Country Director

Country Director

HKI - Helen Keller International

Yaounde, Cameroon

We are currently seeking a Country Director (CD) in Cameroon to represent Helen Keller, develop new programs, expand our programming and scale, and lead the country office and its programs in a manner that reflects our mission and values and ensures technical excellence in the delivery of all activities.

Functional Relationships

The CD reports directly to the Regional Director, Eastern, Southern & Central Africa, and leads the Country Management Team (CMT). The position directly supervises a team of professional level staff, works closely with colleagues at all levels of Helen Keller’s global management structure and may be called upon to participate in global working groups or steering committees. Helen Keller has a matrixed reporting structure. Regular communication and a spirit of teamwork among colleagues, both hierarchically and laterally are essential to make this structure thrive.

Helen Keller’s programs require close relations with governments, partner universities and NGOs, civil society organizations, private industry, donors, and UN agencies. The CD will represent Helen Keller at relevant external meetings.

Scope of the Position

The Country Director provides strategic leadership and develops action plans that further the mission of Helen Keller and meet the evolving conditions in Cameroon. They have overall responsibility for ensuring technical and operational excellence in the delivery of all activities to achieve the objectives established in grants and strategic plans and representing Helen Keller to disseminate findings and secure and expand funding for project activities in Cameroon. This position is based in Yaoundé with regular travel to project sites.

Specific Responsibilities

Overall Management and Leadership

• Provide strategic vision and direction for overall program design, implementation, and proposal development; work closely with the country team to accomplish the strategic goals;
• Lead and oversee all aspects of the implementation of country programs and the management of the country office;
• Represent Helen Keller in formal and informal meetings with government officials, international donor agencies, and national technical advisory groups pertinent to Helen Keller project activities;
• Identify opportunities and generate funding from international and bilateral agencies, and donor agencies;
• Develop and nurture in-country donor relationships and identify potential partners to participate in joint proposals;
• Lead and prepare concept papers and proposals and provide other information as needed for submission to donors and others for fundraising and marketing purposes;
• Model collaboration for your matrixed team: effectively consult and inform colleagues to maximize efficiency and knowledge sharing and integrate guidance and direction from subject matter experts in your office and elsewhere in the global organization to maximize performance;
• Build a highly effective Country Management Team, recruiting, supervising, mentoring, and evaluating staff, and engaging in frequent performance conversations with team members;
• Delegate authority, consult with, and guide staff to achieve goals and contribute to an atmosphere conducive to professional growth and development;
• Ensure accountability to beneficiaries, partners, colleagues, and donors by providing ongoing feedback in a context of mutual respect;
• Participate in the recruitment process of global colleagues as requested by management.

Programmatic

• Oversee and coordinate the program portfolio to ensure the highest level of project quality and accountability, while fostering continuity through local partnerships;
• Provide technical input to the government, international donors, and technical advisory groups pertinent to Helen Keller project activities;
• Ensure implementation of strong program monitoring, evaluation and learning functions;
• Oversee research design, methodology and dissemination of information needed to monitor and evaluate project activities and/or advance programmatic and policy changes;
• Disseminate findings from Helen Keller projects that are of importance to decision- makers in a position to fund or implement projects in Cameroon and internationally;
• Keep the national partners and others informed about progress of the projects, plans for the development of new programs/projects/activities and donor involvement in the overall program.

Operations and Finance

• Supervise all aspects of people management in the country office; including hiring and managing human resources, leading initiatives to develop staff capacity, and promoting team morale and retention;
• Supervise the safety and security function, ensuring that Helen Keller meets its Duty of Care responsibilities to staff, clients and other stakeholders in the context of Cameroon’s evolving security situation;
• Provide oversight to finance and administrative services including procurement, property management, vehicle and facilities management, and staff safety and security;
• Work with relevant global colleagues to manage the development and implementation of annual country budgets;
• Authorize expenditures for grant or contract allocations and ensure compliance with procedures required by grant or contract agreements;
• Ensure the preparation and accuracy and timely submission of financial and narrative reports that comply with grant or contract agreements and ensure compliance with all aspects of donor funding and Helen Keller policies.

Qualifications

• Minimum ten years of field experience in managing global health or nutrition programs, and/or Neglected Tropical Disease programs including demonstrated experience in program development, implementation, and evaluation, plus a minimum master’s degree in public health, nutrition, international development or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Demonstrated experience and skills in leadership, staff management, program development and management, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation and public speaking;
• Technical knowledge in an area related to Helen Keller’s mission and programs;
• Experience in designing and implementing workshops, seminars, surveys, monitoring systems, and evaluations. Experience in research design, data analysis, and interpretation;
• Proven experience ensuring the sustainability of program activities is essential;
• Familiarity with and experience promoting health systems strengthening in developing contexts is strongly desired;
• Demonstrated ability to undertake high-level representation and advocacy;
• Experience working in Africa (particularly Central Africa), with Ministries, international and local NGOs, and donors based locally, is a substantial asset;
• Demonstrated experience supervising safety and security in a challenging operating environment;
• Demonstrated experience and skills in leadership and people management;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including an ability to effectively lead a team, communicate a vision, make timely and transparent decisions, and manage conflict;
• Knowledge and experience managing compliance with diverse donor requirements (private foundations, USAID, World Bank, etc.);
• Demonstrated capacity to mobilize program funding including donor cultivation and proposal writing;
• Demonstrated ability to supervise key administrative, procurement, and logistics functions;
• Demonstrated ability to supervise financial management, develop and create budgets, monitor financial status, and hold budget owners accountable;
• Very good oral and written English and French language skills, including the ability to quickly synthesize complex technical and programmatic issues into concise communications;
• Well established and practiced organizational and planning skills;
• Computer literate in use of word-processing, spreadsheet and statistical software;
• Collaborative, flexible and solution-oriented. An ability to maintain balance when under stress;
• Ability and willingness to:
  • flex work hours to accommodate multiple time zones, as needed;
  • travel at least 15-20% within Cameroon and, periodically, internationally. PLEASE NOTE: that all staff must be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to travel internationally.
• Personal commitment to Helen Keller’s mission and goals and the values embodied by Helen Keller Intl’s co-founder, Helen Keller: compassion, grit, and optimism.

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