Regional Director, Africa & Global Political And Programme Strategy

ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice.

We want to see a just, fair and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression.

So we work to achieve social justice and gender equality, and to eradicate poverty.

Our strategy is to build international momentum for social, economic and environmental justice, driven by people living in poverty and exclusion.

In practice, this means working closely with people living in poverty and exclusion, civil society organisations, social movements and supporters. Together, we deliver grassroots programmes, provide emergency relief and campaign for things such as women’s economic rights, tax justice and climate justice.

Our work falls into four broad areas: women, politics and economics, land and climate, and emergencies. We have a particular focus on women’s rights; it’s a thread that runs through all our work.

Role overview

Action Aid International (AAI) has been going through a period of organisational transformation resulting in a newly defined Global Secretariat (GS) Leadership Team reporting directly to the AAI Secretary General.

This position will hold a dual regional (Africa) and global functional (Political and Programme Strategy) role.

It is a very strategic role essential for the success of ActionAid’s Global Strategy. The role will be part of a Global Management Team that provides leadership to achieve internal coherence and external impact.

The Regional Director’s remit will entail providing political leadership at regional and global level, convening and mobilising countries to engage in collective priorities of the federation, both with internal and externally facing mission work. The Regional Director will also directly line manage a regional team including the Head of Country Engagement and Transformation as well as matrix oversee critical change roles based at regional level that aim at transforming countries for national, regional and global impact.

The Director will harness the capacities and energy of both the regional and dual functional teams to jointly drive transformation of country impact and sustainability, in collaboration with other GS teams.

For the dual functional role, the Africa Regional Director will ensure a coherent global political and programme strategy that is successfully funded. The role works closely with the Director of Public Engagement and Supporter Growth to drive the Federation’s collective external impact and income by better integrating policy, advocacy, campaigning, comms, and public engagement into a single rooted strategy connecting local, regional and global levels. The role will also contribute to increasing ActionAid’s presence in key global advocacy and influencing spaces that correspond to the key issues championed by AA.

Key Activities and Areas of Responsibility

Strategic Impact and Contribution

• Lead and coordinate the broad political strategy of the Federation, working closely with other Directors and the global management team.
• Lead the organisation’s institutional funding strategy and drives its effective implementation, acting as AAI’s leading internal advocate and champion for institutional funding.
• Together with other regional directors, effectively engage Country Directors to coordinate external influencing work of the Federation and guarantee the necessary collective and impactful action.
• Works closely with other Directors and the wider Global Management Team to oversee and drive an integrated cross-functional strategic plan for increasing the transformation, sustainability and impact of AAI countries across all regions. Plays an important political convening role with Country Directors in the region to deliver country transformation and financial sustainability goals.
• Builds unity, trust and ensures active and meaningful engagement of members and countries in the region in federation processes

System, Policies and Procedures and Product Management

• Works closely with the Director of Public Engagement and Supporter Growth to design and implement new approaches to global influencing work in the Federation by better integrating policy, advocacy, campaigning, comms, and public engagement into a single rooted strategy connecting local, regional and global level.
• Ensures timely development of positions on policy issues and debates relevant to AAI’s mission goals and campaigning and advocacy work. Oversees quality and relevance of GS research products according to the Feminist Research Principles.
• Oversees development and implementation of a global institutional funding strategy (including investments), and operational change management plan, linked to overall long-term finance and funding strategy and targets and more closely integrated with Country Model Review planning/country transformation objectives.
• Oversees development and improvement of Federation policies, systems and ways of working on restricted donor funding grants and compliance requirements, and champions their adoption by all countries.
• Promotes adherence to all Federation core policies by countries in the region and champions understanding and ownership of these policies as a key ingredient of country sustainability and impact.

Issue Resolutions, Crisis/Risk Management

• Working with regional team and other directors, provide the essential leadership to detect and resolve tensions and manage crisis at country and regional level that impact ActionAid’s mission.
• In collaboration with other regional and functional directors, ensure a constructive balancing of power within the Federation and ensure that ActionAid walks the talk on Feminism, decolonialisation and anti-racism
• Manage and creatively resolve tensions within the GS and Federation around influencing priorities, positions and approach, as well as key fundraising policies, working closely with the Director responsible for Public Engagement and Supporter Growth and/or Director of People, Finance and Operations as needed.

