Fred Hollows Foundation | Country Director – Kenya | Nairobi Kenya

About Fred Hollows Foundation

The Fred Hollows Foundation is an international development organization with a clear purpose: to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, has access to high-quality, affordable eye care. We have worked in some of the world’s most remote and under-served communities for more than 30 years.

We are an independent, politically unaligned and secular not-for-profit organisation. Together with our partners, we work in more than 25 countries to strengthen health systems by training local eye doctors, nurses and health workers. We also provide equipment, fund research and support advocacy to improve eye health.

The Foundation continues the work of the late Professor Fred Hollows, an acclaimed Australian eye surgeon whose vision was to end avoidable blindness. Fred was more than just an eye surgeon – he was a humanitarian who championed the right of all people to good health and high-quality, affordable eye care. He worked tirelessly to teach, support and empower people to help themselves in some of the world’s most underprivileged communities, including Eritrea.

The Foundation carries on Fred’s legacy and has restored sight to more than 3 million people worldwide since 1992. We’re building a movement of supporters who believe in Fred’s vision of a world in which no person is blind or vision impaired when they shouldn’t have to be. With help from our generous supporters, we are raising funds to end avoidable blindness and transform people’s lives in places like Kenya, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Cambodia.

To learn more, visit hollows.org.

History of the Kenya Program

When The Foundation began working in Kenya, we supported a single provincial hospital to establish an eye unit and scale up eye health services in the Nakuru district. This hospital had a catchment of just over 1 million people, and in our first year of activity, we supported a Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness, delivered significant infrastructure development and equipment, and enabled around 300 people to receive cataract surgeries. Sixteen years later, the Kenya program has reached a population of approximately 18 million people, and in 2019 alone, we enabled 12,778 cataract surgeries and 20,335 other sight-saving operations. The Foundation has also supported the Kenyan government to make significant progress towards the elimination of trachoma and has partnered with a consortium of other non-government organisations (NGOs) to ensure children have access to the eye care they need.

Since 2004, The Foundation has not only expanded our geographical reach in Kenya but has also evolved and matured our programming over time, aligned to the country’s needs and development context. We have transitioned our work through several approaches to programming, moving from supporting and subsidising treatments, training, and equipment to a focus on strengthening key health systems pillars at both national and county levels. From 2019 onwards, The Foundation began repositioning our cataract work to align with government priorities by increasingly working within existing health financing mechanisms to drive increased productivity, strengthen health systems and improve the quality of cataract services. Today, The Fred Hollows Foundation is one of the most influential organisations in the eye health sector in Kenya, having built productive and trusted partnerships with both government and other NGOs, which enable our success.

To learn more about Kenya, Fred Hollows Foundation, please visit hollows.org

KENYA – 2020-2025 STRATEGY

OUR PRINCIPLES:

• Our Vision: A world in which no person is needlessly blind or vision impaired.
• Our Purpose: We are determined to deliver Fred Hollow’s vision of preventing blindness and restoring sight. We work in Kenya to make eye health an integral part of Universal Health Coverage so no one is left behind. Our priority is to advocate and work with governments, rural communities, and relevant NGO partners to ensure all people, particularly the poor and the vulnerable, can access necessary quality eye health services. We do this through a health system-strengthening approach that ensures the sustainability of our programs.
• Our Values: Integrity, Collaboration, Empowerment & Action

OUR GOALS

• Effective cataract treatment is accessible to all in Kenya
• Trachoma is eliminated in Kenya

OUR OBJECTIVES

• Advance eye health inclusive UHC
• Improve eye health outcomes by strengthening quality in cataract and trachoma services
• Strengthen the enabling environment for the provision of comprehensive eye health services
• Contribute to the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in the Counties where we work in Kenya

OUR INITIATIVES

• Strengthening and expanding equitable access to Integrated People-Centred Eye Care
• Supporting improved systems and policies to improve clinical and service quality
• Strengthening eye health integration, coordination, leadership and governance
• Improving eye health data collection, use and planning
• Extending equitable coverage and financial protection, leveraging domestic financing
• Improving clinical quality and coverage by strengthening the eye health workforce
• Improving systems for planning, procurement, distribution and management of eye health commodities and medicines
• Kenya Trachoma Elimination Initiative

About the Role

The Kenya Country Director role is a dual role with both Country and Cluster leadership accountabilities. Foremost, this position is accountable for leading and managing the Kenya Country Program, under the direction of the Kenya Board and Executive Leadership, with responsibility for setting the direction and leading the delivery of Kenya Country Strategy, plans and budget in alignment with The Foundation’s strategy, operating model, values and culture. Secondly, this role encompasses the Cluster Director responsibility, which provides oversight and support to the other East Africa country programs within the Cluster, currently Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda, although these are subject to change and evolve over time.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Country Leadership

• Role model, to the highest standards, The Foundation’s culture, values, leadership standards, policies, and procedures.
• Provide inspiring strategic leadership to the Kenya Program Cluster and ensure that The Foundation’s profile and reputation with stakeholders are strong and reflect organizational vision, values, culture, policies and procedures.
• Provide, mentorship, coaching and actively manage the performance of the Kenya Country Program Senior Leadership Team.
• Be accountable for all aspects of running a successful Country Program, delivering great business performance and leading and motivating a team that provides the best customer experience in the Kenya County Program.
• Be responsible for ensuring the effective planning, design, implementation, reporting, expansion/development, administration and management of the Kenya Country Program in collaboration with the Kenya Senior Leadership Team and global support teams.
• Ensure the development and submission of a high-quality annual budget process for the Kenya Country Program and ensure direct reports produce timely and accurate forecasts and expenditure spend and reporting.
• Ensure the attraction**, development and retention of staff with the capabilities required** to achieve the Kenya Country Program plans and budgets in a compliant and sustainable way.
• Seek and develop new funding relationships and then leverage those relationships to collaborate with the FHF fundraising technical teams to write and submit successful grant proposals and contract bids.
• Promote and foster an environment in which proactive thinking and creativity are encouraged and rewarded.
• Provide mentorship, coaching and actively manage the performance of the Country Managers and Country Program Managers in the Kenya Cluster.

