quality standards and management best practices in international development.
*Strong interpersonal and influencing skills and the ability to provide effective technical leadership and support to a complex federated organization globally, without direct line management authority.
*Deep understanding of complex dynamics of climate change and poverty, including in relation to informal settlements.
*Well organized and able to lead, coordinate and engage effectively with multiple processes simultaneously.
*Experience in proposal development and project design.
*Experience in program management.
*Excellent research, writing and communication skills.
*Experience in advocacy and in policy development and influencing.
*Advanced skills with MS Office and online collaboration IT programs.
*Fluency in English.
*Experience in Monitoring and Evaluation processes preferred.
*Active support of HFHI Values:
– Humility – We are part of something bigger than ourselves
– Courage – We do what’s right, even when it is difficult or unpopular
– Accountability – We take personal responsibility for Habitat’s mission
– Safeguarding: HFHI requires that all employees take seriously their ethical responsibilities to safeguarding our intended beneficiaries, their communities, and all those with whom we work. Managers at all levels have responsibilities to support and develop systems that create and maintain an environment that prevents harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse, safeguards the rights of beneficiaries and community members (especially children), and promotes the implementation of Habitat for Humanity’s code of conduct.