Director of Programmes and Influencing

Oxfam is a global movement of people working together to end the injustice of poverty. That means we tackle the inequality that keeps people poor. Together we save, protect and rebuild lives. When disaster strikes, we help people build better lives for themselves, and for others. We take on issues like land rights, climate change and discrimination against women. And we won’t stop until every person on the planet can enjoy a life free from poverty.

Oxfam in Africa (OiA) embraces all the Oxfam stakeholders’ entities (countries, clusters, advocacy offices and affiliates) on the continent and seeks to enable and enhance impact through collaboration and integration.

The Africa platform will deliver Oxfam’s impact and Influence in Africa. The plural and robust leadership team will represent the different Oxfam stakeholders in the continent. It will include Oxfam in South Africa (OZA)’s Executive Director (as the only affiliate currently in the continent and the new ones will be included in due time), the Country Directors, SAF Cluster Director from the programmes in Africa who will be leading on specific themes/priorities within Oxfam in Africa and the Africa Platform Senior Leadership Team (SLT). There will be a collaboration with the North Africa cluster especially on the influencing work but no direct management relationship.

The Africa Platform aims for a collective leadership approach. The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) which comprises the Africa Director and their direct reports (the 2 Africa Deputy Directors [ADD]-, Director of Programme and Influencing, Head of People & Culture and Head of Business Operations); will be responsible for developing, implementing, and coherence of the Africa Horizon Planning. This team will ensure that the new ways of working, collaborative approach, brokering relations, and feminism principles guide the Africa Platform organisation and work in the continent. The SLT team will guarantee accountability towards 1) the people with and for whom we work, 2) partners and other external entities, 3) the Oxfam International Executive Leadership Team (OI-ELT), and whatever form of Africa Governance is established as part of ongoing governance reforms as well as other internal Oxfam entities. Programme impact, influencing and quality will be the core responsibility and accountability of the Programmes and Influencing Director, working together with their team, the two ADD, and the countries and cluster leadership on the continent. The Director is accountable for ensuring the development and proper monitoring of the Africa Humanitarian strategy while their direct report, the Head of Humanitarian, is responsible for the strategy development and implementation.

About the role

Oxfam in Africa is seeking a Programme and Influencing Director to provide strategic leadership, ensuring that Oxfam has a coherent, innovative and ambitious ONE programme, including humanitarian, and influencing strategy in line with the Oxfam 2030 global strategic framework

Reporting to the Africa Director, the position is also accountable for mobilizing key resources, alliances and partnerships to execute the strategy to save lives, build resilience and deliver impact at scale to reduce economic, climate and gender inequality in Africa. They are also accountable for Oxfam in Africa to remain relevant and add value in shaping key policies and practices with key decision-making bodies on the continent. They also have the accountability to ensure a data-driven, evidence-based, learning, reflective and storytelling organization across Africa. The Programmes and Influencing team working under the strategic leadership of the Director will oversee the development–of humanitarian-resilience nexus programming synergies and guarantees the humanitarian response support to countries and cluster is provided and meets Oxfam standards. They will lead on transformative partnerships, as well as programme quality, learning and accountability. The director and his/her team will ensure that the Africa Platform works closely with and contributes to Oxfam’s worldwide campaigns, ensuring that Oxfam empowers people across the Sub Sahara Region of Africa to take action on inequality, climate and gender justice and work together with the NAF team.

The Director of Programmes and Influencing will provide strategic leadership to the thematic leads in the programmes and influencing team that will lead in many of the areas like climate change, gender, economic justice, and the emerging digital world among others and will have competencies in these specific thematic areas linked to the global strategic goals and horizon themes. In addition, some roles will respond to the programmatic needs based on restricted funding coming into the platform. Programme quality will also be a key area of focus.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership over Strategy Development & Execution and One Programme Approach

• Lead the development of the OiA Programme, including Humanitarian, and Influencing Strategy and ensuring effective execution.
• Accountable and Responsible for ensuring the one programme approach principle is in place, by providing the strategic vision of how the team work together collaboratively, integrating the different elements of Oxfam programming.
• Working with the Africa Deputies Directors, the Director will support leadership in the countries, the SAF Cluster and the OI-AU Liaison Office to develop appropriate ways of working that will ensure that they are externally focused and tuned to developments within their context including influencing opportunities.
• Facilitate the development and implementation of programmes, advocacy and campaigns at the regional level promoting linkages with global.
• Consistently explore opportunities for regional and multi-country programmes, advocacy and campaign engagement that add value to the achievement of the programme goals.
• Support the OiA Director at regional or global level representation and external engagement, as required.
• Have oversight responsibility of humanitarian strategy in Africa and be accountable and responsible for CAT One humanitarian response.

Human Resource Management

• The P&I Director will manage the largest number of staff and teams within the one Oxfam in Africa structure. The Director will manage the Head of Humanitarian Response and Resilience, Key Goals” Team Leader, Programme Support Team Leader, Legacy Programmes Manager, Head of Advocacy and Campaigns/AU Office Addis, Media and Comms Team Leader.
• The Director will be responsible for ensuring Oxfam’s People management practices are upheld such as goal setting, holding various check-ins, performance management, team coordination, knowledge sharing, staff development and innovation and ensuring disciplinary procedures. In so doing the Director will ensure they are practising Oxfam’s values and instituting good talent management practices (coaching, succession management etc).
• Ensures effective engagement in and roll out of all key policies related to safeguarding and safe programming, and ensures direct reports, partners and beneficiaries are oriented on reporting safeguarding and misconduct mechanisms.
• Ensures adherence to the self-care policy and focuses on supporting the well-being of direct reports through multi-faceted approaches.

