Regional Director, Latin America and the Caribbean

SUPERVISOR Executive Vice President (EVP), Programs

PURPOSE Responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of IYF initiatives in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Region. This includes developing country leadership talent and staff skills, exploring and pursuing strategic opportunities for growth, building institutional relationships, mitigating operational and programmatic risks, and advancing IYF’s reputation for excellence.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Organizational Strategy: Lead the region to develop, promote and deliver innovative, multi-sectoral programs that improve youth employability skills, job placement, the creation/growth of new/existing businesses and social/innovation and civic engagement through a holistic youth development framework consistent with IYF’s strategic plan.
• Program Delivery: Provide strategic direction to ensure the successful implementation of IYF programs in the Region to achieve outputs and outcomes in compliance with donor expectations, award agreements and budgets that are aligned with project work plans. Ensure the highest quality technical assistance and capacity building support is provided to program partners, and that sub-grants and contracts are managed successfully to achieve program results and financial results. Exercise strategic management skills and technical capacity to foresee and troubleshoot risks and eventualities that could compromise institutional performance and deploy timely actions for adequate prevention.
• Business Development: Identify and pursue funding opportunities in partnership with country staff, global technical advisors, business development and other functional teams. Cultivate, develop and deepen relationships with private and public institutional funders supporting programs in the Region, in close coordination with Country Directors and IYF’s Business Development teams. Co-create and refine program designs, and broaden and expand partnerships and IYF’s geographic presence for greater impact. Serve as proposal director or other proposal role when appropriate.
• Program Quality and Operational Excellence: Ensure country offices in the region have rigorous systems and strong technical, financial, and managerial capacities for program delivery. Ensure region generates information on key metrics and has processes in place for continuous leaning and to position IYF as a thought leader in the region. Support the design and dissemination of learning agendas that include regional conferences, publications, and other outreach to maximize interest in programs and the sharing of successful models and lessons learned.
• Representation: Represent IYF to external audiences through conference/panel presentations, working groups, blog postings and other visibility and thought leadership opportunities.
• Supervision: Supervise Country Directors and team leads in non-presence countries. Responsible for mentoring and professional development, including but not limited to ensuring clear understanding of job requirements and obligations, local accountability and ownership of high-quality program delivery and operations, and ongoing performance management. Ensure good collaboration and flow of information across the region and with other IYF departments/units.
• Serve on the Senior Leadership Team providing strategic direction for the organization.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Exceptional leadership, management, supervisory, analytic and representational skills; the ability to identify and establish priorities and attend to all details in a professional manner.
• A collegial management style that emphasizes both achieving results and working with a highly skilled, multi-cultural team of professional colleagues.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English are required. Fluency (both oral and written) in Spanish is required. Proficiency in other regional languages is highly desirable.
• Strong coaching, mentoring, and operational systems/process strengthening skills
• Proven interpersonal skills and presentation skills.
• Deep personal commitment to social and economic development that recognizes youth as critical actors and beneficiaries.
• Excellent computer skills using MS Office products and other software platforms used by IYF.
• Ability to travel internationally as needed.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in the research, design and management of youth development projects, with significant work experience in the LAC region. Knowledge of / experience with programs that support youth employment and social services (e.g. education, health) required.
• A Master’s degree in Economics, Education, Social Sciences or a closely related field is strongly preferred; Bachelor’s degree plus commensurate experience is acceptable.
• Experience working with institutional donors including multi-lateral, bilateral, corporate and foundation actors required.
• Significant experience developing new business from major institutional funders, as well as cross-sector partnerships to support programs, including through grant-making, technical assistance to grantees and engagement of multilateral and bilateral agencies, businesses and foundations.

JOB LEVEL Director

LOCATION Latin America and Caribbean remote based position. (Applicants must have the legal authority to work and reside in the country of hire. IYF will not provide work authorization to individuals applying to this position.)

TO APPLY Please submit your cover letter and CV in English to [email protected].

IYF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are strengthened by the diversity of our colleagues, and we welcome applications from people of all cultures, experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives.