Regional Director Africa

Requirements

All criteria tagged (A) for Application must be addressed in your covering letter or the application will be disregarded.

• Located in one of the African countries specified with the existing right to work in that country of employment (A)
  
• Master’s degree required. (A)
  
• Minimum 10 years of combined senior leadership experience in fundraising, partnerships, business development, international development, or related fields. (A)
  
• Ability to articulate donor trends and revenue opportunities in Africa, particularly relevant to WfWI’s mission, with a track record of raising a minimum of $5 million a year from at least two types of donor sources, including corporate sources, for social impact causes, inclusive of women’s empowerment. (A)
  
• Strong familiarity with market-based revenue strategies, social enterprise, or blended finance approaches, as evidenced in past employment. (A)
  
• Experience designing and implementing strategic Africa-focused partnerships with regional and global development entities, evidenced by clear outcomes. (A)
  
• Experience overseeing multi-country programs in Africa, inclusive of strategy development and budget planning, revenue forecasting, team management, financial reporting, and liaising with a global office. (A)
  
• Participation in women’s rights and or economic empowerment networks and strategic spaces. (A)
  
• Proven track record of securing significant funding from philanthropists, corporates, foundations, institutions, or strategic partners in Africa or comparable contexts.
  
• Strong understanding of African philanthropic ecosystems, corporate CSR trends, diaspora giving, and institutional funding landscapes.
  
• Demonstrated experience developing and delivering multi-year strategies with measurable growth targets.
  
• Strong people management, coaching, and leadership development skills.
  
• Excellent relationship-building, negotiation, and external representation skills.
  
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English. Additional African languages are an advantage.
  
• Deep commitment to women’s rights, gender equality, and ethical fundraising.
  
• Willingness to travel regionally and internationally as required.
  

Strategy and Planning

• Lead the development and execution of a comprehensive Africa regional strategy aligned with the Global Revenue Strategy and country realities.
  
• Translate global priorities into a practical regional plan that links market opportunities, country strategy, program capacity, and operational readiness.
  
• Establish annual priorities, targets, and review mechanisms for both regional revenue performance and Country Director leadership coordination.
  
• Ensure Africa contributes meaningfully to WfWI’s overall revenue ambition while remaining grounded in delivery feasibility, risk management, and country context.
  

Revenue, Partnerships, and Market Development

• Lead a multi-year Africa revenue strategy across philanthropy, corporate partnerships, institutional funding, diaspora giving, and selected earned-income opportunities.
  
• Build and manage a regional pipeline of donors and partners, with particular focus on African philanthropy, corporate CSR, regional institutions, development finance institutions, and diaspora networks.
  
• Identify and cultivate high-value opportunities with African high-net-worth individuals, family foundations, regional corporates, and pan-African institutions.
  
• Strengthen and diversify Africa revenue streams so the region becomes more resilient and less dependent on traditional supporter markets.
  
• Champion WfWI’s program offer and value proposition in the region, ensuring clear and consistent positioning to donors, partners, and external stakeholders.
  
• Ensure strong stewardship, reporting, and donor engagement standards across regional partnerships and revenue streams.
  

Institutional and Regional Partnerships

• Build a strong pipeline of institutional opportunities with African development banks, regional bodies, bilateral donors, and regional donor platforms.
  
• Lead or support co-creation with local and national partners to strengthen competitiveness, partnership quality, and localization credibility.
  
• Ensure proposals and partnership models are aligned with WfWI standards, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and country delivery realities.
  
• Strengthen relationships with institutions such as the African Development Bank, African Union system, regional economic communities, and relevant UN agencies and regional platforms.
  

Earned Income and Innovation

• Identify and grow earned-income or market-based opportunities linked to WfWI’s work, including VSLAs, market systems, curriculum or training products, digital opportunities, and other mission-aligned models.
  
• Support country teams to assess, pilot, and scale revenue-generating approaches with clear unit economics and operational feasibility.
  
• Build partnerships with African private sector actors, fintechs, agribusinesses, and market-linkage platforms where these can advance WfWI’s strategy and women’s economic empowerment outcomes.
  

Country Director Leadership and Coordination

• Line manage Country Directors in Africa and support their performance, accountability, and professional development.
  
• Provide coaching, mentoring, and strategic guidance to Country Directors, particularly on leadership, planning, fundraising, partnership development, and cross-functional coordination.
  
• Strengthen collaboration and knowledge sharing across African country offices and promote a more integrated regional approach.
  
• Ensure key country risks, dependencies, and support needs are surfaced early and addressed with the relevant global functions.
  
• Support alignment of country strategies with regional opportunities, organizational priorities, and available resources.
  
• Contribute to performance management, succession thinking, and leadership development across the Africa region in coordination with PCC.
  

Cross-Functional Integration

• Work closely with the CPPO and COO to align regional revenue ambition with program quality, delivery feasibility, staffing, compliance, operational readiness, and financial controls.
  
• Coordinate with Finance, PCC, IT, Risk, Compliance, and Communications to support strong country and regional execution.
  
• Ensure disciplined forecasting, planning, and performance review processes across the region.
  
• Promote practical ways of working that strengthen collaboration between country teams and global functions.
  
• Governance, Risk, and Stewardship
  
• Maintain high standards of safeguarding, donor compliance, financial integrity, and ethical partnership management across the region.
  
• Lead regional assessment and escalation of risks related to markets, partnerships, funding, operations, and delivery.
  
• Ensure transparent communication with global leadership on emerging issues, mitigation actions, and support required.
  
• Demonstrate stewardship of donor resources, partnerships, and organizational reputation through disciplined decision-making, clear accountability, and appropriate escalation of issues.
  

Representation and Thought Leadership

• Position WfWI as a credible and influential voice on women’s economic empowerment, gender equality, financial inclusion, and market-based approaches across Africa.
  
• Represent WfWI in regional policy dialogues, donor forums, philanthropic networks, corporate platforms, and strategic partnerships.
  
• Build alliances with INGOs, local NGOs, private sector actors, and research institutions that can strengthen WfWI’s regional position and impact.
  
• Support visibility, thought leadership, and strategic communications in coordination with the relevant global teams.
  

Team Management and Culture

• Build and lead a high-performing Africa regional team with clear goals, accountability, and professional growth.
  
• Foster a culture of performance, collaboration, learning, and disciplined execution.
  
• Ensure country and regional staff understand how their work contributes to both regional results and the broader global organization.
  
• Promote inclusive leadership and strong cross-functional relationships across the Africa region and beyond.
  

Other Responsibilities

• Undertake additional duties as required by the International Chief Executive Officer.
  
• Uphold WfWI’s Code of Conduct, Safeguarding policies, and organizational values: Empowerment, Integrity, Respect, Resilience.
  
• Demonstrate WfWI leadership principles: Decisive, Accountable, Courageous, Adaptable, Inclusive.