Programme Quality and Impact at Scale

• In line with Horizon Planning already developed for 2022-23 ensure proper implementation of programmes aligned with this Planning and contribute to developing the Strategy to achieve the GSF 2030.
• In line with the programme vision for OiA, and the individual OCSs for the countries, guide and support countries to develop programmes that show the leap that is expected in our programme ambition.
• Ensure leadership over the nexus approach for impact.
• Promote a culture shift in how advocacy, humanitarian, long-term development and public engagement staff bring their skills together to achieve change at all levels.
• Ensure adequate resourcing is allocated within budgets to balance properly the long-term, humanitarian and influencing work including advocacy and campaigns regional level.
• Forge meaningful links between local to global (also south-south).

Strategic Partnership

• Lead the strategy development for Oxfam to initiate and maintain a wide range of strategic and transformative partnerships.
• Develop a wide range of strategic partnerships, engaged with programmes and influence work, including advocacy and campaigns, building effective networks and ensuring linkages from the regional to the global.
• Build relationships with external stakeholders and allies including donors, government representatives and other civil society organisations to increase impact.
• Accountable to ensure representation with Pan African Stakeholders (AU, AfDB…) and other regional institutions (RECs – ECD, ECOWAS, EAC, IGAD, SADC…) on matters of programming, humanitarian and influencing (depending on the theme and location, this representation can be distributed once the SLT members are appointed.

Knowledge Management and Learning

• Drive the development and implementation of Feminist Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning within national and regional long-term programmes and humanitarian in general and influencing and campaigning initiatives.
• Support capacity building across countries and at the regional level.
• Support regional networks to establish an environment of data-driven and evidence-based decision-making, learning, sharing, and storytelling, such that a knowledge management culture is encouraged and implemented.
• In collaboration with the Oxfam global stakeholders, explore the use of digital technology in our programmes and campaigning, supporting countries to scale up their ambitions in this area.
• Promote the integration of women’s rights, decoloniality and feminist approaches into national programmes including influencing, advocacy and campaigning strategies.

Experience, Knowledge and Competencies

• In-depth understanding of the economic, political, and social causes and dynamics of poverty, vulnerability and inequality and a familiarity with policy issues related to the creation or reduction of poverty, vulnerability and inequality.
• A clear understanding of what represents sustainable and effective development action.
• Proven management experience with diverse teams, with at least 8 years within INGOs in multiple regions/continents
• Areas relevant to an Oxfam job applying for
• Ability to think and act strategically and understand the relationship between national and regional programmes and the global objectives of Oxfam.
• Proven commitment to and hands-on knowledge of Oxfam’s One Programme approach.
• Proven experience in leading and/or supporting others to design and deliver advocacy and campaigns, programme and research and policy work in one or more countries in the global south.
• In-depth experience in leading or working with a team(s) in the global south to enhance influencing capacity and impact.
• Multi-year work experience in more than one country in the region.
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills, particularly in cross-cultural contexts.
• Proven experience in capacity strengthening and advisory work.
• Ability to address gender issues and women’s rights in the design/delivery of influencing work.
• Very strong analytical and conceptual thinking skills; able to understand highly complex issues and translate them into simple, workable actions and plans.
• The superb judgement ensures the delivery of a coherent strategy and policy and grows Oxfam’s reputation across the region.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with experience of external representation strategies, lobbying, advocacy, and campaigning.
• Collaborative ways of working as part of a leadership team.
• A high level of energy, stamina, and flexibility. Ability to adjust to constantly changing situations while maintaining focus on delivery and follow-through, often working under pressure and to tight deadlines.
• Ability to travel frequently and at short notice, including to remote and difficult locations.
• A strategic individual with the ability to engage with key stakeholders to develop a compelling vision, while at the same time being a pioneer in setting up operations.
• Ability to strengthen and execute the vision with their own team of HR professionals and HR leads across affiliates, coordinating and overcoming barriers when things become ‘stuck’.
• Agile and engaged, with demonstrated strong and coordinated leadership.
• Ability to handle complexity, unpack it and dive deeper with positive enquiry skills to explore blockages.
• Ability to engage in the most appropriate way, demonstrating deep listening to facilitate understanding of messages.
• Strong influencing skills – engages and collaborates, with cultural and interpersonal sensitivity.
• Excellent written and verbal communication across a range of audiences; fluency in English and other languages particularly French is highly desirable.

The most relevant Oxfam Leadership competencies for this role:

• Self-Awareness
• Strategic Thinking and Judgment
• Decisiveness
• Influencing
• Mutual accountability

Appointment details

Location: Anywhere in Sub Saharan Africa where Oxfam is able to contract.

Contract/role length: 4 years fixed term

Salary: In line with Oxfam pay range (B1 international)

HOW TO APPLY

Closing date: 14^th May 2023

Click on the “Apply for Job” button.

As part of the application process kindly submit your CV and a cover letter, preferably in MS Word. All application documents (cover letter and CV) should be submitted in English.

Should you require access to information in a different format to facilitate your application please contact us via [email protected]

Please name your submitted files with the following reference: OIA_PID

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