Overview
The Country Director, Kenya is responsible for the strategic vision and overall leadership for the Kenya country program, ensuring the design and delivery of quality programs, donor and government relations, fundraising and budget management, security and operations management, and developing a motivated and professional team.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide visionary leadership to shape and execute strategies that deliver high-impact, client-centered programs.
- Serve as IRC’s principal representative in Kenya.
- Lead the development and delivery of a country strategy.
- Forge and sustain strategic partnerships.
- Lead IRC’s engagement in humanitarian coordination mechanisms.
- Maintain constructive relationships with government counterparts.
- Cultivate a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability.
- Lead IRC-hosted events and strategic dialogues.
- Represent IRC to diverse audiences.
- Drive program innovation and excellence.
- Actively seek out and pursue opportunities to expand humanitarian programming.
- Foster learning, accountability, and adaptive management.
- Integrate GEDI principles into all IRC operations and programming.
- Establish strong communication and working relationships with key internal stakeholders.
- Lead the design and execution of a diversified funding strategy.
- Proactively monitor donor priorities and position IRC for emerging opportunities.
- Maintain strong relationships with donors, government bodies, and coordination mechanisms.
- Oversee the production of high-quality proposals and reports.
- Ensure compliance with IRC’s global policies and standards.
- Oversee the Kenya country program budgets.
- Drive operational excellence.
- Champion a proactive risk management agenda.
- Shape and embed a risk-informed strategy.
- Integrate risk management into strategic planning and operational culture.
- Guide crisis preparedness and response frameworks.
- Influence and engage key stakeholders.
- Take primary responsibility for the overall management of safety and security.
- Maintain a culture of safety and security.
- Coordinate closely with the Regional Safety and Security Director.
- Foster a high-performance, inclusive culture.
- Champion leadership accountability.
- Partner with regional and HQ P&C teams.
- Lead strategic implementation of People & Culture practices.
- Embed staff care and resilience into organizational systems.
- Model and encourage active practice of the “IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct” principles.
- Maintain a healthy and empowering office environment.
- Model a culture where constructive feedback is actively given and received.
- Maintain open communication with regional management staff, technical advisors, and HQ departmental staff.
- Advance IRC’s advocacy agenda.
- Lead Country Emergency Responses.
- Develop and Operationalize Emergency Preparedness Plans (EPPs).
- Mobilize Support and Resources.
- Safeguard Staff Safety and Duty of Care.
Required Experience
- At least 10 years of dynamically responsible international work experience, including leadership at the Country Director level of multi-site, multi-sectoral operations in a complex operating environment, supervising large teams.
- Experience working in conflict/post-conflict or disaster response situation.
- Experience managing security in a complex and rapidly changing security context.
- Confirmed ability to negotiate and work with partner organizations.
- Experience with organizational capacity strengthening and partnership building is helpful.
- Strong budget and fiscal oversight capacities.
- Extensive representation and fundraising success, including prior experience with European, US, private and other international donors.
- Established capacity to handle stressful situations in a healthy, constructive manner.
- Ability to respond to multiple priorities in a timely manner, producing high-quality outcomes.
- Experience building personal networks at a senior level, resulting in securing new opportunities for the organization.
- Demonstrated successful leadership and management experience with a multi-disciplinary teams in cross-cultural settings, including active mentoring and coaching.
- Effective in developing high-potential staff to achieve career growth and maximum contribution.
- Confirmed experience delivering suitable levels of oversight of a portfolio consisting of a variety of complex, high-value donor-funded projects.
- Opportunity-awareness. A successful innovative approach to unpredictable programming, operational, and funding contexts.
- Ability to dispassionately represent program context, constraints, and successes to media, government, and other senior audiences.
Qualifications
• Graduate degree in a relevant field.