Cluster Leadership

• Take ownership for resolving complex problems, working with the Kenya Cluster Senior Leadership Team and The Foundation’s global leaders as required.
• Support the development and execution of high-quality Country Plans within the Kenya Cluster relevant to the local context and reflecting the global priorities, demonstrating progress in achieving the set measures/objectives.
• Provide leadership for efficient change management of transformative initiatives in the Kenya Cluster to enable continuous improvement evolution of systems and processes.
• Ensure and direct the development of regular and timely programmatic updates across Kenya Cluster to ensure cross-pollination of ideas, knowledge-building, and resource sharing. This includes helping to develop knowledge sharing forums and supporting processes.
• Engage in local and regional level relationship building to increase The Foundation’s visibility and ensure strategic programmatic and organizational growth.
• Participate in initiatives to increase The Foundation’s visibility and enhance new and existing business opportunities within the Kenya Cluster and across The Foundation.
• Other duties as required by your manager.

Governance & Executive Collaboration

• Ensure the Programs Executive Director, the Executive Leadership Team and the Board is provided with relevant, timely and accurate information as required to enable effective governance of the Kenyan entity, as well as support The Foundation’s CEO’s relationship with the Kenya Board.
• Contribute to Programs Directors meetings and other meetings as required to ensure appropriate programmatic decisions are made.
• Participate in initiatives to increase The Foundation’s visibility and enhance new and existing business opportunities within the Kenya Cluster and across The Foundation and support the development of partnerships for fundraising and resource mobilization to support the work of the Kenya Clusters and The Foundation.
• Support advocacy initiatives, develop and strengthen strategic partnerships & linkages to support and increase the reach and impact of The Foundation’s work within the Kenya Cluster.
• Understand your Kenya Cluster stakeholders and identify opportunities to build and grow effective relationships.
• Monitor, evaluate and improve the performance and ongoing operations of The Foundation in a way that fosters transparency, empowerment, and accountability at all levels.
• Other duties as required by the Kenyan Board.

OUR CAPABILITIES:

As a member of the Foundation Family you will:

• Constructively contribute and collaborate with all colleagues.
• Demonstrable levels of technical support to both FHF staff and partners.
• Demonstrate compliance with all legislation and The Foundation’s policies and procedures.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE:

• Extensive experience working nationally and internationally while understanding the political contexts that shape impactful programming
• Substantial experience managing multi-disciplinary global teams.
• Specialized knowledge of technical areas relevant to The Foundation.
• Experience working with Boards and a demonstrated capacity to build effective relationships with Directors and Executives
• Extensive experience managing complex programs in the health or development sector; ideally with some exposure to eye health programming and managing country programming.
• Proven forward-thinking and dynamic leadership – this includes having excellent analytical, interpersonal, and organizational skills with the ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams/working groups and effectively influence/engage at the Board and Executive levels, including exceptional people management skills.

Skills:

• Strong relationships throughout the public health field and across other sectors on the regional and national levels
• Strong public speaking and presentation skills, as well as discretion, sound judgment, and political acumen.
• Cognitive skills – be perceptive, intelligent, and quick to understand more conceptually demanding ideas; be able to reason through problems and demonstrate their ability to introduce improved and innovative ways of doing things.
• Persuasion/Negotiation – win concessions without damaging relationships; convince others of your point of view; listen to and assimilate information from others to identify their needs; identify and assess a range of possible options; be direct and clear as well as diplomatic and collaborative; present information in a manner appropriate to purpose and audience.
• Interpersonal skills – highly effective interpersonal and communication skills with an open, direct, and diplomatic approach and the ability to create and foster collaborative and productive relationships with internal stakeholders and external organisations.
• Change management – ability to understand what change is needed and then to guide change that is required to transform the delivery of the Program functions and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of The Foundation.
• Political/social awareness – understand and use the power relationships that impact on the role and understand the limitations and nature of the environment, including an understanding of interest groups and informal structures.
• Strategic thinking – understand the current and future challenges within the health sector in preparation for future strategies and be able to identify or develop overall goals and see the linking strategies and actions required to achieve these goals. Ability to be flexible in the face of changing priorities.

The position involves:

• This position is recognised as having “Contact with Children” either direct or indirect.
• This position does involve “Working with Children” either direct or indirect.
• This position does involve working with beneficiaries, donors and/or partners.

Additional Responsibility:

• Ensure that the work for which they are responsible is carried out in ways which safeguard the health and safety of workers.

Travel: International/Domestic required

Terms of Appointment

Full-time, permanent with flexible work arrangement

Role Location

Nairobi, Kenya