Communications, Influencing and Coordination

External:

• Represents ActionAid in international policy spaces and key external engagements, including strategic donor engagements. Works closely with Director responsible for Public Engagement and Supporter Growth to ensure that AA policy and programme products are timely and relevant for external audiences and media.

Internal:

• Contribute to enhancing the regional and international profile of AAI in the key areas of our work as an organisation
• Ensures the unity and cohesiveness of the Federation in the region and works with other regional directors to strengthen the federation’s internal coherence and external impact

People Management

• Build and nurture a highly motivated team that fully realizes their potential to contribute to ActionAid’s mission.
• Specifically responsible for recruiting, developing, coaching and performance managing high-performing Heads.
• In collaboration with the primary reporting managers, support the regional team members that have matrixing reporting obligations to the Regional Director to succeed.
• Deliberately work to break silos and foster cross-functional ways of working that harness the collective potential of different teams within the cluster and across regions.
• Models and nurtures a feminist and anti-racist leadership culture within own cluster and whole of GS, with consistent and dedicated attention to building trust; dismantling bias and promoting equity, diversity and inclusion; promoting effective and accountable collaboration; encouraging courageous innovation; and caring for self for others.

Person Specification

Education and Qualifications

• Masters degree in relevant field.
• Other relevant post-graduate trainings

Essential Experience

• 15 or more years’ experience in senior leadership role in a global non-profit organisation, including significant experience in international leadership roles, preferably in the development, social justice or environmental justice sectors.
• Experience managing large multi-country, cross-cultural teams (including substantial remote management) and budgets of at least £2m annually.
• Experience with and networks for engaging with relevant regional decision-making bodies, donors and civil society movements in the African context
• Experience in working with Boards
• Experience in leading programme, influencing and institutional funding portfolios globally
• Basic financial literacy and general management experience of the financial, HR, fundraising, compliance and other dimensions of non-profit organisational sustainability and effectiveness.

Essential knowledge

• Deep understanding of intersectional gender, economic and environmental justice struggles globally and in the region. Understanding of and passion for ActionAid’s theory of change that poverty and injustice can only be overcome by strengthening the individual agency and collective power of oppressed groups to win systemic change.
• Deep understanding of how rights-based community programming and national, regional and global influencing contribute to strengthening agency and collective power for system change.
• Understanding of the use of MEL as a strategic tool to drive greater impact, and familiarity with new trends in the field.

Essential Skills

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to inspire and motivate staff and partners across the Federation.
• Proven skills in multi-stakeholder management and crisis resolution.
• Skilled in driving clear, measurable objectives and key results, including in cross-departmental and cross-functional settings.
• Feminist leadership skills and attributes, including self-awareness, a positive growth mindset, ambitious drive for collective results, excellent collaboration and team-building skills, self-care and caring for others, and strong commitment to dismantling bias and promoting equity and inclusion.
• A “big picture” thinker and leader with the ability to build consensus around and drive organisation-wide vision and goals, overcoming functional and regional silos.

Language Requirement

• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Working knowledge of French is an added advantage

Action Aid Culture, Values and Feminist Leadership

It is part of every staff member’s responsibility to contribute to ActionAid International culture and comply with organisation’s values and practice, which are:

• Leading Innovation and Change: Establish a culture of excellence in respective team that values experimentation and continuous improvement
• Feminist Leadership: Championing feminist leadership principles and values including commitment to diversity and inclusion (race, gender, power)
  • Click on the following link to access Top-Ten-Basics-of-Feminist-Leadership—one-pager
• AAI Values Practice: Ensure personal and team culture that demonstrates all of AAI values including: Mutual Respect, Equity and Justice, Integrity, Solidarity with People Living in Poverty and Exclusion, Courage of Conviction, Independence and Humility

Appointment details

Location: Africa- ActionAid Global Secretariat (GS) Hubs

Contract Type: Permanent

Direct Reports: Africa Head of Country Engagement and Transformation, Head of Institutional Funding, Head of Programme and Influencing, Executive Coordinator, Country Directors for CPs.

Matrix Reports: Finance Advisors x2, HR and Change Management Advisor, CMR Advisor